1 Samuel 16:7

God tells Samuel not to judge by appearance, for the LORD looks at the heart. This is a foundational truth about how God evaluates people.

Cross-references · 26

• John 7:24Don’t judge according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”
• Jer 17:10“I, Yahweh, search the mind, I try the heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.”
• Luke 16:15He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts. For that which is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
• 1 Pet 3:4but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious.
• Isa 55:8–9“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” says Yahweh.
• Prov 16:2All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but Yahweh weighs the motives.
• Prov 31:30Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised.
• Ps 147:10–11He doesn’t delight in the strength of the horse. He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
• 1 Chr 28:9You, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Yahweh searches all hearts, and understands all the imaginations of the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever.
• 1 Kgs 8:39then hear in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to every man according to all his ways, whose heart you know; (for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men;)
• Acts 1:24They prayed, and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen
• Heb 4:13There is no creature that is hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and laid open before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.
• 2 Chr 16:9For Yahweh’s eyes run back and forth throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. You have done foolishly in this; for from now on you will have wars.”
• Ps 139:2You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar.
• Jer 20:12But, Yahweh of Armies, who tests the righteous, who sees the heart and the mind, let me see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause.
• Rev 2:23I will kill her children with Death, and all the assemblies will know that I am he who searches the minds and hearts. I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.
• 1 Sam 10:23–24They ran and got him there. When he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.
• 2 Cor 10:10For, “His letters”, they say, “are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.”
• 1 Sam 9:2He had a son, whose name was Saul, an impressive young man; and there was not among the children of Israel a better person than he. From his shoulders and upward he was taller than any of the people.
• Job 10:4Do you have eyes of flesh? Or do you see as man sees?
• 2 Sam 14:25Now in all Israel there was no one to be so much praised as Absalom for his beauty. From the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no defect in him.
• 1 Pet 2:4coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.
• Ps 7:9Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; their minds and hearts are searched by the righteous God.
• Prov 15:11Sheol and Abaddon are before Yahweh — how much more then the hearts of the children of men!
• Jer 11:20But, Yahweh of Armies, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and the mind, I shall see your vengeance on them; for to you I have revealed my cause.
• 2 Cor 10:7Do you look at things only as they appear in front of your face? If anyone trusts in himself that he is Christ’s, let him consider this again with himself, that, even as he is Christ’s, so also we are Christ’s.

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