The Shepherding Years

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Short Summary
The discourse reflects on the life of David, highlighting his early devotion to God, patience, integrity, and recognition of God’s ultimate kingship, contrasting him with Saul, whose disobedience and fear led to his downfall. It emphasizes the importance of remembering God’s past help to build faith, the dangers of rejecting God’s authority in favor of human leadership, and the enduring value of obedience, humility, and a heart aligned with God’s will. Ultimately, David’s example serves as a model for faithful service and trust in God despite human weaknesses.

Long Summary
David’s Life as a Source of Lessons and Inspiration:
– David’s youth exemplifies courage and the benefits of seeking the Lord early in life.
– His early worship and service set a lifelong pattern.
– David’s response to King Saul’s pursuit (who wanted him dead) shows lessons in patience and sensitivity.
– David honored an unworthy king (Saul) because God had chosen Saul first, demonstrating respect for God’s decisions.
– David viewed his kingship as subservient to God, in contrast to other kings who considered themselves supreme rulers.
– In his old age, David continued to honor and worship God despite his shortcomings, and God loved him for his qualities.

Condition of Israel Around David’s First Anointing:
– David was anointed three times: as a young shepherd, as king of two tribes, and as king of ten tribes.
– Israel’s behavior often mirrored their leaders’ direction; they did not always follow God’s will.
– People often prefer to be led rather than think independently, possibly because it requires less mental effort.
– God’s choice of David was partly due to Saul’s unworthiness as king.

Israel’s Request for a King (1 Samuel 8:1-6):
– Samuel’s sons were corrupt judges, taking bribes and perverting justice.
– Elders of Israel requested a king “like all the nations” because they were dissatisfied with Samuel’s sons.
– Samuel was displeased and prayed to the Lord.
– Israel’s fear of the Philistines led to obedience to Samuel and God’s deliverance, commemorated by the stone Ebenezer (“stone of help”), symbolizing remembrance of God’s assistance.
– Despite this, Israel soon forgot God’s deliverance.

God’s Warning About a Human King (1 Samuel 8:7-18):
– God told Samuel the people had rejected Him, not Samuel.
– Samuel solemnly warned Israel about the burdens of a king: conscription of sons and daughters, seizure of fields and goods, and heavy taxation.
– The people insisted on having a king to be like other nations and to fight their battles, ignoring the warnings.
– The people chose visible, tangible leadership over the invisible presence of God.
– This reflects a broader spiritual lesson: trusting the invisible God requires faith, practice, and remembrance of His past help.

Remembering God’s Past Help:
– David exemplified this by recounting God’s wonderful deeds (Psalm 9:1-4).
– Remembering God’s past assistance strengthens faith and trust for current and future challenges.
– Israel’s failure to remember God’s deliverance led to their downfall.

Saul as Israel’s First King:
– Saul was tall, handsome, and physically impressive (2 Samuel 1).
– He initially appeared humble and obedient but soon disobeyed God.
– Samuel wrote down the rights and duties of kingship (1 Samuel 10:25), possibly reflecting Moses’ prophecy in Deuteronomy 17:14-20:
– King must be an Israelite chosen by God.
– Should not accumulate many horses, wives, or wealth.
– Must write and keep a copy of the law, reading it daily to remain humble and obedient.
– Few kings followed these instructions.

Saul’s Failures and Rejection by God:
– Saul offered an unauthorized sacrifice (1 Samuel 13).
– He spared King Agag and the best animals from the Amalekites, disobeying God’s command (1 Samuel 15).
– Samuel rebuked him: “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22-23).
– Saul’s “repentance” was insincere, focusing on human opinion rather than God’s.
– Saul’s fear and desperation led him to consult a medium (1 Samuel 28), showing loss of faith.
– Saul died by his own hand after being wounded in battle.

Contrast Between Saul and David:
– David trusted God’s promises and faced fear with courage.
– Faith requires taking God at His word, relying on memory of His help.
– Saul was rejected early (1 Samuel 13:14) for disobedience.
– David was described as “a man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14), meaning he sought God’s will more than his own.
– David took personal responsibility and repented sincerely.
– David cared for others, as shown in 2 Samuel 23 when his men risked their lives to bring him water, which he poured out in honor of their sacrifice.

