Lenten Devotion: The Heart God Sees
THE FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT
1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23; Ephesians 5:1-14; John 9:1-41
In our Old Testament reading Samuel the prophet is commanded by God to go and anoint a new king over the nation of Israel. Samuel went to Jesse, a man of Bethlehem who had several sons. All the sons stood before Samuel, one after the other, and they were rejected. I Samuel 16:7-11 (ESV): "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.' Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, 'Neither has the LORD chosen this one.' Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, 'Neither has the LORD chosen this one.' And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, 'The LORD has not chosen these.' 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.'"
Man sees the outside of a person, but God sees into our hearts. When the Lord looks into your heart and my heart, what does He see? We know from Scripture that the Lord chose David — who was flawed, but faithful to God. David was a shepherd. He spent many hours alone shepherding the flocks. He came to know God as his shepherd, as we see in our Psalm reading.
What springs from our hearts? Proverbs 4:23 (ESV) says "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." The Hebrew word for 'keep' can also be translated 'guard.' We are to guard our hearts. Why? Everything — the very essence of who we are — flows from our core. From our heart flows the springs of life. In the book of Acts we see David's heart. Acts 13:22 (NAS95): "After He had removed him, [Saul] He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND IN DAVID the son of Jesse A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.'"
Did David ever fail? Yes. I fail. You fail. But we have a God who is gracious, merciful, and steadfast in His love. He forgives and He forgets our sin. Psalm 103:12 (NASB): "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our wrongdoings from us." God knows the intent and the motive of our hearts. The heart refers to the seat of our emotions, desires, motives, and will. We try to be righteous in our own strength, but due to our human frailty, righteousness is only accomplished through the Holy Spirit who abides in us.
The human condition often leads us down dark avenues. We reject God's Spirit working within us and follow our own path. We, like the blind man in our Gospel reading who was born blind, are born with a sin nature that at times prohibits us from seeing or even seeking the light. We reject God's invitation and walk our own path, where impurity and idolatry reign in our hearts, minds, and souls. Our mouths spew poison. We deceive ourselves. We compare ourselves to others and falsely say, "I'm not so bad!" When we look in the mirror we are looking at our outward appearance and seem to have it all together. Meanwhile we stay away from the light. It is only when we hit rock bottom that we see our own depravity and sin-filled hearts, and then cry out to God for mercy. He comes so quickly, does He not? It is almost as if He was right there waiting outside the door of our hearts for these words: Help me, Jesus! It has been my experience that that agonizing cry is always answered in the affirmative.
Ephesians 5:13-14 (NASB) — "But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, 'Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'" We were awakened from sleep and spiritual death. Jesus, in His grace and mercy, shone His light into our darkened hearts. We are undone. We confess. We repent. We are restored. We are forgiven. Psalm 23 — The Lord is our Shepherd, who guides, who guards, and who protects. We will lack no good thing. He leads us to rest. He leads us to the living water of His Word so that we can be about His business. He constantly restores our souls. Why? Because we are in close fellowship and relationship with Him. His Holy Spirit and His Word reveal within our core when we stray from His path, and we right ourselves and turn from our fleshly ways and run back to His way.
Life is hard. There are times we will suffer. Yet we know that Jesus is our hope and He is our stay. We are not alone in this journey of life. We do not have to be afraid of the evil one or his minions. God has encompassed us with His blood. We can rejoice and be thankful that we are clothed in His righteousness to serve Him in the power of the Holy Spirit within us. God is a good, good God. He is faithful and merciful. We can look forward to that great and glorious day when we will be with Him forever. Amen.
Daily Prayer Rhythms
Early Morning — Pray (or sing) the Lord's Prayer — S-L-O-W-L-Y
Mid-Day — Pray for the lost
Evening — Gratitude — Give the Lord thanks (DAYENU* — IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ENOUGH — BUT GOD DID MORE)
*Dayenu is a Hebrew word that means "it would have been enough." It is also the title of a traditional song sung during Passover, expressing gratitude for the many blessings God bestowed upon the Jewish people.