How God Takes Your Measure
Good morning. When God takes the measure of a person, he measures what is inside, not the dimensions that are visible to the world. It is always a matter of the heart.
President Abraham Lincoln was blessed with a disarming and engaging ability to laugh at himself. This was especially true when the topic was of his personal appearance. When Senator Stephen A. Douglas once referred to him in a discourse on the Senate floor as a “two faced man,” Lincoln replied “I leave this to the good judgement of the complete Senate. If I had another face, do you truly think I would be wearing this one?”
Another time he told a group of newspaper editors about meeting a woman while riding horseback through the woods. “She looked at me intently, and said, ‘I do believe you are the ugliest man I ever saw.’ Said I, ‘Madam, you may well be right about that, but I can’t help it.’ ‘No,’ she responded back to me, ‘but surely you could do a better job of staying at home!’”
If you have seen a picture of Abraham Lincoln, it is hard to argue with such assessments regarding his physical appearance. He was not, shall we say, an attractive man. However, when any of us think of Abraham Lincoln, do we consider whether or not he was handsome or ugly? Of course not! He is remembered as the president who saw this nation through the horrors of a civil war. He is remembered for his courage and determination to bring about the abolition of slavery. He is often held up as one of our finest examples of remarkable patience, honesty, determination, strong will, compassion, thoughtfulness, and selflessness. These inner qualities formed the man, and it is for those qualities he is honored as one of our greatest presidents.
When Paul is defending Jesus Christ as the Messiah of God while speaking to the Jews and Gentiles of Pisidian Antioch he tells them of God’s choice to replace Saul as the king of Israel with David. He said: Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’
Paul is quoting from 1 Samuel 13:14 when God recognizes King David as one whom He calls “a man after my own heart.” What a remarkable statement that is! What are the qualifications to be considered as a man after God’s own heart? Did it require absolute obedience to God’s will? Apparently not, because David certainly failed in this from time to time. Did it require a person of moral and spiritual purity? Apparently not, because again, David failed spectacularly in these areas from time to time. To be honest, David was both an adulterer and a murderer.
To understand, we must go back to the initial point made, and that was not of my own imagining but comes directly from scripture as God tells Samuel about His selection of David as king: But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Let’s consider these five reasons why David could be given this distinction by God:
1. The Lord was his rock and fortress. Psalms 18:2; 31:2,3; 62:2,6; 94:22
2. The Lord was his shepherd. Psalm 23
3. The Lord was his light and his salvation. Psalm 27:1; 68:19
4. The Lord was his daily strength and shield. Psalm 18:2; 28:7; 140:7
5. The Lord was his constant trust. Psalm 25:2; 20:5; 13:7; 31:14
I encourage you to look through the Psalms and read these words from David, written to help express his never ending love for the Lord and his joy in knowing that he, although a sinner, was loved by God and forgiven.
When God takes your measure today it will be from the inside, not what the world around you might see. In every instance that David writes and sings of the Lord his God, those words, thoughts, and songs apply to each of us as well. We are all His children: men, women, and youth.
So, rejoice! Through the work of Jesus Christ you are His child, a person after His own heart!
Vern