People tend to judge the character and worth of someone by looking at their outward appearance. And humans generally tend to admire and respect a person who is tall, good-looking, well-built, and tastefully dressed. Rich and famous people are also highly esteemed, but poor and uneducated people usually aren’t valued at all.
Often these are the physical qualities that we seek in a leader. But God has the unique ability to see inside a person. And God knows our true character because he “looks at the heart.”
Some background: The Israelites had demanded a king like the other nations before them. God had appointed Saul as Israel’s first king, but he rebelled against Him so God rejected him as king. Later, God told Samuel to appoint another king, a man whom He would choose.
“Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king. 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.” Yahweh said, “Take a heifer (cow) with you and say, ‘I have come to the sacrifice of Yahweh.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.” 4 Samuel did what Yahweh said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?” 5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify (cleanse) yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely this is Yahweh’s anointed one.” 7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. Yahweh does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:1-7)
So Jesse called his son, Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel but Samuel said Yahweh has not chosen him either. He went through all of Jesse’s sons. Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all of your sons?” Jesse said, “No, there is still the youngest, but he is tending sheep.” Samuel sent for him. Then, God said to Samuel, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” This was David.
The Bible goes farther to say that “David was a man after His own heart.” God says this about David even though he was far from perfect. He committed great and grievous sins. He’s the one who slept with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, got her pregnant and had her husband, Uriah killed. He’s also the one who numbered his army after God told him not to do that.
So why was God so fond of David? God saw in David a man of deep faith who was wholly committed to Him. He saw a man who would depend on Him for strength and guidance (1 Samuel 17:45, 47; 23:2). He saw a man who would recognize his sins and failures and who would repent and ask for forgiveness (2 Samuel 12). God saw in David a man who loved HIm and who worshiped Him with all his whole heart. (2 Samuel 6:14); David was a man who experienced God’s cleansing and forgiveness (Psalm 51) and had come to understand the depths of God’s love for him (Psalm 13:5–6; 106:1).
Appearances can be deceiving. Outward appearances don’t reveal what a person is really like. Physical looks don’t show us the person’s character, integrity or faithfulness. Outward appearances are superficial. Moral and spiritual qualities are way more important to God. God’s primary concern is what’s in our heart.
What Does God See When He Peers Into Our Hearts?
God knows that if our heart is upright, we’ll be teachable. But if pride permeates our heart, we won’t be teachable because we’ll think we know everything. I believe that’s why some people never come to an accurate knowledge of the truth of God’s Word. Some people think they actually know everything about the Bible and that they’ve got it all figured out. Sadly many teachers and pastors display this quality too. If you show them errors in their teaching or doctrine, they may not be willing to be corrected because after all, they’re a pastor or they’ve graduated from seminary. Who are we as laypersons to question or inform them?
The heart in Scripture is a person’s inner moral and spiritual life. Proverbs 4:23 explains that everything we do flows from our hearts. The heart is the core, the inner essence of who we are: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).
To everyone who saw him, Judas Iscariot looked like a faithful disciple, but his appearance was deceiving. The other disciples had no idea of what was going on inside Judas. Jesus was the only one who knew Judas’s heart: He knew Judas would be the one to betray him. “Have I not chosen you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John 6:70).
2 Chronicles 16:9 says “the eyes of Yahweh are continually roaming throughout the earth to strengthen people whose hearts are fully committed to Him.” God can peer into our hearts, examine our motivations, and know everything there is to know about us (Psalm 139:1). God knows if a person will be faithful because He sees what people can’t see.
We can trust that when God looks at our hearts, He will see our true character, our true value. Even if we see ourselves as worthless, God sees us as we really are. To God, the ‘heart’ of a person indicates that person’s true spiritual condition. The most common usage of ‘heart’ in Scripture describes our natural inclinations and personal will that we have in making decisions. The heart of man is our will coupled with our emotional desire.
Scripture shows us that God truly looks at every human heart (1 Samuel 16:7) to determine if a person will be obedient to God, if they will be receptive to Him, and if they’ll seek to know and love Him. Jesus says that bad things cannot go into a man, but rather bad things come out of the heart of man.
The heart of man is naturally inclined toward sin. Because of the fall of man in the garden of Eden, the Bible says that “the heart is deceitful above all things”. (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart can be hard as stone, or soft and tender to God’s instruction, warnings, and love. (Ezekiel 36:26) God can create in us a “pure heart” (Psalm 51:9-10) that is washed clean and made pure by His Spirit. Ultimately, the greatest event in a person’s life occurs when a person believes in his or her heart that Jesus is God’s literal Son who died and was raised to life by God, His Father, from the dead. (Romans 10:8-9)
God does not judge us based on our looks, strength, or capabilities as humans are prone to do. Rather He searches, knows and only He can change our heart. Do we pray that God would create within us a pure heart? We should! Jesus said “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8).
“Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight”. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
“Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting”. (Psalm 139:23-24)
Loving Yahweh with Heart, Soul and Strength 