David: The Shepherd-1
David is one of the most iconic figures in the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, such that we can learn many lessons from him. Thankfully, the Bible shows David as very much a human with flaws, failures, heartbreak, struggles and successes. In the next few weeks, we’ll look at various seasons in David’s life to make some helpful applications into our lives today.
As a starting point, the first time that we meet David is when his dad neglected to bring him to the house to meet Samuel, the prophet. In 1 Samuel 16:11 we read, “And Samuel said to Jesse, ‘Are these all the children?’ And he said, ‘There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.’ . . . .
We also know that David’s oldest brother didn’t think too highly of this youngest brother by what he said in 1 Samuel 17:28 when David was asking about Goliath the Philistine giant. “Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he [David] spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, ‘Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.’”
Finally, it’s interesting to consider that David acquired a lot of experience and confidence from his sheepherding days. We see this very clearly in his reply to King Saul’s observation that David was just a young boy in contrast to Goliath the seasoned warrior. Consider David’s words in 1 Samuel 18:34-36, “But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.’”
In all of these verses, it’s clear that neither David’s family nor King Saul had much regard for David, the Shepherd. Everyone saw him as an afterthought, an intrusive nuisance and a young kid, nothing more. The confined perceptions that everyone had about David could have constricted the design that God put in him and suffocated his potential.
On the other side, the observations that everyone made about David were facts. He was the youngest brother. He was a shepherd, looking after stupid sheep. He was a youth, a boy with no military experience.
Thankfully, the design that God puts in us, along with our divine potential, don’t have to be controlled, nor snuffed out by real life facts. At some point, we have to actively choose to keep our confidence and focus on God more than what people (and family) say around us. We have to choose to feed on the faithfulness of God and trust in God’s goodness.
A shepherd going to battle against a seasoned giant warrior doesn’t make sense. But this was exactly the launching pad for David to begin moving in the direction of the design that God put in him!