To Encourage You

1 Samuel 9:1-2 “There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.”

In 1 Samuel 9 we have the account of the Lord giving disobedient and rebellious Israel exactly what they wanted.  Against the will of God, they had asked for a king so that they could “be like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:20).  That was certainly never God’s intention either for Israel or for any of His other followers, i.e., to be like everyone else that doesn’t know God.  So, in the verse above we have the characteristics of a man-centered rather than a God-centered selection for a leader.  We see characteristics here of a person that many other people look up to.  First, this king would come from a background of wealth.  Money is what many people want most in life, and anything about money and those with money fascinates them.  Then we are told that the man Saul was the most handsome man in all the land.  This is another focus of human beings – the outward appearance. So often we think things are better because they look better.  It’s a lie, but isn’t that how we so often think?  We are drawn to the handsome, the beautiful,  the naturally charismatic. And then one final bit of information is given to us about this person Saul. He was taller than any of the other people in the nation of Israel.  He towered above them physically, so he was someone that they could all  literally look up to as a leader. 

You see, Israel was clamoring to be led by someone just like all the other nations who already had kings were being led. So, God gave them exactly what they wanted, although they would soon find themselves very disenchanted with their new king. Samuel warned them that there would come a day when they would “cry out because of (their) king, whom (they) had chosen for (themselves).” He said this to them, although it was God Himself Who would select this king, for He was giving them exactly what they wanted.  He was giving them someone they would unanimously be pleased with, although their qualifications for this pleasure would be all wrong. 

In all of this there is a lesson for us; that it is not the outward appearance that garners favor with God.  He isn’t impressed with how wealthy we are, how good-looking, or how tall. He’s not looking for those Who are of a certain color, nationality, age, sex, or stature.  What God is looking for is the condition of one’s heart. 

It’s so interesting that we are told about Jesus that “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejectedby men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their facesHe was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:2-4).  Isn’t it interesting that the very Son of God was One who blended in with the crowd so much that it took a traitor to point Him out when the time came? Yet here was One Who was so glorious on the inside that when that glory was revealed to Peter, James, and John in the incident known as “the transfiguration,” “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light” (Matthew 17:2).  It was this One, One who so many despised, of Whom God the Father would say “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him” (Matthew 5).  

So, who are you listening to? With whom are you impressed? Are you following the rich and famous of this world? Are you placing your trust in some earthly political leader? Is the basis for your measure of a man or woman how much money they have, their physical strength and beauty, or their status in this world? Or do you have eyes that value the Son of God above all else, the One despised and rejected by men, but the most accepted of all by God? You see, our God is One Who “sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  And it is the heart of His Son that is the most beautiful thing in all the world. May God give us hearts that, even in some small measure, resemble His.