We continue our first readings this week from the first book of Samuel. God has rejected Saul as the king of Israel due to his recalcitrance. God sends Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem, telling Samuel that he has chosen the new king of Israel from among Jesse's sons. Samuel takes a look at one of Jesse's sons, Eliab, and is certain that he is the one whom God has chosen. However, this is the response God gives to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”
One thing I have learned in my years as a priest is that we think we can know someone's situation from what we ourselves observe and from the outward appearance, but what is going on in someone's heart can be so completely different. In our society, we can get so caught up into looking at what's on the outside, to the externals that we see. And that can be true of ourselves as well. We are conditioned in our society to make everything look good on the outside, to give a good appearance to the world, to try to get others to think well of us. But, when we come down to it, it does not matter what everyone else thinks or what appearance we give to the world. What is most important is what God sees, what God knows is going on in our hearts.
God chooses David to be king, a young man whom Samuel and the world thought to be an unlikely choice. May we not be quick to judge by outside appearance. May we cultivate virtue and integrity in our hearts and not be so concerned with the superficiality of outward appearance.
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