2019-01-20T11:00:00-06:00
5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.
8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”
18 And Zechariah said to the angel, “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” 19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” 21 And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in the temple. 22 And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple. And he kept making signs to them and remained mute. 23 And when his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
24 After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, 25 “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Notice how the truest person in this scene is God. Samuel is at the brink of despair over the king who is no longer. It seems that his vision for God’s kingdom has been shattered, and there is no hope to replace the destruction. So he grieves. But the Lord meets him in his grief (brinking-on-despair) and tells him He has a plan. But Samuel’s doubt has not ceased; in fact, he blurts it out to the Lord: If Saul hears it, he will kill me. This is fear, the fear we all know when we are faced with the impossible. But the Lord provides even for Samuel’s fear by promising to lead him along the right path. Here we have a prophet who isn’t very courageous, much like Jonah.
The situation is very back and forth: God offers a solution, His servant pushes back in doubt, God offers a solution, etc. And God is very patient with people like that. Samuel has a vision also for the new king, since his vision for the old one didn’t work out. But God has a much better vision for the new king—and this text doesn’t even reveal all of that plan!—and He softly breaks it to Samuel by telling him tenderly, the Lord sees not as a man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
Now we see a shift in Samuel’s heart: he no longer believes his eyes and the criteria for a king now goes deeper than mere appearance. The Lord is helping him to look on the heart of Jesse’s boys. Good-looking sons are no longer qualified just because of their looks. One by one, Samuel sets them aside. And look how he communicates that: The Lord has not chosen these. Samuel is finally admitting that it is all the Lord’s choice, because it is the Lord’s plan. And yet an odd thing happens: the man the Lord does choose is ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. David is just as visually appealing as the rest. So why was he chosen?
The Lord looked beyond David’s outward appearance and knew that he was “a man after God’s own heart.” What that means and what it doesn’t mean will make more sense as we move through the rest of David’s life. But for now, it’s important to note that, in the Lord’s eyes, outward appearance—whether desirable or not—should not be our primary focus. Like Samuel, we struggle to get beyond the surface in evaluating ourselves and others. How are we distracted by outward appearance? What would it mean for us to learn to look on the heart? It’s worth remembering that Jesus “had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). If we would know and love the Son of David, the true Man after God’s own heart, the Lord must open our eyes. Lord, help us to see as you see!