David’s Background as a Shepherd and King:
– David’s family lived in Bethlehem, the same area associated with Jesus’ birth.
– His anointing by Samuel was a divine selection, emphasizing that God looks at the heart, not outward appearance (1 Samuel 16:7).
– David’s skills with the sling and lyre show his courage, independence, and sensitivity.
– Psalm 23 reflects David’s experience as a shepherd and his trust in God’s guidance and protection.
– David viewed God’s discipline (rod and staff) as comforting, recognizing his need for correction.

David’s Praise of God’s Law and Creation (Psalm 19):
– David marveled at God’s creation as evidence of His power and glory.
– He praised the perfection of God’s law for converting the soul, bringing wisdom, joy, and righteousness.
– David’s heart and meditation sought to be acceptable to God, his strength and redeemer.

Lessons for Believers Today:
– God seeks integrity of heart, honesty, faithfulness, and humility.
– Trust in God requires remembrance of His past help and perseverance.
– Obedience and loyalty to God are paramount.
– Studying and meditating on God’s word daily is necessary to remain humble and faithful.
– God desires people “after His own heart” who are ready to serve in His kingdom.

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### Key Bible Verses Mentioned:
1 Samuel 8:1-6 — Israel requests a king due to corrupt judges.
1 Samuel 8:7-18 — God’s warning about the burdens of having a king.
Psalm 9:1-4 — David’s thanksgiving and recognition of God’s righteous judgment.
1 Samuel 10:25 — Samuel writes the rights and duties of kingship.
Deuteronomy 17:14-20 — Moses’ prophecy and instructions for Israel’s kings.
1 Samuel 13:14 — God rejects Saul; a man after His own heart (David) chosen.
1 Samuel 15:22-23 — “To obey is better than sacrifice.”
1 Samuel 28 — Saul consults a medium due to fear.
2 Samuel 23 — David’s men risk their lives to bring him water.
1 Samuel 16:7 — “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Psalm 23 — The Lord as shepherd, guidance and comfort.
Psalm 19 — The heavens declare God’s glory; the perfection of God’s law.

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This discourse highlights the spiritual lessons drawn from the lives of Saul and David, emphasizing faith, obedience, humility, and the importance of trusting and remembering God’s providence. It contrasts the failures of Saul with the heart of David, who sought God’s will earnestly and led with integrity. The message encourages believers to be “after God’s own heart” by cultivating a deep, faithful relationship with God and serving Him faithfully.

Transcript

Well, of course, the life of David offers a wide variety of lessons, seemingly for all ages, and his youth is an inspiring story of courage, and it illustrates how beneficial it is for young people to seek the Lord early in their lives, because as it was for David, it set a pattern on worship and service for him. His pursuit of Saul, of course, you remember who wanted David dead. When we look at how David responded to that, we see a wonderful lesson of patience and sensitivity.

He saw the honoring of an unworthy king as a way to honor the heavenly father who first chose Saul to be king, and then as king of Israel, David saw his own rule as subservient to God, and that’s one problem most all other kings had, that they thought they were the king of Israel. David didn’t think that. He believed that he was king of Israel, but subservient to the heavenly father.

And I thought, what a significant lesson for us, and then, of course, in his old age, he continued to honor and worship God, the true king of Israel, and despite his many shortcomings, God loved him for all these qualities. But I won’t address most of those because those others have been asked to assess those things in David’s life. I’ve been asked to assess the condition of Israel around the time of David’s first anointing while he was still a shepherd.

It was to be the first of three anointings, as you know. One here is a young shepherd, another when he assumed the kingship over the two tribes of Israel, and a third anointing when he assumed the kingship over 10 tribes, and of course, there’s some wonderful symbolism in that as well. We see that Israel often moved as their leaders led them. I think there’s a lesson there.

And that means they didn’t always do God’s bidding. That was certainly the case around the time of David, and I’ll tell you, there’s a. There’s a lesson in that. I think it suggests that in part, people prefer to be led.

