What are the characteristics of a good ruler? Saul certainly looked the part – standing head and shoulders above everyone else (I Samuel 10:23). And he acted the way many modern leaders do: threatening the people if they didn’t follow him (I Samuel 11:7), and setting up a monument to himself after a big victory (I Samuel 15:12).

But at the same time, Saul was eager to point fingers when he made a bad decision – sometimes blaming the people for their wrongdoings (I Samuel 15:21) and other times claiming he was unduly influenced by them (I Samuel 15:24). And worst of all, he was careless about obeying what the Lord had told him to do (I Samuel 15:18-19).

So, why did God reject Saul (I Samuel 15:26) and choose David instead (I Samuel 16:13)? As we’ll see later in I Samuel, David made his share of mistakes – in fact his sin with Bathsheba made Saul look timid by comparison. And David wasn’t very impressive, at least at the time Samuel anointed him – he was the youngest of his father’s sons, a mere afterthought who wasn’t initially invited to meet the great prophet (I Samuel 16:11).

But in choosing David, God taught Samuel a lesson, one we would all do well to learn: “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Saul’s problem was a heart issue, a fundamental disregard for God. David, in spite of his many flaws, was a man after God’s own heart (I Samuel 13:14), a man who genuinely loved God and sought after God, as any casual student of the many psalms he wrote can attest.

So, what does God see when He looks at our hearts today? What do you want Him to see?

I Samuel 16:6-7 (NASB)

6 Then it came about when they entered, that he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before Him.”
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”