Evident Grace Sunday Recap from 05/13/18 Big Picture Question: How Does God See Differently Than We Do?
Sunday, May 13, 2018, Evident Grace Fellowship looked at 1 Samuel 16:1-13:
1 Samuel 16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
From those scriptures, we looked at this Big Picture Question:
Big Picture Question: How does God see differently than we do?
And we found these 3 answers to our Big Picture Question:
God sees the why while we see the what
God sees His protection while we see the danger.
God sees the heart while we see outward appearances.
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God sees the why while we see the what
1 Samuel 16:1 The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
All Samuel could feel was loss. King Saul was a mess. Israel was a mess. I’m sure Samuel felt like a failure, but God knew why Samuel was going through what he was going through. God knew that in the midst of all of the pain and emotion, He was going to bring a new and Godly king to Israel.
We have to keep in mind that God is always working His will for His glory even in the midst of the worst of circumstances. We can see what is happening, but we have to trust God’s why which is always to bring glory to Himself.
God sees His protection while we see the danger.
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4 Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
Everyone in this passage is fearing. Samuel fears for his life if he obeys God. The elders of Bethlehem fear because Samuel showed up in town. But in the midst of that fear, God is actually protecting them. God is protecting the people of God by giving them a good and Godly king. Saul’s first interest was for himself. David’s will be for God.
God sees differently than we do. When we walk in danger, we have to remember that God is always protecting us as He promised us He would.
In the sermon, we referenced Job 23:8-14 as an example of trusting God when we can’t see His protection.
God sees the heart while we see outward appearances.
6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
We arrogantly think we know people’s hearts and minds, but we don’t. Only God knows the heart. That means God sees our good and our bad. Samuel thought the oldest son of Jesse would of course be king. Instead, God chose the younger son, David, because God saw his heart.
We must always remember that God has wisdom that we don’t have and that wisdom of the heart should make us more gracious to ourselves and to others.
Big Picture Question: How does God see differently than we do?
Truth: God’s sight is an act of care in our lives that works His purposes despite what we see and think.
Application: Live knowing that your wisdom, hunches, and gut always submit to the working of God’s and His purposes in your life.
Action: Pray for the humility to trust God’s sight in your life and others.