And I wondered about that, and I thought maybe it’s because it just requires less mental energy when you’re told what to do. But whatever the reason is, independent thought by a large group of people is a rarer commodity than we might think. To think for yourself and not to be told what to do, and the reason God chose David had as much to do with the unworthiness of Israel’s first king, Saul.

You remember the story of how Israel asked for a king, but when you read the context in First Samuel, chapter 8, Israel’s desire for a king at first. Sounds reasonable. So let’s read that. This is First Samuel, chapter eight, verses one through six, and it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.

And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment. Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together and came to Samuel unto Ramah and said unto him, behold, thou art old, and thy sons are not in thy ways. Walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, give us a king to judge us.

And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. I think I’m one off. Well, you know, Samuel himself had been an excellent judge. He was fair, he was honest, he was faithful to God. We see his good influence even in the previous chapter when he told Israel that at that time Israel was afraid of the Philistines.

And Samuel says to them, you know, if you stop worshiping Ashtaroth and Balaam and prepare your hearts for the Lord, then he’ll help you. Seems kind of obvious, doesn’t it? And of course, out of fear, Israel obeyed Samuel, and the Lord sent a tremendous lightning and thunderstorm that bewildered the Philistines, and Israel was easily able to defeat them.

And then as a remembrance of that event, Samuel set up a stone pillar and he called it Ebenezer, saying, hitherto hath the Lord helped us. The word Ebenezer literally means the stone of help and brethren. I’m sure that many of you have your own personal Ebenezers to remember special events or experiences in your life. I know when I was younger I used to write them down, and I had a little notebook full of them. Not literal stones, of course, but maybe you’ve written something down, like that of a particular experience, or you’ve saved a special memory.

And when you think back on those times, it helps you remember what God did for you, and we gain a tremendous confidence that he did it before and he’ll help us again. That God is consistent when he’s committed. That was the purpose of this stone of remembrance. But unfortunately, Israel soon forgot that deliverance from the Philistines.

In the same context, we read about Samuel’s two sons who exploited their position and they accepted bribes in exchange for favor, favorable judgments, and we learn through observation and maybe experience that justice is rarely served when greedy men are the judges, and so the elders of Israel, they come to Samuel and they ask him to ask God to give them a king to judge them. They may have figured that one good king is better than two bad judges, and in a sense you can’t blame them for that. But you wonder, what should have they asked for instead?

Well, much better and simpler request would simply ask for better judges, men who were fair and just, and I think God would certainly have not been displeased with that request. But they asked for a king, and it tells us that their true motivation was so that they could be like other nations, and I wondered, did they really believe that a king would be more just than a judge that God would select? Or even when they looked at other nations, did they really think that that king was doing justice for their people?

How could they even know that? And so it really wasn’t justice that they were looking for. Let’s read a little more. In 1 Samuel 8 and the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them according to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods. So do they also unto thee.

Now therefore, hearken unto their voice. Yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. Now of course, this wasn’t the first time they rejected God. God had just said that ever since they came out of Egypt and worshiped other gods, they were rejecting him in those instances. Well, then Samuel goes on and he tells the people what life would be like under a human king.

This is continuing in 1st Samuel 8. This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. He shall take your sons and appoint them to himself for his chariots to be his horsemen and some shall run before his chariots and he will appoint him captains over thousands and captains over 50s, and will set them to plow the ground and to reap his fields, and to make his instruments of war and instruments instruments of his chariots and he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers and you will take your fields and your vineyards and your olive yards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants and he will take the 10th of your seed and of your vineyards, and give to his officers and to his servants and he will take your menservants and your maidservants and your goodliest young men, and your asses and put them to his work. He will take the 10th of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants, and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye have chosen for yourselves.

And the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, no, but there shall be a king over us that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles, and I go, oh, my goodness, how shortsighted. They may have even said, oh, Samuel, you’re such a pessimist.

You’re painting the worst possible scenario here. But Samuel wasn’t. These were God’s words. Samuel was a realist because he was conveying what God wanted him to say, and he was describing what happens when fallen men lead others.

