David: Shepherd

Intro

This week we are starting a new series about one of the most beloved, revered and talked about Bible characters: King David: Shepherd.Warrior.King.Man.. On Sundays, we are going through the book of Psalms this year, and will be reading many songs written by King David, “a man after God’s own heart.” These next few weeks, we will be learning about the man behind the songs, and seeking to understand how we too can become men and women who are characterized by God’s heart. 

Read 1 Samuel 16 – David the Shepherd

Background

A little background to the story. God had selected a people group, the Israelites, who descended from Abraham and migrated to Egypt, God delivered them from bondage through miracles, led them into the wilderness wanderings, raised up leaders to guide them into the Promised Land. Due to their incomplete obedience, they went through several cycles of grace during the time of the Judges, a fractured people group made up of many tribes, but lacking national identity.

Then entered the time of the Prophets and Kings. Samuel was raised up as a prophet and last judge of Israel, who was guided by God to establish a king over the land. The first king of Israel was Saul, the peoples’ choice. He was a disaster and failed to obey God, which led to losing the kingdom. God send Samuel to anoint the future king of Israel, God’s choice, David.

Samuel doesn’t know that it will be David. All he knows is that there is a man who lives in Bethlehem named Jesse, and one of his sons will be anointed king. Samuel is obedient to God and makes his way to Bethlehem and to Jesse’s house. 

Man’s View is not God’s View 

Have you ever entered into a place knowing that you are looking to recruit someone to your team? Or maybe you were selected to be the captain of the team and you have to choose your team. What do you do? You scan those who want to be selected and you evaluate based on size, strength, speed, etc. for sports. But there is more to it than that. You have preferences and friendships. Part of your selection choice may be your friends, part may because you like the way someone looks, may your pass on someone because you don’t like how they look. 

If you had to make the choice of complete strangers and it was for something more important than a dodgeball game, how does that shape your choice? Most people pick the best looking, tallest, strongest person they can, based on their perceptions of that person. People are very easily swayed by their own perception and sometimes fail to vet the choice properly.

I’ve seen this in churches, and certainly we see this in politics. People are persuaded by a charismatic presence, a tall, strong appearance, and they make assumptions that this person is a good leader. That’s what the people did with king Saul. This is what Samuel was thinking when it came to Jesse’s sons.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Praise the Lord for this truth! People are short sited and preferential. God is all-knowing and kind (and so much more…). God does not see us as others see us, or as we see ourselves (check out Psalm 103, 139 and 2 Cor 5:17). And God had other plans then what Jesse and Samuel thought.

How must David have felt when he heard that a prophet had come to see Jesse’s sons and he wasn’t even invited to the lineup? As the youngest child you kind of get used to missing out on some things. The first child gets all the attention, pictures, new clothes, etc. There is a novelty and a newness to life with a first-born child. In the excitement of everything being new, parents try to capture everything with their first born. 

Then each child after that the novelty of events, outfits and pictures wears off. Now it’s hand-me-downs and survival mode for parents. The over protection of the first child is now a knowledge of the resilience of the babies, so the older siblings care for the younger, etc. But that is all understandable. 

David’s dad didn’t think it was possible that Samuel would be looking for his youngest son who was off tending the sheep. Good thing God already saw him and chose him.

Sometimes this happens to our youth today. They are often overlooked because they are young. They think going to school is meaningless. They feel their voice is not heard and they are not taken seriously. But this isn’t how God sees them.

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

God wants our youth to live like David did, to be bold in faith and set an example to others. God wants our youth to become men and women after his heart! David developed this while he was out tending sheep.

Out Tending Sheep

Have you ever cared for an animal? What did/do you have to do?

David was a shepherd boy tending his father’s sheep. In order to understand what that means today, we really only have to look at the Bedouin shepherds in the Middle East today. They pretty much are shepherding sheep the same way David did in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago did. 

The chore of being a shepherd shaped David and laid the foundation of what he was going to become in God’s plan. A Bethlehem shepherd cared for a flock of sheep in a wilderness land. Shepherds would lead their flock each day to find food and water through a rocky mountainous terrain, not lush rolling hills of rich grass that often comes to our midwestern minds. 

Shepherds would care for the sheep, talk to them and even sing over them. Spending countless days and nights moving the herd to new pastures, David had a lot of time to reflect on God, practice his instrument and write songs. Oh how much of the book of Psalms and the development of David would have been lost if he had a smartphone!

Here we need to be reminded of the fact that our daily responsibilities, whether that is our chores around the house, school or a job, is shaping the person we will become. What we do does matter. You might look at a task, a homework assignment or a job as not that big a deal, but how you approach it will shape you. Either you will develop an attitude of insignificance or you will see a building block to bigger things. 

Some looked down on the role of a shepherd. They thought it was a dirty job, a meaningless job and would pass on the opportunity. 

Not David. He didn’t look down on the job, he cared about the sheep and his family. He made the most of his time by growing as a person, learning life lessons, worshiping and developing as a person. He practiced his harp and his voice and was later called to serve the king by playing his instrument. We still read his words today in the book of Psalms. 

When we see Christ in the mundane tasks of the day, we have an opportunity to worship God and experience his presence in our daily tasks.

God is using our present circumstances to prepare us for his future plans. 

David didn’t know at that time that God was going to call him to be a king, he just knew it was his job to be a shepherd boy and he made the most of it. He had to protect his sheep from a wolf and from a bear. He learned skills to protect his sheep and it paid off. 

But he didn’t just rely on his skills, he learned to pray and ask God for strength and victory. So, when he defeated the wolf and the bear, he praised God for the victory. Seeing God work in his life early, gave him confidence in his future. 

David recognized that caring for his father’s flock was important and provided a means of income and hope for his family. Allowing a predator to destroy the sheep would harm his family, so David was willing to sacrifice his safety in order to protect his sheep.

At night, a shepherd would gather in the flock to a pen, and the shepherd would lay in the doorway. The only access to the sheep was through the shepherd, and therefore he would keep them safe. 

You see, the sheep’s only hope of safety and security was being in proximity to the shepherd. This is true of us and our need to be close to our Savior, Jesus. 

The Good Shepherd – John 10:1-18

Jesus, like his great, great, grandfather David, is a shepherd. David was a shepherd of sheep, Jesus is a shepherd of people, the church. Jesus is the door to the Father and he protects his sheep. Jesus has come to offer life to those who enter in by him, and he will watch over them as they come in an out to pasture. 

He will guide his flock to daily provisions. He will watch over his flock through the darkest of nights. He has laid down his life and raised it up again, so that we who believe in him will live. 

David’s time in the wilderness, in obscurity, as a shepherd was about to come to an end, but it provided opportunities for him to become “the man after God’s own heart,” and the future king of Israel.

Anointed

When Samuel had finished looking at Jesse’s sons and God did not choose any of them, he asked if there were any more sons. Jesse said his youngest was in the field watching over the sheep. Samuel said to send for them quickly for they will all stand waiting for him to arrive.

When David arrived, it describes his appearance as “ruddy, had beautiful eyes and was handsome.” Some scholars conclude that means that he was a red head. I think they are on to something! LOL

God directed Samuel to anoint David as the future king of Israel. Upon anointing him, the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that point on. God called David to a huge task, but like the wolf and bear, God didn’t leave David to do it in his own power. His Spirit empowered David to live each day to become the king.

God calls us to himself through his son Jesus, and empowers us with his Spirit to faithfully follow him. As the sheep of his pasture, we need to stay close to him and listen to his voice and follow him. Like David, God will empower you to be faithful if you trust him.

Next week, we will look at the shepherd boy who became a warrior.