2024_03_25 Insight Post- Kim Feld

- March 25, 2024

David is an important, complicated character in the Old Testament. This week’s reading has us looking at David’s early life and how God chose him to be Israel’s second king. God tells Samuel that He has chosen someone to take Saul’s place and tells him it will be one of Jesse’s sons. When Samuel sees Jesse’s son Eliab, he immediately assumes Eliab’s the one. When we studied Saul a couple of weeks ago, we learned he was tall and handsome. Apparently, Eliab was also. Scripture gives us a peek into Samuel’s thoughts and God’s response:

6 “When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:6-7, NLT).

I find it so interesting that human nature has not changed. People tend to judge others by their physical stature and appearance. But God doesn’t do that. He looks at our hearts.

The Hebrew word used here for the heart is lēbāb, meaning “the inner person, self, the seat of thought and emotion, conscience” (Kohlenberger, 2015). When the word “heart” is used in the New Testament, the Greek word kardia is used with a similar meaning: “mind, the seat of thought and emotion, seat of the inner self, focused on thinking and understanding” (Kohlenberger, 2015). The thought that God knows precisely what is in my heart, what I honestly think, is both inviting and sobering. God knows me to my core.

God not only knows the “what” of my thoughts, but He also knows the “why.” He knows my motivations and attitudes. Even when I say and do the right things, He knows if I’m sincere. I may be able to fool the people around me, but I can never fool God.

God chose David to have an enormous part in His plan because of David’s heart. As we read David’s story, it’s not a perfect picture of following God. David’s story is full of incredible faithfulness, devastating rebellion, loss, and repentance. My story is not the same as David’s, but I am also a mixed bag of faithfulness, rebellion, loss, and repentance.

Jesus addressed the heart in His teaching in Luke 6. Take a look at what He said:

43 “A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 44 A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. 45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart” (Luke 6:43-45, NLT).

I love the use of the word “treasury” because I get a picture of collecting or accumulating. The NIV translation uses the phrase “stored up.” Just as a garden must be tended for good things to grow, so must our hearts. With all his flaws, David’s heart stood out to God. I want my heart to do the same.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23, NIV).

Reference:
Kohlenberger, J. R., III. (Ed). (2015). NIV Exhaustive Bible Concordance (John R. Kohlenberger, Ed.). Zondervan Academic.

Kim Feld
Executive Director of Education and Outreach