Not After the Sight of His Eyes

Isaiah said this about the Savior, “He shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears” (Isaiah 11:3).  This reminds me of the words of the pre-mortal Savior to Samuel as he was to choose the next king of Israel: “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).  The Lord judges us by our hearts, not by our outward appearance of the things that can be seen or heard.  Isaiah emphasized this idea in other passages as well, such as when he gave us these words of the Lord: “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats….  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well” (Isaiah 1:11, 16-17).  The Lord didn’t care much for the outward appearance of their sacrifices, though they were presumably in accordance with the law of Moses, because their hearts were evil and unclean.  He said it this way in another passage of Isaiah: “Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me” (Isaiah 29:13).  He does not judge based on what is seen with the eyes or heard with the ears; the Lord judges based on our desires and hearts. 

            We see the Savior’s ability to judge righteously—outside of what the physical senses could experience—in multiple experiences during His life.  For example, when the woman with the issue of blood touched Him amidst the throng of people, He perceived it, saying, “Who touched me?... Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me” (Luke 8:45-46).  It was His heart and spirit that told Him that someone needing Him had touched Him; it wasn’t the physical sense of being touched.  The Savior was also very critical of some of the scribes and Pharisees because He could see the wickedness in their hearts, despite the fact that they were strict in obeying the letter of the law.  He said to them, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matt. 23:27-28).  He was not deceived by what could be seen with the eyes—their works of obedience—because He looked on their heart and could see their wickedness.  He had warned us that we needed to “beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matt. 7:15).  What is on the inside is of far greater importance than what is seen with the eyes.  He emphasized this again when He watched the widow put in her two mites into the treasury: “Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living” (Mark 12:43-44).  It was the sacrifice of her heart, which could not be physically seen, that was important to Him, not the visible quantity of the offering.  And surely that’s how He judges us in our lives today: not after “the sight of his eyes” or the “hearing of his ears” but after the state of our hearts.