Saul was handsome, and stood head and shoulders above everyone else—he just looked like a king. So, apparently, did Jesse’s oldest son Eliab. So Samuel expected Eliab to be God’s choice as the next king. But God let Samuel know that he was seeking a person who was truly a king on the inside, not just one who looked regal on the outside.

• The pivotal truth in this passage is, “Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart.” Whether you make hiring decisions for a company, or just form an opinion about your child’s new teacher or your new neighbor, how big a role do external appearances play in your evaluation of others? Have you ever found that your initial judgment was mistaken?
• The truth God taught Samuel has another dimension. “Humans see only what is visible to the eyes, but the Lord sees into the heart” reminds us that we can’t always precisely assess another person’s motives or heart. Have you ever been sure you knew what was in another person’s heart, for good or (more often, it seems) for ill, but found later that you’d been mistaken? What helps you remember to leave the judging to God (cf. Matthew 7:1-5)?