First Samuel chapter 16. I'd
like to read verses six and seven. And it came to pass when they
were come that he looked on Eliab and said, surely the Lord's anointed
is before him. The Lord said unto Samuel, look
not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because
I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh. on the heart. Let's pray together. Lord, we ask in Christ's name.
That you would give us hearts. That you could look upon. Through that son. New hearts. Pure hearts. Hearts that come
from your spirit. Hearts that believe your gospel.
Hearts that rejoice in your gospel. Hearts that truly love you as
you are. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that your gospel would be preached in the power of your spirit.
Lord, grant us the grace to worship thy dear son and to sit at his
feet. And Lord, we confess our sins. We can't come into your presence
without an awareness of our sinfulness. But Lord, how we thank you for
the precious blood of Christ that put away our sin. And Lord,
give us the spirit of worship. Give us hearing ears and receptive
hearts. And Lord, what we're asking for
ourselves, we ask for all your people. wherever they meet together.
In Christ's blessed name we pray, amen. Now this is when God sent
Samuel to the house of Jesse for this purpose, to anoint that
one king whom he had chosen. Now, I think it's interesting
that when Samuel came, Jesse didn't bother to send David.
Isn't that interesting? He didn't even bother to send
him. He knew it would not be David, his last born son. And he starts out with Eliab. Look in verse six. And it came
to pass when they were come that he looked on Eliab. and said,
surely the Lord's anointing is before him. He could see that
Eliab must be the one. He felt confident that Eliab
was the one. Verse seven, but the Lord said
unto Samuel, look not on his countenance or on the height
of his stature, because I have refused him. This is what God
said regarding Eliab. It's the same word that he used
with reference to Saul when he says, I've rejected him. The
word actually means I abhor him. I've disdained him. I find him
to be an utterly vile person. That's what he said regarding
this man Eliab. And remember, when the Lord makes
a statement about somebody, He's got a reason to make it. Now,
what do we know about this man Eliab? Where the Lord says, I've
refused him, I've rejected him, I don't want to have anything
to do with him. Said the same thing about Saul. He said this
about Eliab. Well, we know just a little bit
about Eliab. He was the oldest son of Jesse. But turn to chapter 17. Here's
the information we get about Eliab, and I think this is very
interesting. Now, In verse 26, And David spake to the men that
stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth
this Philistine, talking about Goliath, and taketh away the
reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised
Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall
it be done to the man that killeth him. And Eliab, Here he is, his
eldest brother heard what he spake unto the men. And Eliab's
anger was kindled against David. And he said, why camest thou
down hither? And with whom hast thou left
those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness
of thine heart, for thou art come down that thou mightest
see the battle. And David said, What have I now
done? Is there not a cause? Now I think
this is so interesting. David's cause was the glory of
God, wasn't it? When he spoke of this uncircumcised
Philistine, who is he to come and defy the armies of the living
God? David David had this desire for
God's glory, and what did Eliab do? His character is exposed
at this time by what he said regarding David. David had this
desire to glorify God, and Eliab said, you don't care anything
about the glory of God. Out of the naughtiness of your
heart, you're come to just watch the battle. I know you. Now,
Eliab exposes himself as to what he really was. Now, God says
regarding this man Eliab, I have rejected him. I've refused him.
Now look at verse 7 again in 1 Samuel chapter 16. But the
Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the
height of his stature, because I've refused him. For the Lord
seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. Don't look at his
outward appearance. Don't look at his countenance.
Don't look at what you would think is impressive about him.
You see, the outward appearance says nothing about what's going
on on the inside, in the heart. And as a man thinks in his heart,
so is he. Proverbs 23, 7. As a man thinks
in his heart, so is he. What a man is, is not seen by
what you see on the outside, but by what God sees on the inside. As a man is, as a man thinks
in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23, 7. And you can also
say this too. As a man is, so he thinks others
to be. However a person is, he's going to attribute that to other
people. That's the way they are. Now,
don't look on a man's outward countenance. You know, don't
look on the height of his stature. And you remember how Saul was
called, he was the tallest man in Israel. Look in 1 Samuel 9.
And this was so impressive to the flesh. This is speaking of Saul, chapter
9, verse 2. And he had a son whose name was
Saul. A choice young man and goodly, and there was not among
the children of Israel a goodlier person than he. He was the best
looking one of the bunch. From his shoulders and upward, he
was higher than any of the people. He was the tallest man in Israel.