Then when Samuel listed all the ways the king would use their sons as warriors, the people may have actually thought, well, that was a good thing. Then we don’t have to go out and fight. Let these men do this, even though they’re our sons. They wanted an army to fight for them. That’s one of the things that they had stipulated.

But they seemed to overlook all the other things, like becoming servants of the king, having their fields taken by the king and being taxed, and in the end, they would cry out to God and God would not hear them. They chose the things they could see and touch over the invisible presence of God, and what’s especially sad is that it was the elders of Israel who first asked for a king. They did not understand what they would lose or even what they had been losing all this time by worshiping idols.

Brethren, there is a powerful lesson that’s got to strike home for you and me. We can touch and see and experience the world around us. That’s natural. That’s our environment. But to see the invisible and to trust in an invisible God, when things seem to be going wrong or things just happening different, that’s a totally different matter.

That takes us beyond the physical and the things around us. Brethren, it takes thought and a conscious decision not to go by our natural impulses, but to learn how to trust the invisible. To have that be our response to life requires time and practice. You know, the Lord doesn’t expect unwavering trust without repetition and evidence of his presence, and I’ll tell you, that might be why so many brethren live to such an old age.

Because spiritual fruitage takes a long time to develop and to ripen and to and to be ready for Something better. Because practicing the art of faith takes perseverance, patience, and memory.

That’s what the Ebenezer Stone was supposed to provide. Samuel knew how important it was for Israel to remember their past, and brethren, that’s just as true for you and me. Remembering the Lord’s hand in our past helps us to believe that he will continue to be with us in the present. There is strength and power and energy in the memories that we have of our Lord’s help in the past.

The Israelites didn’t do that. In fact, just one chapter earlier, God had delivered them from the Philistines, as we mentioned. But it seems as soon as the Philistines were subdued, they forgot what God had done. If they had remembered, they would have believed that having a fallen man as their king could not compare to having the Creator of the universe watching over them, a God who possesses unlimited wisdom and power. Their minds were miffed that they had two bad judges, and they used that as an excuse to want to be like other nations.

While David understood the importance of memory, he would later write this In Psalm chapter 9, verses 1 and 2, I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart. I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, O most high brethren. Those are one of the reasons.

Those sentiments are one of the reasons David was so special to God, because he remembered and he recounted all the wonderful things that God did for him, and that memory gave him strength when he needed it, and a grateful heart to say thank you to God. Not only thank you for today, but thank you for yesterday, and then in verse 4, he says this to God, you have sat on the throne giving righteous judgment, and so here was a king who believed that God was still the king of Israel and their judge.

Had the other kings of Israel continued with that attitude, things would have been far different for the nation of Israel. Because as I said earlier, they would lead, they would follow where they were being led.

Well, as you know, Israel’s first king was everything the people wanted. He was tall, he was handsome, he possessed great physical strength and agility. He and his son Jonathan were described as swift as eagles in second Samuel one. But he was too much like them to be a good king, because he also looked through human eyes after the anointing of Saul as king. Now, there’s an interesting side passage that I found interesting in 1st Samuel 10:25, it says, then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he Wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord.

This is interesting. I didn’t remember this or even know it at all. Samuel listed all the duties of a king. I wish it would have said what he wrote in that book, but it doesn’t specify what the duties were that he listed. But we have a clue as to what he might have written.

Moses had actually prophesied that Israel would someday come to the point that they were, and that’s back in Deuteronomy, chapter 17. These are the words of Moses, and look how prophetic they are for what was happening here in Israel. Moses said, when you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it, and then say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me, you may indeed set a king over you, whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you.

You may not put a foreigner over you who is not your brother. It’s interesting that Moses would prophesy this long before it happened.

Moses went on then to list the requirements for a future king, and this may be what Samuel was reflecting when he wrote it down in a book as well. Moses first wrote that a king should not acquire many horses for himself, or many wives, or excessive silver and gold. You know, there’s great wisdom in that law because we know how wealth can adversely influence people, especially leaders. The same goes for a king with multiple wives.

