God Looks at the Heart, Not the Body | 1 Samuel 16:7 Devotional + Workout

Devotional

“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.””

We’ve already touched on the story of David and Goliath in our Psalm 33:16 devotional, but that is only scratching the surface of the story of David.

Just before that story, in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is being tasked by the Lord to anoint a son of Jesse as king of Israel after the Lord rejected Saul as king. David was the last of Jesse’s sons to pass before Samuel, because Jesse thought as a man would.

Saul was tall and large in stature with 1 Samuel 9:2 saying “…From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people”. Naturally when Jesse put forth a replacement, he attempted to find someone equally powerful in appearance.

This is not what the Lord wanted. He wanted the young boy; the youngest and shortest of the brothers Samuel was to choose from. This was in direct contrast to what the Israelites chose as their first king and goes to show that the Lord’s way of thinking is far beyond our comprehension.

Ironically, not only did the Lord find David worthy of kingship, but David also found favor with Saul. While Saul originally favored David, Saul’s favor eventually turned to jealousy. David began by playing the lyre to refresh Saul’s spirit, but eventually made a name for himself in battle. 1 Samuel 18:7 says,

“And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.””

The Lord saw the promise in David from the very beginning. He could see in David’s heart that even though he was just a small shepherd boy playing the lyre, one day he would become one of the greatest warriors in Israel.

We must think in the same way. While a strong physique can be a byproduct of discipline, it was never meant to be the goal.

God is not concerned with how we look on the outside, but with who we are becoming on the inside. If our focus is only on appearance, we’re chasing what man sees—not what God values.

Workout

Below is the workout for the day.

Three things to consider when completing this workout:

1. We are doing plenty of doubles for our main lift today. You should go heavy enough that you barely get the first five sets, then miss the last rep of your last set.

2. When you do cable curls, take the bar to your forehead. This is a personal preference, but I have seen better results with cables doing them this way.

3. If you have the space, do your upright rows over your head, but keep your palms down. This could be considered a high pull.

Pull-Up

6 sets of 2 reps

DB Chest-Supported Row

4 sets of 10 reps

Cable Bicep Curl

4 sets of 10 reps

Upright Row

4 sets of 10 reps

Chin-Up

2 sets of max reps