Oh, they were impressed with this. What a king we have. Look
at the way he looks. I mean, this man is going to
make a great king. Now, while Saul was physically
tallest, he was the smallest in every other area, wasn't he?
We've seen that in his life. He was a small man, indeed. But this represents what's impressive
to the flesh. Saul was impressive to the flesh.
Eliab was impressive to the flesh. And God said, I've refused him,
just like I have Saul. Now, I love the way it says this. The Lord said unto Samuel, verse
seven, look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature,
because I've refused him. For the Lord seeth not as man
seeth. You know, how the Lord sees things
is not how we see things. Do you realize that? Do I realize
that? The Lord seeth not as man seeth. Man looks on the outward countenance.
He looks at things as they appear, but the Lord looks on the heart. Now, here's one point I want
to drive home, both in my heart and your heart, if the Lord's
pleased to do this. How the Lord sees things is how they really
are. Amen? For instance, and God saw
that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil, non-stop,
continually. Now how God sees things is how
they really are, whether you and I see them or not. And that's
God's testimony of man. But I love this too. Colossians
1, 22 says he's presented us, talking about every believer,
everybody for whom Christ died, every believer without exception,
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And if I am holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight, there's only one
reason. I really am holy. unblameable and unreprovable,
because his sight is how things really are. The Lord seeth not
as man seeth. Man looks on the outside. The
Lord looks on the heart. Now, the heart that God looks
at is not the natural heart of any
man. This is very important. You know
that the Lord looked on the heart of David. Remember, David is
called a man after God's own heart. God said regarding David, his
heart beats with mine. He has the same desires that
I have. He has the same agenda that I
have. You see, this is a heart given in regeneration. It's the
new heart. It's not the heart of the natural
man. David wasn't born with his heart. You know, when God looked
at him and said, he's a man after my own heart, that's the greatest
commendation anybody can have. But David wasn't born with his
heart. As a matter of fact, Jeremiah
chapter 17 verse 9 says the heart is what? Desperately wicked,
deceitful above all things. Your heart will deceive you,
my heart will deceive me. It's desperately wicked, deceitful
above all things. That's the heart of every natural
man. So when the Lord looked at David's
heart, when he said, and he was talking about David, he wasn't
talking about David's natural heart. And this is very important,
but this is this thing of a believer having two separate natures.
He was looking at the heart He gave Him in the new birth that
He was pleased with because it came from Him. He couldn't be
pleased with anything that came from us. It came from Him. And
here's the issue of two separate natures. If you don't believe
in two separate natures, that means you believe the old nature
somehow is worked upon and helped by grace. God does not work with
the old nature. The old nature is dead. It can't
do anything but sin. It'll never be anything but that.
But this is a reference to the new heart that he gave in the
new birth. David being called a man after
God's own heart. You know, that's what I want
for me and you more than anything else. To be men and women after God's
own heart. What a commendation. Now what
I've done, when I think of this thing, you know, the Lord looketh
on the heart. And he sees the bad heart, but he also sees the
heart he's given, the heart that loves him. And what I've done
is I've looked at every biblical description of the heart that
I could find. I just went through my concordance, and this is every
biblical description of a heart that God is pleased with. And
understand this, he's only pleased with his heart through Christ.
My new heart is not my righteousness before God. Jesus Christ is my
righteousness before God. It's the new heart that sees
this, that acknowledges this, that believes this, that rests
in this. Now, many times we find in the
scriptures this phrase, the whole heart. You shall seek me and
find me when you search with me with your whole heart. I've sought thee with my whole
heart as opposed to a divided heart, a heart with divided interests
halting between two opinions. It's the whole heart, not half-hearted,
but the whole heart. And then we read several times
in scripture, Psalm 51, Psalm 34, of a broken heart, a broken
heart. How can a heart be pure and broke?