Israel would witness that soon when Solomon became king and how that influenced his own life. But I thought the next requirement was especially meaningful and more positive as what he should do. Moses said that the king was to personally write a copy of the law into a book, have it approved by the Levites, and then he was to keep the book by his side. It’s kind of an instruction manual. This is a little different than what Samuel later wrote, because the Samuel account says that the book was to be kept with the Lord.

And one possible interpretation is that it was to be part of the tabernacle next to the Ark of the Covenant, almost a contract between Israel and the king, between the king of Israel and Jehovah himself. But I think the book that Moses was talking about was likely a template for what Samuel later wrote, and then the words of Moses Conclude in verses 19 and part of 20, and it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law, and these statutes and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children in Israel. This was a requirement for every king of Israel.

How interesting that the Lord did tell the kings of Israel, don’t forget the law. Because if you keep the law by your side, you read it every day, you stipulate, and the Lord stipulates what you should do as the king of Israel. You will be good. You will be a good king, and when you think of how many kings of Israel were bad, you have to realize that not many of them followed this tremendous advice.

And I thought, what’s the lesson for us? Do you ever wonder why it’s important to keep studying the word of God? How much knowledge is enough? You know, when you’re in the truth for 30, 40, 50 years, you acquire a great bit of knowledge, and the temptation may be to think, I know enough. Well, verse 20 says that one purpose of the book was to keep the kings of Israel humble and to help them be obedient to the laws of God.

And the problem we humans tend to have is that we forget and we need to be reminded of what is truly important. We need to keep feeding on what is true, honest and good, and that strengthens our characters as newt creatures, and I’ll tell you, you probably can all relate to this, but you may study something and in one of the volumes and then maybe 10 years later come back and realize, I don’t remember ever reading that before, and so that renewing of the truth constantly is so important because we’re fallen, weak creatures that forget, and that’s an important lesson that was highlighted to the kings of Israel.

One significant lesson from studying the kingship of Saul is the importance of remaining loyal to God throughout the this life. It’s not enough to begin well. It’s not enough to first consecrate and think you’re doing right. Saul did that. He seemed humble and even somewhat shy at the beginning of his reign.

And yet he got distracted and he lost his way. You remember the account in 1st Samuel 13, when Saul, rather than waiting for Samuel as instructed, he offered an unauthorized sacrifice to God, which led to his rejection by God, and then in 1st Samuel 15, he had been instructed to kill the Amalekites and everything they had. But instead Saul spared the king. He took the best of their flocks and everything that was good.

And when Samuel confronted Saul, Saul said, I’ve done everything The Lord has commanded, and Samuel replied, then what’s that bleating of sheep I heard? What are those cows mooing that I hear? Were those yours, or were those the Amalekites? And Saul says, well, the people brought those things because they were going to sacrifice those to God.

And he continued to defend himself before Samuel, and Samuel said, hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

That’s a startling comparison. Rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is the iniquity of idolatry. Those are the worst kind of sins you can commit, and so disbelief, unbelief in God and not following his will is equated to those things. Now listen to Saul’s repentance, so called repentance.

Then he said, I have sinned. Yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord thy God. Now if that’s a repentance, I have to really wonder what his heart was really saying. He was more concerned about what the elders and the people of Israel thought about him than really about repenting towards God. But brethren, we know that the only opinion that truly matters is what God thinks.

God will always be fair. He will always be loving and merciful. People won’t be that way all the time, and we have to remember that if we stay focused on what God thinks, everything else will take care of itself, and that’s really not even stated correctly.

Everything will not take care of itself, but God will take care of everything else.

The last straw for Saul came in first Samuel 28, when he was preparing to battle against the Philistines.

And when Saul saw the host of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart greatly trembled, and when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by prophets. Then said Saul unto his servants, seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her, and his servants said to him, behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit. At Endor, Saul was fearful.

He was impatient. He was paranoid, really, and he would soon die by his own hand after being wounded in Battle, brethren. Along these lines I appreciate a recent manna text that I found so fitting. The text is, there is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment.

Saul was clearly tormented because he lost his faith in God.

