I Samuel 16:1-13     It’s What’s on the Inside That Counts      Dec 28, 2008

       I will turn 46 years old next month and it seems as I look around at many old friends, so many have fallen.  I think of close friends who once walked with God, once had a clear vision of life, once wanted to do the right thing, but now have fallen or at least settled for less. There have been moral failures. There have been poor decisions. Marriages have ended in divorce.  Careers have been injured.  Children have drifted away from them.  Life has grown hard.  You know, we often think of teens and young people as struggling with sin but in reality, it is we who are in our middle years who need to wake up and realize that disaster is always at our doorstep.   One of the greatest challenges a Christian faces is how to keep his or her spiritual, ethical, and moral bearings straight as they journey through the years of life. 

      This morning, I am beginning a sermon series on the Life of David.  In the Bible, David is among the most central characters and his life can teach us much about living.  Over the next weeks, we will see that David was a man who admitted his failures.  He was a man who deeply experienced the Grace of God.  David was a man who had to reap what he sowed.  But David was always a man after God’s own heart.  All these lessons are present today as we begin our story, as we discover that it is what’s on the inside that counts.  We will see this by looking at David and Saul.

      We begin our story in the middle of I Samuel in chapter 16.  Samuel was the great prophet of God and the leader of Israel.  For many years, since the time of Moses and Joshua, the people of Israel had no formal government. They had a loose structure of local organization and they had the commandments of God given by Moses.  But for over two hundred years, they had no king.  But in a time of crisis, they demanded that God and that Samuel the prophet give them a king.  Samuel warns them that the king will tax them.  The king will take their sons into war.  The king will turn their daughters into servants.  But the people will not listen.  They demand a king to save them from their problems.   So Saul is chosen to be king and Saul leads Israel in ousting the Philistine invaders.  But by the time we pick up the story in chapter 16, verse 1, Samuel is mourning over Saul who has been rejected by God.  What has happened?

     The first thing that happened in this story that leads to failure is bad choices about people and situations.  The same is true for us.  Saul and David are a study in contrast.  Saul is tall, standing a head above everyone else.  David is a short man.  When Saul is chosen to be king, the people say again and again how tall, big, strong, and handsome he is.  Saul just looks like a leader, a man above men.  He is chosen because of what is on the outside.  How often do we make choices based on what we see on the outside?

      In the church, we often choose leaders based on outward qualities.  But we fail to look inwardly at the heart.  When the church chooses leaders, we must keep in mind spiritual gifts and not only natural gifts.  That was our big lesson of the autumn.  The wrong people driving the bus can be disastrous.  And it is always harder to get them off the bus.  The church needs to choose leadership with care and look at the inside heart.

      We often choose marriage partners based on outward appearances.  But outward beauty and physical attractiveness do not make a marriage endure.  I remember twenty years ago when musical star Billy Joel and super model Christy Brinkley married.  But soon, Billy had cheated on her and the marriage split up.  I had male friends who asked, “He couldn’t be satisfied with Christy Brinkley?”  But you see, happiness is not found just in outward beauty.  Happiness is found on the inside.  A person who loves to God will love to you also. 

      We all choose friends in life.  People with whom we spend much time.  Let me ask you: are your friends leading you closer to God or do they lead you away?  They may look fun.  They may be popular.  But those people whom you hang with can bring you down.  Paul warns us in II Corinthians 6 that bad company will corrupt us.  Grandma always told you, “If you lie down with dogs, you’ll get up with fleas.”  She was right.  Choose your friends based on what’s on the inside and not merely outward popularity. 

     Is it hard to make such good choices?  Yes.  Even Samuel was fooled when he saw Saul.  He too thought, “This big, strong man must be a king.”  And when Samuel went to find the new king, he was still fooled.  When he saw David’s oldest brother, Elias, big and strong, Samuel thought in 16:6, “Surely the Lord’s man stands right here.”  But God whispered to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height…The Lord does not see as man sees.  Man looks at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart.”   Listen.  If you want to keep on the right spiritual, moral, and ethical path over the course of many years, then learn to look inwardly at people and situations as you make choices.  Stop looking only with your physical eyes at how things seem on the outside.  Look deeply at the truth and choose wisely.   The number one reason for life failures is bad choices.

      So what happened to King Saul?  Why did he fall?  Saul seemed to start well.  He was not a bad man.  In I Samuel 10:9, God even gave him a new heart.  But Saul allowed sin to enter and he followed his ego driven desires.  Saul reached for his own glory as a leader.  Saul wanted to please people and be popular.  Saul was jealous of others.  You see Saul made bad choices.  But even more crucially, Saul allowed deceit to enter his heart.  Listen, when Saul was caught in his sin by Samuel in Chapter 15, he fell on his knees and asked forgiveness.  But he did not change.  His confession was not sincere.  Saul had allowed deceit to grow in his heart.  I have known people caught in sin that cried and begged for forgiveness.  They swear it will never happen again.  But they go back to the same failures. Their hearts are deceiving others and even themselves.  Over the next weeks, we will see that David will also make very bad decisions.  But his heart is not deceitful. He is always sincere to seek God. 

      You know, as we journey on the many years of life, we must constantly and consistently guard our hearts against deceit and deceitful influences.  Particularly as we grow older, our hearts can fool us.  Deceit tells us that we can handle this sin.  Deceit tells us that no one will find out.  Deceit tells us that we will just do it one more time.  But in the end, we are crushed by our deceit.  The news is filled daily with the fall of heroes, leaders, and stars who were fooled.  Saul was the same.  Don’t let it happen to you. 

      The Christian life is a long journey and we can get lost on the way.  The first place we get lost is by our bad decisions.  We see only the surface of a situation and we do not look inwardly at the truth.  But crucially is what is on the inside.  Bad decisions will trip us up but deceit in the heart will doom us.   Is there deceit in your heart?  Are you lying to yourself like Saul?  Or do you have a heart like David?  A sincere heart.  A heart like God’s heart.   Guard your heart.  Constantly and consistently guard your heart from deceit.  Even if you fall, and you will.  Even if you fail, and you will.  If your heart is sincere to seek God, then you will find your way on your journey.   Amen.