I don't know, but it is. It is. It's the broken heart
that is broken over sin. It sees itself as no good. It
doesn't work. And I think this is so amazing
that the heart is the only thing that it's at its best state when
it's broken. Broken over sin. Broken, it sees
it can't work. It sees it's no good. You know,
it's the new heart. It's the heart given in the new
birth that owns the sins of the old man. It's only the new heart
that can actually see sin. A natural man cannot really see
sin. He just sees stuff he's done, bad things he's done, feels
bad about it, got in trouble. But it's the new heart that truly
mourns over sin. That pure heart is also the heart
that mourns. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. In Exodus 35, verse 5, we read
of a willing heart. A willing heart. Thy people shall
be willing in the day of thy power. Are you willing to be
saved by grace? I can ask you that question. Are you willing
to be saved in such a way as that Christ gets all the glory
and then goes to you? Are you willing for that? Well,
God made you willing. You know, Paul said, to will
is present with me. It's present with me too. Whosoever
will, let him take the water of life. A willing heart, made willing,
and only God can do this. And this is what is so glorious
about God. He can actually take somebody who's unwilling and
make them willing. Thy people shall be willing volunteers
in the day of thy power. And then we read in Exodus 35
verse 21 of a stirred heart. Everyone whose heart stirred
him. And what a blessed thing it is when your heart is stirred
up by the Spirit of God. Stirred up. Like David was when he says,
is there not a cause? When Goliath was defying Israel. And David said, is there not
a cause? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy
the armies of the living God? Is there not a cause? His heart
was stirred up, stirred up with a zeal for God's glory. And then
we read many times of a perfect heart, a perfect heart. That's the pure heart, isn't
it? Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now remember
this about the pure heart. The pure heart is that which
God has given. It comes from God the Holy Spirit.
It's the product of the new birth. How can it be anything but pure?
Can something that comes from God be anything but pure? No,
this is the pure and the perfect heart, the heart that does not
sin. It's the heart that sees all
the rest of the sin, the perfect heart. And then we read in 2
Samuel chapter 24 verse 10 where David's heart smote him, a smitten
heart. A smitten heart. Oh, what a blessing
it is when your heart smites you. when it's God's work, where
he corrects you, when he smites you, when he causes you to be
brought to repentance, brought down into the dust, a smitten
heart. You know, some people's heart
never smites them. They're always vindicating themselves. They're
always justifying themselves. They don't know anything about
this thing of having a smitten heart, a heart smitten in the
dust before God. And then we read in 1 Kings 3.9
of an understanding God gave Solomon wisdom and an understanding
heart. He understood his need of Christ. Isn't that a blessing when the
Lord gives you that understanding? Where you actually understand
your need of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation that's in Him.
You understand. Now we don't understand anything
completely, I realize that. When we talk about the mysteries
of the gospel, we believe them more than we understand them.
You understand that, don't you? Do you understand the Trinity?
Do you understand how bad you are? No, no. We understand that
we don't understand. And we look to Christ only for
all things. But that's what an understanding
heart is. And then we read in 1 Kings 4.29 where God gave Solomon
largeness of heart. Largeness of heart as opposed
to small hearted or narrow hearted. Largeness of heart. And then
it was said of Solomon that he had integrity of heart. 1 Kings
9, 1 Kings 9, 1 Kings 9, 4. And you know that word integrity,
it's also translated simplicity. Simplicity. A heart that has
a simple object of faith. Christ only. Now that's integrity. Somebody
that has integrity is someone who looks only to Christ. Someone that doesn't do that,
they don't have any integrity. There's no honesty in their heart.
But someone who God has given them a new heart, they look to
Christ only. David said, create in me a clean
heart. Oh God. Can you pray that prayer? Create in me. I know I can't
clean it up. I know I can't come up with anything. And this is the prayer of every
believer. Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right
spirit within me. The clean heart, the creative
act of God. If you have a clean heart, a
heart that looks only to Christ, this is God's work. Turn with
me for a moment to Ezekiel chapter 36. We're going to look at a
few more, but I want us to see that this new heart that God
gives is not what men think it is. Look in verse 26. A new heart
also will I give you. and a new spirit will I put within
you, and I'll take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and
I'll give you a heart of flesh, and I'll put my spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them, because you have this new heart that
I've given, and you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Don't you love the I will and they shalls of the scripture?
I love the way the Lord talks. And he says in verse 29, I will
save you from all your uncleanness and I will call for the corn
and will increase it and lay no famine upon you and I'll multiply
the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that you
shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
Now look at this. Then shall you remember your
own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall
loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and
your abominations." Now, that's part of that clean heart. That's
part of that new heart. This is part of the covenant.