The manatext goes on and says, mighty, imposing and terrifying indeed is the influence of fear, except upon those who have learned to know the Lord through previous experiences and to trust him even where they cannot trace Him. The giant of fear and despair must be met with the pebble from the brook. It is written, the sling of faith must propel the word of promise with such force to slay the adversary and to deliver us from his domination. Thus, armed only with the word of God and trusting in his rod and staff, we may well be courageous and answer as David answered the Philistine. Thou comest to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin, but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel which thou hast defiled.

I’m sure you will hear more about David’s courage later today. But the contrast between Saul and David illustrates what fear and insecurity can do to a person. They are a natural part of this life. But how we deal with anxiety and fear and insecurity is a question that we all have to answer. I believe from time to time.

The answer that our flesh often refuses to accept is that when God promises to protect us and to guide us, we must take him at his word. Simple as that. Like David did, and the memory of past experiences becomes vital as we face new challenges in life. Saul forgot that David never did.

Samuel first told Saul that God had rejected him very early in Saul’s kingship, and only the second year after offering a sacrifice and not waiting for Samuel to come, and so for 38 more years, Saul dealt with God’s rejection of him. He had the opportunity to change and to repent, and yet he just got worse and worse and, and more distant from God.

1st Samuel 13:14. Samuel said this. But now thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him, a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee.

A man after God’s own heart. You’re going to hear more about that today. I. I have to touch on this because this was very early in David’s life. It’s a wonderful phrase.

My interpretation is that it means a man who was looking. The man that God was looking for would want God’s will done more than his own will. That’s interesting, isn’t it? Although David would one day commit some terrible sins, they were sins of human weakness, not blatant a disregard for the will of God. He always wanted God’s will to be done, and when his sins were pointed out, he repented of them.

A man after God’s own heart then takes personal responsibility and is willing to repent. When informed of his sin, Saul’s response was always to argue with Samuel or to blame someone else for something that he did wrong. Well, as we read in Psalm 9, David recognized God as the real king of Israel, and he saw sacrifice as a way to honor and to please God. When Saul offered his sacrifice, it was only in hopes that God would help him with a battle or with something, and so it was more of a selfish motivation.

A man after God’s own heart cares for other people. We see that evidenced by David’s relationship with his men. Now, this is a much later story, but I love the story. In 2nd Samuel 23, when the Philistines occupied Bethlehem, his hometown, and David longed for a drink of water from the well by the Bethlehem gate, and he wasn’t asking anyone to do anything for him.

He was just thinking out loud. But you remember when his men heard the longing in David’s heart. Three of them risked their own lives. They broke through the garrison of the Philistines and they brought David a drink of water, and David was so moved, it says he would not drink of it.

He poured it out to the Lord and said, far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives? What does that say about the relationship that David had with his men who risked their lives just to give him a drink of water from his hometown? Well, when God looked for a man after his own heart, he found him in the shepherd’s field. But you know, brethren, this was not any shepherd’s field.

David’s family, as you know, lived in Bethlehem, and David spent many long days and nights in the fields around Bethlehem. David’s field may have been the very field where the other shepherds heard the announcement of Jesus birth some 1,000 years later, and of course, we recall how the angels directed them to Bethlehem when the wise men came, and they said, for unto you is born. No, I’m sorry.

To the shepherds, they said, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a savior, which is Christ the Lord, the city of David, and when the wise men came to Israel looking for the newborn king. They asked, where is he that is born king of the Jews? And so there’s this unmistakable connection between David and Jesus, both destined for kingship, and I thought, what an honor for David and an endorsement of his kingship and his life to foreshadow the great king Jesus Christ.

Now, by some estimates, David was around 17 years old when Samuel anointed him. In 1st Samuel 16, we read that God sent Samuel to the home of Jesse to anoint a new king to one day replace Saul. But Samuel was not told explicitly who that would be, and when he first saw the oldest brother, he thought, oh, yes, this must be him. But the Lord said, do not look on his appearance or on his height of his stature, because I rejected him.

For the Lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. There’s God’s criteria for his servants and for those who would be kings, he looks on the heart, and so each of David’s brothers were brought before Samuel. Each was rejected.

