GOD SEES OUR HEART

1 Samuel 16:7

God looks at the heart. The heart in Scripture is a person’s inner moral and spiritual life. Proverbs 4:23 explains that everything we do flows from our hearts. The heart is the core, the inner essence of who we are: “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:45).

II Chronicles 16:9 says the eyes of God are continually roaming throughout the earth to strengthen people whose hearts are fully committed to Him. God can peer into our hearts, examine our motivations, and know everything there is to know about us (Psalm 139:1). God knows if a person will be faithful. God sees what people can’t see.

The Bible has a lot to say about the intentions of the heart, our motives. A motive is the underlying reason for any action. Proverbs 16:2 says, “All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord.” The heart is very deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9); we can easily fool ourselves about our own motives. We can pretend that we are choosing certain actions for God or the benefit of others, when in reality we have selfish reasons. God is not fooled by our selfishness and is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Human beings can operate from a variety of motivations, often negative, pride, anger, revenge, a sense of entitlement, or the desire for approval can all be reasons for our actions. Any motivation that originates in our sinful flesh is not pleasing to God (Romans 8:8). Because our hearts are so deceitful, we should constantly evaluate our own motives and be willing to be honest with ourselves about why we are choosing a certain action.

So what is the right motivation? I Thessalonians 2:4 says, “Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts”). God is interested in our motives even more than our actions. I Corinthians 4:5 says that, when Jesus comes again, “he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.” God wants us to know that He sees what no one else sees. He knows why we do what we do and desires to reward those whose hearts are right toward Him.

Motivation becomes an issue when we are not honest with ourselves about why we are doing things. When we give the outward appearance of obeying God but our hearts are hard, God knows. We are deceiving ourselves and others, too. The only way we can operate from pure motives is when we “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 25). When we allow Him to control every part of us, then our desire is to please Him and not ourselves. Our flesh constantly clamors to exalt itself, and only when we walk in the Spirit will we not gratify those desires of our flesh.

People tend to judge the character and worth of others by looking at outward appearances. But God has the unique ability to see inside a person. God knows our true character because he “looks at the heart.”

When the time had come for Samuel to anoint Israel’s next king, Samuel looked at all of David’s seven brothers, but God rejected them all as His choice for king. God was looking for someone who had a faithful heart. After Samuel passed over the other brothers, they sent for David, who was out tending the sheep. When David came before Samuel the Lord said, “This is the one” (I Samuel 16:12).
David was God’s choice, imperfect but faithful, a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). David was not a striking figure. But David had developed a heart after God. In his time alone in the fields, shepherding the flocks, David had come to know God as his Shepherd (Psalm 23).

Appearances can be deceiving. The outward appearance doesn’t reveal what people are really like. Physical looks don’t show us a person’s value or character or integrity or faithfulness to God. Outward qualities are, by definition, superficial. Moral and spiritual considerations are far more important to God.

David was far from perfect. He committed adultery and murder (II Samuel 11). But God saw in David a man of deep, abiding faith who was wholly committed to Him. God saw a man who would depend on Him for strength and guidance (I Samuel 17:45, 47; 23:2). God saw a man who would recognize his sin and failure and who would repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness (II Samuel 12). God saw in David a man who loved his Lord; a man who worshiped his Lord with all his being (II Samuel 6:14); a man who had experienced God’s cleansing and forgiveness (Psalm 51) and had come to understand the depths of God’s love for him (Psalm 13:5-6; 106:1). God saw a man with a sincere and personal relationship with his Creator. When God looked at the heart of David, He saw a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22). Like Samuel, we can’t see what the Lord sees, and we must rely on Him for wisdom. And we can trust that, when God looks at our hearts, He sees our faithfulness, our true character, and our value as individuals.

GOD KNOWING YOUR HEART IS THE BASIS FOR REWARD

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1). It is so easy sometimes to focus on what you do. What you must also focus on is why you do it. Have you ever felt overlooked? Have you ever poured your all into something only for your motives to be questioned? One of the other reasons you can find comfort that God knows your heart is because it is the basis for your reward. In this verse in Matthew, Jesus is telling us there are people out there who do the right thing for the wrong reasons. 

Outwardly they may look holy, selfless, prayerful, humble and any other type of spiritual look. However inwardly they are only doing it to be seen or some other selfish motive. They have the wrong heart. Isn’t it good to know that when you do something with the right heart and motive that God sees it? When you help in secret not because you want to be seen but you want to be a blessing, God sees that. Everything you do for God that is done with the right heart and attitude, God sees it and will reward you for it. The reward may not come in this life, but God will reward you, nonetheless. That’s why you don’t need to search for validation from others, but you can find validation from God who looks and sees what you do and knows the motives of your heart.

WHEN GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART IT POSITIONS YOU TO EXPERIENCE HIS GRACE

We often think of grace as God giving us what we don’t deserve, which is true, but God’s grace also refers to his strength to help us in time of need.  II Corinthians 12:9 says; “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

God’s power of grace is made effective in your life when you are aware of your weaknesses. What makes this verse more amazing is God knows our heart and weakness and, despite that, is ready and willing to pour out strength to help us overcome them. However, to access that strength he is looking for people that will acknowledge their weaknesses. We can make the critical mistake of running from God because of our weaknesses, in effect, we are running from grace. We need to run to God with our weaknesses because there we will find grace. You will ultimately discover that God who knows your heart will make his power perfect in the place of your greatest weakness. When you are honest about what is in your heart, which God knows anyway, this will not push God away. The opposite happens because God responds to you when you are honest about what is in your heart and that positions you to receive his grace (Psalm 51:17).

We must go to God. Just the way we are with no pretenses. Simply put God is looking for people who will examine their hearts, acknowledge what is in there, and come to him to allow him to deal with it. Best of all God already knows your heart and you can take comfort in knowing that he sees what is in your heart and he is willing to help anyway. This is just how wonderful our God truly is.