If you have this new heart, well, my heart's really clean. says here, you'll loathe your
own selves because of your abominations and iniquities. This is a part
of that new heart. Now, in the New Testament, it's
called a believing heart. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. a believing heart, a heart that
believes, a heart that believes the gospel. In my heart, I'm
relying on Jesus Christ as my righteousness before God. I understand
that He's my righteousness as well as I can, but not only do
I understand it, I love it. It's the way I want it to be.
That's my affections and my will. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness. With the mouth, confession is
made unto salvation. Remember when the Ethiopian eunuch
said, what hinders me from being baptized? And he said, if you
believe with all your heart, you may. And he said, I believe
that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I'm so thankful for that
scripture because he didn't say I believe I'm saved. He didn't
say I believe I'm elect. He didn't say I believe I've
been born again. He didn't say anything like that. I believe
with all my heart I'm one of the elect. As soon as I say that,
I'll start thinking, well, what if you're not? I mean, that's
just the way stuff like that works. But I do believe with
all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. A believing
heart. This is the heart that our Lord
described in the parable of the sower, the heart that received
the word as an honest, and a good heart. Honest. It's not phony before God. It's not pretending to be what
it's not. It comes before God in honesty. And how do you come before God
when you come in honesty? God be merciful to me, thee,
sinner. That's the only way you come
before God, in honesty. And that's the good heart. That's
the heart that receives the word. What our Lord called an honest
and a good heart. And we read of where the disciples,
when they heard the Lord open the scriptures to them, They
said, did not our hearts burn within us? And you know when
the scripture is opened to you by the Lord, your heart burns,
doesn't it? It burns within you. And then
we read of a pricked heart in Acts chapter 2. After God hath
made this same Jesus whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And the scripture says they were
pricked in their hearts, that hard heart. that could not be
penetrated was penetrated. They were pricked in their heart.
And they said, men and brethren, what are we gonna do? We're in
trouble, what are we gonna do? That's because God the Holy Spirit
had pricked that hard heart so it could receive the truth, a
pricked heart. And then in Acts chapter two,
verse 46, we read of singleness of heart. I like that, don't
you? Singleness of heart, a heart
that has a single object of faith. the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't
look anywhere else. I lack assurance. Look to Christ. I'm having a hard time. Look
to Christ. That's the answer to everything. Look to Christ. Singleness of heart. We read of an opened heart. I
love that. Remember Lydia, whose heart the
Lord opened. It was closed to the truth. It
was closed to the gospel. No man could open it, but the
Lord opened her heart. And when he opened her heart,
the scripture says, she received and attended upon the things
which were spoken. And then we read in the scripture
of the circumcised heart. I'd like you to read this scripture
with me, Romans chapter two. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew which is
one outwardly. Now, do you hear that? People
talk about the Jews, the Israelites, and so on. It has nothing to
do with being a physical Jew. That doesn't have anything to
do with being a Jew. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh.
Somebody goes through circumcision, well, they're circumcised. That's
not circumcision. Not really. That's just typical of what it
represents. He is a Jew which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God. This circumcised heart, this
new heart that we're talking about, God praises this heart. It's His work. It came from Him.
That's why He praises it. The circumcised heart. Peter
calls it the hidden man of the heart. Turn with me for a moment
1 Peter chapter 3. Paul says in verse 1, likewise
you wives be in subjection to your own husbands. That if any
obey not the word, they may also without the word be won by the
conversation of the wives, while they behold your chaste conversation
coupled with fear. Who's adorning? Let it not be
that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold
and putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the
heart. That's the new heart. the hidden
man of the heart, in which is not corruptible. It's not even
subject to being corrupted because it's the work of God. This is
the pure heart. This is the honest and good heart.
It's not corruptible. It's not even subject to that.
And here's how it's seen. Even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, of great price. Now this is the heart God looks
to. Finally, Hebrews 10.22 says,
let us draw near with a true heart. Let us draw near with a true
heart in full assurance of faith. Now this heart that draws near
is the true heart. Everything else is false. You
know, Scripture says he that trusts in his heart is a fool.
As far as your old heart, you trust that it's gonna go in the
wrong direction, it's deceitful, it'll deceive you, it'll make
your night look just like day, that natural heart you have.
We draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith. Now
this is the heart the Lord beheld in David. He made him to be a
man after his own heart. And don't you want that for yourself
more than anything? To be a man or a woman after
God's own heart. Man looks on the outside. The Lord looketh upon the heart. Amen.