The Worthless Outward Appearance

THE WORTHLESS OUTWARD APPEARANCE

I Sam.16: 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.
7 But 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.
Jesse had proudly presented all of his sons before Samuel…all of them except one who was the runt of the litter and still outside attending to sheep. Jesse’s sons were impressive but God spoke to Samuel about the danger of relying upon the outward appearance. Samuel asks Jesse if these are all his sons and Jesse told him of his youngest. So David was brought before Samuel and in a moment the little shepherd boy, stinking of sheep, feels oil running down his head and he hears men speaking of a king.
Oh how holy and righteous are the ways of God! God will not use a self righteous man. Neither will He bow before the schemes and religious machinations of the church. God is not only not impressed by our outward appearance or our oratorical prowess, He rejects it all. He who exalts himself will be abased and he who humbles himself will be used of God. David, flawed without question, was a man after God’s own heart. Would to God that would be said about us.
The name of David is the one most frequently used in the New Testament when referring to Jesus. Look at his beginning. Guarding and feeding the sheep this little boy was chosen by the Most High God to be a king over His people. God gets glory from humility and brokenness and repentance and by someone who actively and sincerely shies away from any personal praise. God uses earthen vessels who adamantly point to Christ and away from themselves. The true man of God knows the anointing of God and knows just how quickly it can leave. He treats God’s blessing upon him as a sacred and undeserved gift of grace.
The true man or woman of God sees themselves as a conduit through which Jesus can live and share His gospel. Men are just spiritual instruments who have no incandescence of their own. All the light belongs to God and if we extinguish our own earthly wicks He will light within us His own wick that burns with the light of Christ! And what, pray tell, can be more glorious than that? Never hold any man’s person in admiration and think he is something when he is nothing. He who loves the praise of men is a strutting peacock having the plumage of fallen humanity. But he who refuses applause and who never seeks human adulation can indeed be used of God.
Keep ministering to God’s sheep and seeking the souls of goats, and if God chooses to lift you up to greater responsibility be careful and quick to humble yourself and remember the oil is His, the Word is His, the anointing is His, and the Savior is Him alone.