An Old Testament Devotion for the Anxious Covenant Child’s Heart
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
In this verse, Samuel is all grown up, and he’s one of God’s prophets as well as a priest. God had just rejected Saul as king of Israel because of Saul’s disobedience, and He had sent Samuel to find the next king. God told Samuel the new king would be the son of a man named Jesse.
Jesse owned many sheep and had many sons. So when Samuel came to Jesse and asked to see his sons, Jesse brought out all of his oldest sons first, and Samuel was quite impressed! They were all tall, strong, and handsome! Surely one of these was God’s chosen new king!
But no, God told Samuel. He had chosen the youngest of the brothers.
He had chosen David.
As humans, it’s natural for us to compare ourselves to other people. We often feel discouraged when someone else has nicer clothes than we do, or is better at soccer, or maybe gets better grades. Maybe his family has more money to go on more vacations, or maybe her grandmother buys her a new phone every year. “Maybe I’m not so special after all,” we might think.
But this is not how we ought to look at ourselves (or anyone else). Everyone in this world is made in the image of God. (Remember when we talked about how you’re God’s piece of art?) Every human life has special worth because God created it. Even better, though, if you are God’s child and truly believe in Him as your Savior, it’s because God chose you. Isn’t it amazing to be chosen by God? And if you are chosen by God, God loves you so much that Christ died for you. Romans 8:16-17 says,
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
We don’t need to compare ourselves to others to know we are special and loved. God already proved His love by sending Jesus to live and die for our sins in our place! And then Jesus rose from the dead so we can spend eternity with Him in Heaven!
Sometimes we don’t feel so special when people say mean things to or about us. But when that happens, we need to remember whose thoughts and judgments truly matter in the end.
I’ll give you a hint. It’s not the person who called you a name. The One whose opinion matters the most is God!
The Lord doesn’t value us based on our appearance or our talents. No, God looks at our hearts, just as he looked at the hearts of David and his brothers. Samuel saw how all of David’s older brothers were big and strong and handsome, but God wasn’t impressed by those things. God was thinking about the future king’s heart. And sure enough, God chose the youngest and smallest of the brothers because David was, as God said in 1 Samuel 13:14, a man after God’s own heart.
So as you grow, just remember that while it can feel good when people pay us compliments or think we’re important, we cannot rely on what others think about us to know our worth. Our worth lies in what God thinks of us! And when God looks at His children, He sees the beautiful artistic creations He made with love. He sees the righteousness of Christ, given to us through Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. He sees the people He chose to save.
So don’t worry about what the world thinks or says about you. For you, child of God, are so very loved.
Discussion Questions
1. What did God mean when He told Samuel not to look on the outward appearance?
2. Should we judge others by how they look? Why or why not?
3. If the Lord considers the heart so important, how can we grow and nurture our own hearts in Him?
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