1 Samuel 8–10; 13; 15–16: Lesson 73

1 Samuel 16

“The Lord Looketh on the Heart”

The Lord revealed to Samuel that He had chosen David to succeed Saul as king of Israel. Through this experience, Samuel learned that the Lord sees us differently than people usually see one another. This lesson can help students feel the importance of seeing themselves and others like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do.

Student preparation: Invite students to read 1 Samuel 16:7. Ask them to list next to the verse differences between what others sometimes value in people and what Heavenly Father values in us.

Possible Learning Activities

Hidden value

Consider beginning class by helping students realize that we can’t always see the worth of something by the package it is in. To do this, you might display two identical items in two different packages, or you might display items of different value in two identical packages. Before revealing the contents, invite a student to choose which package they want more. Ask them why they chose that package. Then reveal the contents of both packages.

• What problems can come from judging other people, or even judging ourselves, based only on what we can see?

• How is God’s view of us different than how we might view each other?

Consider displaying the following self-reflection prompts.

Ponder and complete the following prompts in your study journal:

1. When someone first meets me, I think they are most likely to notice .

2. I believe Heavenly Father sees the following qualities in me that many others don’t see: .

3. When I first meet other people, I tend to notice .

4. If I could see others as Heavenly Father does, it could help me to .

As you study 1 Samuel 16 today, prayerfully invite the Holy Ghost to help you feel the importance of seeing yourself and others more like God does.

The Lord sends Samuel to anoint the next king

To allow all students to actively participate, consider putting students into partnerships. Invite partners to read the two passages below and to discuss the questions that follow. Before students read, ensure they know that because of Saul’s disobedience, the Lord rejected him as king of Israel (see 1 Samuel 13:13–14; 15:26–28).

Read 1 Samuel 16:1–5 to see why the Lord sent Samuel to Bethlehem.

• If the Lord had given you Samuel’s responsibility to anoint a new king, what qualities would you have looked for in Jesse’s sons?

Read verses 6–13, looking for truths the Lord taught as Samuel tried to identify the future king.

• What did you learn from this account that is important for people today to understand?

  When partners are done sharing what they learned, invite each partnership to write one truth on the board along with the verse number where they found it.

  Students might write a variety of truths in their own words, such as God sees our true potential by looking at our hearts rather than our outward appearance.

• What have you learned from the scriptures and Church leaders about qualities the Lord values?

• How do you think our relationships with others would be different if we saw ourselves and each other more like the Lord sees us?

Help students deepen their understanding

The following options are different methods for students to deepen their understanding of what the Lord taught in 1 Samuel 16:7. Choose the methods you feel are best for your students.

Before presenting the option or options of your choice, consider helping students relate what they will study to real life. You could do this by presenting a brief situation that students could help with. For example, you could ask them to look for things they might share with someone who feels overlooked or misjudged by people around them. Or you could invite students to look for things they might share with someone who feels that the Lord doesn’t really understand them.

Option 1

Consider placing students in partnerships. Have each student study a different statement. Students could then share what they learn with their partner. You might want to display or provide copies of the statements.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then of the First Presidency, said:

Heavenly Father’s interest in you does not depend on how rich or beautiful or healthy or smart you are. He sees you not as the world sees you; He sees who you really are. He looks on your heart. And He loves you because you are His child. (“Your Wonderful Journey Home,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 128)

Sister Michelle D. Craig, formerly of the Young Women General Presidency, explained:

Jesus Christ sees people deeply. He sees individuals, their needs, and who they can become. Where others saw fishermen, sinners, or publicans, Jesus saw disciples; where others saw a man possessed by devils, Jesus looked past the outward distress, acknowledged the man, and healed him.

Even in our busy lives, we can follow the example of Jesus and see individuals—their needs, their faith, their struggle, and who they can become. (“Eyes to See,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 16)

Option 2

Students could search the list of doctrinal mastery passages in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023) for passages that help them understand how God feels about us and how perfectly He knows us. Students could work in groups of four, with each student looking for applicable passages from one of the four standard works. (Examples they might share include Abraham 3:22–23; Jeremiah 1:4–5; Hebrews 12:9; Alma 7:11–13; Doctrine and Covenants 18:10–11.)

Option 3

Show students a video that helps them understand how God sees us or that shows someone else seeing others as He does. Invite students to think about and be prepared to share real-life situations when they could use what they learn from the video. The video “Our True Identity” (3:39), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, is one example you could use.

Personal experiences

This section of the lesson can help students feel the importance of seeing themselves and others as Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do. Remembering and sharing experiences can invite the Holy Ghost to testify of truths students are learning.

