The Head And Shoulders Man

"There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish...
And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul.
There was not a more handsome person than he, among the children of Israel.
From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people."
1st Samuel 9:1-2

Israel demanded a king so they could be "like all the nations." In other words, God wasn't enough for them, they wanted to be like everyone else. Samuel who was the prophet at the time, brought their words to the Lord, and the Lord answered him:

“Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you,
for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me,
that I should not reign over them."
1st Samuel 8:7

Ok, so you want to be like everyone else? Here's your king! Saul was a very attractive man, "a head and shoulders" man, tall and handsome, and they were overjoyed to have him as their king.

But as the story goes on, they came to see what kind of man this handsome one really was. He was not a man after God's own heart, and he failed miserably. In the end, he disobeyed God and lost the kingdom because of that disobedience. But not only did he lose the kingdom - he went to a medium in the town of Endor seeking information about a battle he was planning to engage in - and for that - for going to a medium - he lost his life. Thus was the story of the handsome king they demanded. This was the end result of the head and shoulders man.

"All that glitters is not gold..."

The fallen human being lacks wisdom, and when facing a choice they look with the eye. If he's looking for a spouse, a man will ask is she thin, curvy and beautiful? A woman will ask is he tall and handsome?

The attractiveness of a person can so overwhelm the senses that that's all one sees, the beauty, the attractiveness.

A man wants to swoon just at looking at her, and that's where he can make the biggest mistake of his life, because outward beauty has absolutely nothing to do with the person's character. In fact, it often conceals pride and vanity that the beautiful one acquires from the accolades of people. They are often spoiled, often narcissists.

Beauty is terribly deceiving. It can destroy a life. In fact, a beautiful person is oftentimes a vain and proud person because he or she has been adored for their beauty, and that kind of thing causes pride and destroys the soul. Pride is a sure and certain destroyer.

After the miserable failure of Saul, God set up his own man to be king over Israel. He didn't look for another handsome man, in fact the story is quite comical. God sent the prophet Samuel to the family of Jesse of Bethlehem, and Samuel told Jesse that one of his sons was going to be chosen as Israel's king. So Jesse calls his firstborn who would surely be chosen, but the Lord said that no, this is not the one. Surprised, Jesse presents his second son thinking this must really be the one then - but the Lord said no, this is not the one. Confused now, Jesse sent each of his sons down to the 7th, but not one of them was chosen. What to do? Samuel asked Jesse if these were all his sons and Jesse answered that there was one other, the youngest, and he was out tending the sheep. Impossible! The firstborn overlooked and now we are to bring the youngest? The one who was out in the fields??? Can't be. Well ok, someone go get him. And when the youngest, David, was brought before the prophet, there he was - this is the one God has chosen to be king over Israel. Can you imagine all of them standing there with their mouths open, incredulous?

God said to Samuel:

“Do not look at his (Saul's) appearance or at his physical stature,
because I have refused him;
for the Lord does not see as man sees;
for man looks at the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1st Samuel 16:7

If you look for beauty you will be disappointed because beauty is very deceiving. Beauty walks hand in hand with pride and there isn't a greater destroyer than pride. Pride is what brought Satan down. He was the most beautiful of all the angels, and his pride brought him down.

"Pride goes before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a fall."
Proverbs 16:18

"By pride comes nothing but strife..."
Proverbs 13:10

"When pride comes, then comes shame;"
Proverbs 11:2

The moral to the story is to bring every decision before the Lord and be careful to follow his leading. If you judge according to your fallen human nature, if you judge according to your eyes, if you judge with wrong motive, your wrong decision will bring you much misery in life. Better to let the Lord lead, and to follow his lead even if it doesn't flatter your ego. Especially if it doesn't flatter your ego.