1st Samuel 5:1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
The fact is that God is a Spirit, and as such He reads between the lines correctly, and He takes motives, intentions, purposes, objectives and one’s vein of thought, together with a person’s knowledge into account when evaluating a person’s actions. We often do not or cannot see these invisible things and therefore our evaluations and assessments are very often entirely different to God’s when drawing conclusions about persons. This became evident as Samuel went to anoint a new king for Israel.
At that time, he saw the first son of Jessie, and said the Lord’s anointed is before Him. Yet the infinite perspective revealed that God had refused him. In other words, what seemed to Samuel as the perfect fit for a king, was in God’s eyes, an absolute non-starter. Jessie’s first son might be tall handsome and muscular, and he may have been well educated in the higher schools of learning in Israel, but as far as God is concerned, these do not in any way represent the essentials that matter to God.
While as finite mortals we often take education, and physical fitness into account, when making a determination about some person, God on the other hand takes into consideration characteristics such as meekness, humility, obedience, and the willingness to listen whenever God speaks. Thus, in many instances, God’s choices and ours are often found to be at loggerheads. The reason for these differences in seeing things is explained in the following passages.
1st Samuel 16: 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is before him. 7 But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees for man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart.
May The Lord add His blessing to the study of His word. God bless!