It might be helpful to display the following options.

Choose one of the following options and record your thoughts in your study journal. Be sure to include what you have learned about God today from the scriptures or Church leaders.

• Write about someone who seems to see the good in you, even if they are aware of some of your weaknesses and mistakes. How does their influence affect how you feel about yourself? How does their influence remind you of how Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ see you?

• Write about someone you have come to love and admire as you have gotten to know them better. What do you now see in them that others might not see or that you didn’t see when you first met them? Do you feel any impressions from the Holy Ghost of how you could help them see themselves the way that you see them or the way that their Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ see them?

Invite volunteers to share parts of what they recorded in their study journals.

Additional Resources

How can seeing others as God does influence how I treat them?

President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency said:

[The Savior] will teach you to see [others] through His eyes, which means seeing past an outward appearance and into the heart (see 1 Samuel 16:7). … If you walk with the Savior long enough, you will learn to see everyone as a child of God with limitless potential, regardless of what his or her past may have been. And if you continue walking with the Savior, you will develop another gift He has—the ability to help people see that potential in themselves and so repent. (“Walk with Me,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 85)

Elder S. Mark Palmer of the Seventy taught:

As we learn to see others as the Lord sees them rather than with our own eyes, our love for them will grow and so will our desire to help them. We will see potential within others they likely do not see in themselves. With Christlike love we will not be afraid to speak with boldness, for “perfect love casteth out fear” [1 John 4:18]. And we will never give up, remembering that those who are hardest to love need love the most. (“Then Jesus Beholding Him Loved Him,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017, 116)

How can we become more like Heavenly Father in the way we see and treat others?

Sister Michelle D. Craig, formerly of the Young Women General Presidency, explained:

Ask to see others as He does—as His true sons and daughters with infinite and divine potential. Then act by loving, serving, and affirming their worth and potential as prompted. As this becomes the pattern of our lives, we will find ourselves becoming “true followers of … Jesus Christ” [Moroni 7:48]. Others will be able to trust our hearts with theirs. And in this pattern we will also discover our own true identity and purpose. (“Eyes to See,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 17)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Alternative beginning

To help students see the problem with judging others based on outward appearance or the situation they are in, consider showing an image of someone such as the following. Ask students to guess what people might assume about this person (personality, attitude, how they treat others, if they are trustworthy, how they feel about God, and so on).

Then show them a picture of someone who looks happy and successful, such as the following. Ask students to guess what people might assume about this person.

Invite students to share how it is problematic to judge others based on their outward appearance or situation. (You might want to remind students that some of the kindest, most righteous people who ever lived were falsely judged, including Abinadi, Joseph Smith, and even Jesus Christ.)

Ask students to discuss why Heavenly Father can see us for who we are.

Then continue with the lesson by using the self-reflection prompts found toward the beginning of the lesson.

Other videos for “Option 3”

You could show one of the following videos for “Option 3” of the lesson:

“Looking through Windows” (2:19) could help students see the importance of examining our own lives rather than judging others.

“Pray for Eyes to See as He Sees” (6:26) could help students want to become more like Jesus Christ in how they see others.

1 Samuel 16:14–23. The influence of music

To help students recognize the influence that music can have on their lives, consider asking two or three students to share a favorite verse of a hymn or a song from the Youth Music website. Consider inviting the class to sing or listen to the verse. Ask the student to share why the lyrics are meaningful to them. Ask students to share how uplifting music helps them feel. You might want to share how uplifting music has helped you to feel the Holy Ghost or to prepare for the sacrament.

Then invite students to read 1 Samuel 16:14–23, looking for the influence that music had on Saul. (Be sure students know that the Joseph Smith Translation of verses 14, 15, 16, and 23 clarifies that the evil spirit that was bothering Saul was not of God.)

Ask students to share how they have used uplifting music to help themselves in their lives.

Scenarios

To help students apply what they have learned, consider presenting them with a couple scenarios at the end of the lesson. Ask students how the truths they learned in 1 Samuel 16 could help in those situations. Examples include:

1. Your ward recently sustained a new bishop or Young Women president. Their call seemed to surprise a lot of people. You overhear someone saying that the new leader is not a good fit for that position.

2. You just left an interview with a member of the bishopric. He extended a calling to you that you do not feel qualified to accept. You asked him for time to think and pray about it before making a final decision.

3. While you are serving as a missionary, a woman who appears agitated approaches you on the street. She loudly asks what you can tell her about Jesus.