At various times, we’ve all sized someone up, made assumptions about their character, only to learn that our assumptions were completely wrong.

We have a natural inclination to judge people based on outward appearances, but as our passage reminds us this morning – God does not judge people based upon their outward appearances, but upon their heart.

We’ll see three things this morning: first, man looks at outward appearance (vv. 1-6), second, God looks at the heart (v. 7), and lastly, we’re reminded that God often equips the overlooked (vv. 8-13).

Confession is a powerful thing—but only when it is genuine.

Many people believe that saying “I have sinned” is enough. They assume that if they admit their wrongdoing, everything is made right. But true repentance is more than words—it is a forsaking of sin, a turning of the heart towards Christ, and a sincere pursuit of obedience to Him.

Imagine a person who gives generously to the church, volunteers for every ministry, and sings loudly in worship—but at home, they neglect their family, harbor secret sin, and refuse to submit to God’s Word. From the outside, they seem devoted, but their heart is far from God.

This is exactly what we see in the life of King Saul in 1 Samuel 14:47–15:23. Saul was a man who started with great potential, yet he consistently failed where it mattered most: in obeying God.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Legalism is the act of putting a human tradition in the place of God’s law and making obedience to that tradition the grounds of salvation.”

Saul bound everyone to his vow as if it came from the lips of God himself, and then he performed several religious acts in an attempt to earn favor with God. As interesting as it may sound, Saul too is a legalist.

Our passage teaches us three things about legalism: first, legalism places heavy burdens on God's people (vv. 24-30), second, legalism will drive you to sin (vv. 31-35), and lastly, legalism leads to division (vv. 36-46).

The central theme of Jonathan and his armor bearer’s story isn’t about military conquest and personal bravery. It’s a story about God and how he fought for them. After all it was the Lord who threw the Philistines into a confusion and caused them to turn their swords on one another.

And so, from this passage we learn about how the Lord fights: first, we must remember that victory does not come through human strength. Second, we’re reminded that if God is for us, who can be against us? And lastly, in the moments of doubt, remember that the battle belongs to the Lord.

In 1 Samuel 13, Saul finds himself in a pressure cooker situation. The Philistine army has gathered in massive numbers—chariots, horsemen, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore to prepare for war. Saul’s own men are trembling with fear, and many of them are running away. And as his men are fleeing in droves, and the Philistine army is looking more and more ominous, Saul is forced to wait for days on end for Samuel to offer the sacrifices to the Lord.

And of course, we know what happened: as the pressure continued to build Saul decided the best course of action was to defy the word of God and offer the sacrifices himself, and in doing so, he exposed his heart. And we learn several things from this passage: first, we learn that Saul did not wholly trust the Word of God, second, we see that Saul believed it was his own efforts that would protect him, which of course exposed Saul’s weakness as king.

In our passage, we’re reminded that Christians are called to serve and obey the Lord. In fact, it’s exactly what Samuel told the people of Israel in verse 14, “If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.”

Verse 13: “...today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.” You see there’s a clear parallel that you and I must consider: Just as the people of Israel were dependent upon their king to save them, so you and I are dependent upon a king to save us.

We’re totally dependent upon Jesus for our salvation! We must rely on Jesus Christ.

This morning we find ourselves at a pivotal moment in Israel’s history: the coronation of Saul as the first king in Israel. It was supposed to be an exciting, joyous day in Israel, because they finally got what they so desperately wanted: a king.

The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that every detail of your life and of this world is under the sovereign control of God Almighty.

Which is exactly what we see in our passage. It’s another ordinary day for Saul, but God’s providence is quietly working behind the scenes.

God's providence is evident in the anointing of Saul as Israel's first king, reminding us that His holy will is not restricted in any way by human expectations.

The people of Israel have collectively decided that all their problems will be solved if only they had a king. And as we’ll see the problem wasn’t necessarily that they requested a king, but rather what the request suggested: they’d rather depend on themselves than depend on the Lord. They wanted to be self-reliant. They wanted to be totally independent - and that was the problem!

The great puritan writer, Thomas Watson actually wrote a short book called The Doctrine of Repentance. In it he wrote:

“When a spring of repentance is open in the heart, a spring of mercy is open in heaven.”

If you truly repent of your sin and turn to Jesus, you will experience the grace, mercy, and forgiveness of the Lord. There is a direct correlation between repentance and mercy.

You’d expect Israel to know what to do with the ark of the covenant. But really that’s just a symptom of a greater problem: no one knew how to approach God almighty.

It’s absolutely critical that you and I know how to approach God almighty. This passage plays out in three parts: first you must approach God with humility (vv. 1-12), second, you must approach God reverently (vv. 13-19), because, lastly, God is holy (vv. 20-7:2).

The Lord is the key to true lasting satisfaction and one day your idols will be broken into pieces and prostrated before God almighty. And this is precisely what our passage teaches us: God is greater than any idol.

When the ark of the covenant was captured by the Philistines, it was understood that God’s glory had departed from Israel.

And so this passage unfolds in three parts: First, we read the devastating news (vv. 12-17), then we read of Eli’s tragic death (vv. 18), and how all of those things pointed to the departure of God’s glory (vv. 19-22).

Which is what we just read in this passage: the Israelites have a superstitious faith in the ark of the covenant rather than God. The ark of the covenant was the Israelites holy lance. If they just carry this thing into battle, they would be guaranteed victory.

When superstition replaces our faith a few things happen: First, our trust is misplaced (vv. 1-3), second God simply becomes a means to an end (vv. 4-10), because lastly, we then deny God’s sovereignty (v. 11).

So the leadership goes, so the church goes.

Our passage this morning highlights the corruption, evil, and utter disregard for the Lord that was taking place in Israel.

And of course, this passage highlights the leadership vacuum in Israel, and how corruption, immorality, and a disregard for the Lord flourished.

We see several things from this passage: First we see corrupted worship (vv. 11-21), second we see God’s anger kindled (vv. 22-25), and yet, even in the midst of corruption and evil you and I can rest that God is still at work (vv. 26-36).

Hannah simply prays to express her thankfulness to God. Hannah’s prayer of thanksgiving is a poetic summary of chapter 1 and as she looks back on her life, she sees God’s goodness, faithfulness and blessings.

Her prayer of thankfulness breaks down into three parts: First, Hannah expresses praise to God simply for who He is (vv. 1-2), second, she thanks God for what he has done (vv. 3-8), and lastly, she looks forward with hopeful anticipation to what God will do (vv. 9-10).

Not only does Hannah make a heavy vow to dedicate her son to God, she actually follows through with it. And the passage that we’re looking at this morning breaks down simply into two parts: Hannah’s faithfulness to God (vv. 24-26) and God’s faithfulness to Hannah (vv. 27-28).