And Samuel finally says to Jesse, do you have any more sons? And Jesse answered, there remains yet the youngest. But behold, he is keeping the sheep, and Samuel said to Jesse, send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here, and he sent and brought him in.

Now, he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome, and the Lord said, arise, anoint him, for this is he. Then Samuel took his horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, and, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.

Now, the word ruddy means reddish, and so David was probably redhead, and he had beautiful eyes and he was handsome. But of course, that’s not why God chose him.

Being anointed by God as a prophet by the prophet, of course, is a symbol of God’s selection of David as the next king, and of course, the symbolism of anointing is very significant. The church is anointed with the Holy Spirit, and as evidence, the Holy Spirit is evidence that the church has been chosen for a special purpose, to one day reign with our Lord. Now, we often say that this experience as a shepherd prepared him to be king of Israel.

That’s not just our opinion, that is scriptural. This is what we read in Psalm 78 says. He chose David, also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds from following the ewes. Great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.

That says that David learned how to care for people by caring for helpless sheep. I think maybe caring for sheep might have been a little easier. I thought verse 72 was interesting. He fed them with the integrity of his heart. In other words, he taught them how to be honest and good by being that way himself and by being a fair judge.

He did many things wrong, but here’s the goodness in him. He taught by example as best as he could as a fallen man think that’s how David led Israel. In sharp contrast to the two sons of Samuel who took bribes for fair judge, for contorted judgments, and so, brethren, integrity is a matter of the heart that God is looking for in his people, regardless of what age it is. When he’s looking for individuals to deal with, he’s looking for that integrity of heart, the honesty and faithfulness that comes with it.

We’re told. We’re also told that David was skillful with the sling and masterful with the lyre. His life in the field gave him courage and strength. He knew how to be independent. He knew how to defend others.

But he also had the sensitive side that loved music. So this is an interesting, well rounded person that the Lord is drawing to develop further.

I think we all appreciate what he wrote in Psalm 23. Now, it’s not clear exactly when David wrote it, but even no matter when he wrote it, he certainly must have been reflecting on his time as a shepherd. Maybe during the rough years of his kingship. He recalled the simpler life of caring for the sheep, and he was able to equate the work of finding good pasture for his sheep with God leading him in pain of righteousness.

An interesting fact that I read. I don’t know this for myself, but I read that for sheep they will not lie down to rest if there’s any fear whatsoever, or even if there’s any friction in the flock. In addition, they will not lie down unless they’re well fed, and so it’s a shepherd’s duty to help with all those things, to provide those conditions, and so David makes a spiritual application to those things in the very first verse of Psalm 23.

Let’s read the eloquent words that David wrote and try to put yourself in his position.

He says, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. David believed that the disciplines of God’s rod were a comfort to him.

How many people would think that when you’re disciplined, you kind of hold back? But he understood the motive behind the disciplines of God because he knew how sinful he was by nature and that he needed correction. What an attitude. God’s staff was also something that he could rely on for direction in the paths of righteousness, and that’s what God’s words gives us.

It gives us a standard of righteousness to guide our lives that we should be looking for every day. So understanding these things is one of the reasons David was a man after God’s own heart. These are universal principles that will always be true.

The last psalm we’re going to read is also one I think we all love. Again, it’s not clear when David wrote Psalm 19, but I’ll tell you, brethren, I can imagine him lying out in a field while the sheep are grazing or resting. Maybe he’s holding a little lamb in his arms, or he’s playing his lyre as he gazes up to heaven and thinking the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.

The law of the Lord is perfect. Converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right. Rejoicing the heart, the commandment of the Lord is pure. Enlightening the eyes, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold, sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. David could look at the natural creation and easily see God’s hand.

There’s the heart of a king, one who clearly recognized Jehovah as a greater king and desired that his own kingship be subservient to God’s. What a meaningful principle we see in the integrity of his heart. Brethren, God is looking for those same principles in you and me, and my prayer for each of us is that when God looks at us, he can say, I have found another person after my own heart who is now ready to serve in my kingdom. I pray that for each and every one of us that our hearts can be pleasing to him and that he can use us to serve him better.

May the Lord add His blessings.

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