The Lord Looketh on the Heart

To my son,

                This week part of our reading for the Come, Follow Me program contains one of the most unique stories in all of the Old Testament. After their many travels in the wilderness, the children of Israel under Moses “pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho.” The king of the people of Moab, whose name was Balak, was afraid of the Israelites and sought for some way to protect his people from them. So he summoned a prophet from the people of Midian named Balaam to see if Balaam would pronounce a curse upon Israel. The Lord told Balaam when men from Balak came to him, “Thou shalt not go with them; thou shalt not curse the people: for they are blessed.” But Balaam decided to go to meet Balak the next time the men came, and “God’s anger was kindled because he went.” So the Lord worked to stop Balaam from going by sending his angel: “the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him.” Balaam was riding a donkey, and the animal “saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand.” The donkey “turned aside out of the way, and went into the field,” and so Balaam beat it. The donkey wouldn’t go the way that Balaam wanted because of the angel that was in the way threatening them, but Balaam couldn’t see it. Three times Balaam beat the donkey because it wasn’t obeying him. Eventually we have this incredible description: “And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” Balaam then proceed to have a conversation with his donkey, saying, “Because thou hast mocked me: I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.” The donkey explained that he never had mocked him in the past and wasn’t doing so now, and the “Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, and his sword drawn in his hand.” At that point he understood why the donkey had been unwilling to move the direction that Balaam wanted, and he said, “I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me” (Numbers 22:12-34). While the donkey’s actions at first had seemed incomprehensible and caused Balaam to become angry, in the end he understood and realized instead his own folly. The fact that the animal was able to speak is unique as far as I’m aware in scripture, and it makes for quite the interesting story!

                I believe that this story can help us to understand our own need for patience and faith when things are not going as we expect or others are not acting how we think they should. Too often we jump to conclusions when something is not as we think it should be, and we even get angry with others for doing things that offend us or seem unreasonable. But this story teaches us that we don’t always see what others see. In whatever situation we are in we may not have all the facts or understand all the motivations of others. So we should be slow to judge and quick to give others the benefit of the doubt when what they do seems irritating or weird to us. When the Savior was on the earth many of the people who claimed to worship Him still rejected Him because He did not act as they expected. They even accused Him of breaking the very laws that He had given because He did not follow their customs they had created. When He was around those who were rejected by much of society, He showed love and mercy taught them the gospel. We should strive to see others as He sees them, just as He told Samuel when that prophet was trying to figure out who would be the next king: “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 seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). We should seek to love people for what is in their heart and not judge things just on their appearance. I know that as we do this we will have His love more abundantly with us.

Love,

Dad