Opening Prayer: mau

Opening question: how’s your heart ?

BIBLE VERSE TO REFLECT ON:

 1 samuel 16:7
“THE LORD DOES NOT LOOK AT THE THINGS MAN LOOKS AT. MAN LOOKS AT THE OUTWARD
APPEARANCE BUT THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART. “ –niv

Follow up verse .

Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm
37:4

This verse has often been misunderstood. Many have thought that if they delight themselves in
the Lord, every desire they’ve ever had would come to pass. However, this is not what this verse
is saying. This is saying that when you delight yourself in the Lord, the things you desire change.
God begins to give you new desires.
psalms 37:4

Point of view:

Who are we talking in the passage?

*God’s People-Israel

Who knows Saul?

The story of Saul.

We are talking here about God's people - Israel. They, at this time, had a king. He was their very first king.
They never had a king until they got him. His name was Saul. Saul was a very handsome man, taller by a
head and shoulders than most of his contemporaries. He was a very gifted and courageous man but God
was removing him. He was rejected by God from being king. Not because he lacked courage as I said, nor
because he lacked intelligence or leadership or appeal of many kinds. The reason for God's rejection of
Saul was that he had disobeyed God. The Lord is not as interested in the details of our lives as in whether
we will obey Him or not.

My concern is with this text: THE LORD DOES NOT LOOK AT THE THINGS MAN LOOKS AT. MAN LOOKS AT
THE OUTWARD APPEARANCE BUT THE LORD LOOKS AT THE HEART. There are three things there. First of
all notice, we are told that God's judgement is entirely different from the judgements of men. The next
thing we are told is that men judge by outward things. Then, most important of all, we are told that God
judges, not at all by outward things, but by the heart.
Questions:

1. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THE 'HEART'?

In Bible language the word 'heart' means the soul. We know that the Bible's description of a
human being is that we are not simply body but also soul. This is the difference between angels,
human beings and animals. There is a sort of gradation - God has made these three different
forms of created beings. Angels have a soul but no body; they are non-physical. Animals have a
body but no soul; they are purely physical. When they are dead they are finished. Human beings
are intermediate between angels and animals. We have both a body and a soul. The soul, of
course, cannot be seen but it lives in the body and it operates on all the faculties of the mind,
emotions, memory. If you want a somewhat crude illustration you could think of a person sitting
at a Word Processor or keyboard with monitor. The soul is all day long sitting in front of the
computer which is our brain and all the faculties that we have; the soul is, as it were, touching
the keys and telling you what to do. If I want to go to the door, it's my soul telling the brain to
move in that direction. If I want to write a letter it's the soul telling the computer in the brain
that you must get paper and pen, an envelope and a stamp. It's the soul that is doing all these
things. The body doesn't do all these things in and of itself; it is the soul which is doing it. The
heart is the real you. It is not these things that God is looking at; He is looking at something else
- the heart
2. WHAT IS GOD LOOKING FOR IN THE HEART?

Listen to my text again: "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward
appearance but the Lord looketh on the heart" (text). That is what He is looking at and upon
when you and I come to this place to worship Him. When we sing are we singing as unto God?
Then we pray. Are we concentrating on God - or are we, in our heads, making the dinner and
thinking of tomorrow's duties? God forgive us - we have all done that, myself as well. But those
who worship God acceptably must do it in spirit and in truth.

how important the heart is in the thinking of the Bible

Christ said, "For from within, out of the heart of men" that sin comes (Mark 7, 21). "Keep thy
heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (Proverbs 4, 23): the way you are going
to live your life, the one you will marry, the job you will do, the style of your life, the way you
will die - it all comes out of the heart; that's the fountain of life. "Give me thine heart" (Proverbs
23, 26), says God.

*IF GOD LOOKS AT THE HEART WE MUST TAKE CARE TO KEEP OUR
HEARTS

So, my dear friends, be of good cheer and rejoice that if your heart is right with
God He knows and His blessing will be upon you, not only for your lifetime but
for all eternity.

Why do we make this design in live prod. Or in any event in elevate?

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be
felt with the heart.
- Helen Keller

In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. - Mahatma Gandhi