Sunday Scripture

 

 It's time for another Sunday Scripture!  This is part of an ongoing series on my simple study of Rachel Wojo's Everything Beautiful.  You can read about the plan here if you are interested in it for yourself: Everything Beautiful Bible reading plan. My answers and input on this series are a combination of what I learned back in 2018, and what I found in looking over the Scriptures now, six years later.  I'm attempting to SOAP the passages too, though some of them are longer. [Quick reminder that S stands for Scripture; O stands for observation; A stands for application, and P stands for prayer.]  Today's study is from 1 Samuel 16:1-7.  

S= "And the LORD said unto Samuel,  How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?  fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided Me a king from among his sons.
"And Samuel said, how can I go?  if Saul hear it, he will kill me.  And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
"And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto Me him whom I name unto thee.
"And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem.  And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?
"And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.  And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
"And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him.
"But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."  (1 Samuel 16:1-7)

O= In the Scofield Study Bible, C.I. Scofield titles verses 1-11 "Samuel sent to Bethlehem."

The background to this passage is found in 1 Samuel 15, verses 23 and 26.  Because Saul had rejected God's Word and disobeyed Him, God rejected Saul from being king over Israel.

Here in 1 Samuel 16:1, God tells Samuel to fill his horn with oil (for use in anointing a successor to Saul) and go to Jesse, the Bethlehemite.  God had chosen one of Jesse's sons to be the next king.

Samuel questioned God: "How can I go?  If Saul hears of it, he will kill me."  (Probably not an inaccurate conclusion to draw.)

The Lord's instruction to Samuel was to take a heifer with him to Bethlehem and to say he had come there to sacrifice to the LORD.  He was to call Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice.  God would then show Samuel what to do and whom to anoint.  

Samuel obeyed the Lord's instructions, but his coming filled the elders of the town with fear, and they asked him, "Comest thou peaceably?"

Samuel replied, "Peaceably.  I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD.  Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice."  He then sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.  

When they arrived, Samuel looked at Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, and said, "Surely the LORD's anointed is before Him."

But the LORD said ... [and don't forget that "but" always indicates a change of direction!]
* Look not on his countenance
* Look not on his stature
-- because I have refused him.

The LORD sees not as man sees:
* Man looks on the outward appearance,
BUT
* The LORD looks on the heart.

Cross-reference for "rejected" (v.1) -- "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee from being king."  (1 Samuel 15:23)

Cross-reference for "oil" (v.1) -- "Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon [Saul's] head, and kissed him, and said, "Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee king over His inheritance?"  (1 Samuel 10:1) 

Cross-references for "Jesse" (v.1) -- "And the women, [Naomi's] neighbors, gave him a name, saying, There is a son born to Naomi, and they called his name Obed; he is the father of Jesse, the father of David."  (Ruth 4:17)

"Now David was the son of that Ephrathite at Bethlehem-Judah, whose name was Jesse, who had eight sons, and the man went among men as an old man in the days of Saul."  (1 Samuel 17:12)

Cross-references for  "king" (v.1) -- "And it came to pass after this, that David inquired of the LORD, saying, shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?  And the LORD said unto him, Go up.  And David said, Where shall I go up?  And He said, Unto Hebron.  So David went up there .... And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Israel."  (2 Samuel 2:1-4)

Cross-references for "sanctify yourselves" (v.5) -- "Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the foreign gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments."  (Genesis 35:2)

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them, today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes."  (Exodus 19:10)

Crosss-references for "Eliab" (v.6) -- "And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle, and the names of his three sons, who went to the battle were Eliab, the firstborn, and next unto him, Abinadab, the third, Shammah."  (1 Samuel 17:13)

"And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when [David] spoke unto the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down here?  And with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness?  I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou are come down that thou mightest see the battle."  (1 Samuel 17:28)

Cross-reference for "look not" (v.7) -- "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD,  For as the heavens are high above the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."  (Isaiah 55:8-9)

Cross-references for "outward appearance" (v. 7) -- "Do ye look on things after the outward appearance?"  (1 Corinthians 10:7a)

"But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."  (1 Peter 3:4)

Cross-reference for "heart" (v.7) -- "Then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart Thou knowest; (for Thou, even Thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men)."  (1 Kings 8:39)

A= For this Scripture, there were also a number of ways to apply it as prompted in the journal.  

"I want my eyes to develop a heart viewing pattern." -- Rachel Wojo

This thought of course echoes verse 7, which tells us, "The LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

 
Rachel also shares a "focus word" in each of the devotional pages.  For this lesson the focus word is "looks". 

 

Remember to look at circumstances through the lens of God's Word and character.  Remember too that God alone sees the heart and God alone knows the truth of every situation. 

The question was asked: What season or circumstance in life challenges me to see God's gifts of beauty?

My response in 2018: Mud season!  It is hideously ugly.  I detest mud.  Yet this ugly season has to happen before spring can come to New Hampshire.

Answering this same question in 2024:  Uncertainty.  Our country is in a mess.  But God is in control, and He never changes.

This prompt was given, along with a list: Today I will keep my eyes open for God's beauty in one or more of these places.

These are the places I circled: The words I read; the places I go; the music I hear; the people I encounter; the food I eat;  the air I breathe; the weather I experience; the rest I receive.

In 2024 I can note that for the words I read, I had in mind a line from a hymn: "Thy justice like mountains, high soaring above."  I think that's from the hymn "Immortal, Invisible".

 For the places I go, I mentioned the Blue Ridge Parkway and the seemingly endless mountain views.

For the music I hear,  I thought of the Appalachian style fiddle and banjo music we heard in many places in North Carolina and Tennessee -- just in downtown areas, for example.  We loved it!

For the people I encounter, I noted how that there in the mountains of North Carolina, people in general seemed more kind and thoughtful than they are in the northeast.

For the food I eat, I thought of some beautiful heirloom tomatoes we bought at a farmstand.

For the weather I experience, I mentioned mist over the mountaintops in the mornings.

A journaling prompt was this:  List one or more ideas to remind myself to intentionally look for God's beauty throughout the day.

My response in 2018: Walk outside if possible.  Take deep breaths, and listen for birdsong.  Pay attention to the moon (full in 2 more days) if the sky is clear enough to do so.  Enjoy any available warmth and sunshine. 

For my response in 2024, I added: Notice flowers.  So many beautiful flowers here in North Carolina.  Yesterday we stopped at a gift shop in Maggie Valley with the loveliest plantings of brilliantly colored impatiens.  Plan to have my quiet time outdoors whenever possible.

P= "Lord,  I do thank You that You don't see as man sees.  With our limited, finite vision, we look on the outward appearance, but You look on the hearts of people.  Help me to look beyond any ugliness and to see with eyes of faith. Mud season is indeed ugly, but it does carry the promise of spring -- flowers, green grass, birds, and more.  Uncertainty is a huge challenge, but it gives us the opportunity to trust You and to remember that You don't see as we do.  Help me to look beyond the circumstances to the good things that lie ahead.  I thank You for all You'll do, in Jesus' name, Amen."

 And there is this week's Sunday Scripture!  I pray it's a blessing to someone.