The young shepherd
The youngest son of Jesse was occupied with tending the sheep. Day after day he would lead the flocks through the hills around Bethlehem, searching out the best pastures. He knew where to find the greenest grass and the streams for water. He avoided the treacherous paths, and he kept his eyes open for signs of danger. There were lions, bears and wolves in the Judean hills and he had to be on his guard.
“When there came a lion or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth” (1 Sam. 17:34).
David learned many lessons from his early years, lessons that would remain with him all his days. He learned the great lesson of the shepherd, one who takes responsibility for the wellbeing of those under his care. He would draw upon these experiences in his own life, and he would understand the position of his God as the Shepherd of His people.
Day and night in the fields with his sheep he carefully observed nature, and he was awed by the works of the Creator all around him. At night, under the clearest of skies, he observed the starry expanse and marveled at the celestial panorama. He communed with nature in the highest sense, seeing in it all the hand of Almighty God. The young David felt very close to his God, and he knew that the Lord would always be with him.
In the house of Jesse, David learned the lessons of the law of the Lord, and he gained a love for His word that would always stand him in good stead. Whatever trials might come in his life, the word of his God would sustain him.
These two aspects of David’s young life formed in him a strong character. They made him both a man of action and a man of faith. His spirituality would be unique, and he would become the greatest of all writers of poetry. The songs of the sweet psalmist of Israel would extol his God for all future generations.
The fugitive shepherd
Taken from his father’s flocks to a higher calling, David would well serve Saul, the king of Israel. He would wait on Saul as he had served his father, not as a hireling but as one who felt his responsibility keenly and who took his work seriously. As a warrior, he became a leader of men, doing his job so well that the king’s jealousy was aroused.
Saul’ s treachery did not daunt the young leader. Though already anointed by Samuel as the next king of Israel, David made every effort to serve faithfully under the most trying circumstances.
When he was finally forced to flee from the presence of Saul, David had to apply another aspect of shepherding. There were those who joined him as fugitives from the unjust king, and it was his responsibility to lead and protect them.
The Lord is my shepherd
In the days of his youth David had seen the analogy between the work of the shepherd and the position of Israel’s God. He looked to the Lord as his personal shepherd and protector, and he felt confident and unafraid. “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want…” The words of the twenty-third Psalm, so familiar to all of us, should be pondered. They clearly indicate the wonderful affinity David had with God; it is the kind of relationship we must all cultivate with our Heavenly Father. It is a recognition that He leads us in green pastures –beside the still waters. But there are times when we “walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” Then too, our God is with us.
The shepherd of Israel
The Lord was the Shepherd of His people Israel. And so David prayed, “Give ear, 0 Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Thy might, and come to save us” (Psa. 80 RV).
As the young shepherd had saved the lambs of his flock from the lion and the bear, so the God of Israel would not forsake the little ones of His people.
“Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: The LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand…As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about His people” (Psa. 121, 125).
The shepherd king
As fugitive and as king, the lesson of the shepherd would remain with David throughout his lifetime of service to God. The Lord had placed him over His own people, and it was a trust David would not fail to appreciate. As the shepherd king, David became the model with whom all future kings of Judah would be compared. His rulership was also the foreshadowing of the Messianic reign. Future generations would understand him to be the Messiah in type.
“And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them… And I will make with them a covenant of peace…And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they also shall walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them” (Ezek. 34:24-25; 37:24).
The good shepherd
“I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep, and am known of mine” (John 10:14). Jesus, the Messiah, understood the lessons his ancestor David had learned from shepherding. As the young David, leading his flock from day to day, knew each of his sheep by name, so our Savior knows his flock. Jesus is the “Shepherd and Bishop (overseer) of our souls” (I Peter 2:25).
The Good Shepherd saves his flock from the enemy — the power of sin. He even lays down his life for his sheep. “Therefore doth the Father love me, because I lay down my life…” (John 10:17; cf. Heb. 13:20). It is this point of self-sacrifice that characterizes a true shepherd in the ecclesia.
Shepherds and hirelings
The flocks of Jesse had been trusted, not to hirelings, but to a son who would fulfill his responsibility toward them. Sadly, many times the leaders of Israel acted not as faithful shepherds but as hirelings. When Jesus came on the scene there were few true shepherds among the people of the Lord. Those in authority — priests, Sanhedrin, Pharisees and Sadducee’s — all conspired to put to death the true Messiah of Israel.
The hireling -”the worthless shepherd that leaveth the flock” — is a role to be avoided by all who would be true disciples of Christ. We can fall into that category in several ways. We can mislead other believers by bad example or wrong teaching, or we can abandon the flock. The hireling, in the face of trouble, leaves the sheep. He may justify himself in taking that course but, according to our Master’s parable, it is “because he is a hireling and careth not for the sheep” (John 10:7-16).
Feed my lambs
The apostles set examples of shepherding, and they instructed others how to be good elders and overseers of the flock of God. The apostles of Jesus were taught how to take responsibility for tending the sheep, feeding the flock of God and looking to their spiritual needs.
The prophets had spoken of a time when the shepherd would be smitten and the sheep scattered. While the apostles kept their trust, others who would come after them abandoned the sheep or led them away from the green pastures of saving truth. Grievous wolves entered in and did not spare the flock (Acts 20:29).
While elders in the ecclesias must especially be aware of their duty as shepherds of the flock, each of us has an obligation in this regard. Every one of us must take responsibility for others, setting an example as we strive to follow the right path, helping others wherever we can, offering encouragement along the way.
Believers today must be careful to follow the true shepherd as he leads us beside the still waters: the gospel of sincerity and truth. We must work as shepherds, learning from the experiences of the young David who faithfully cared for his father’s sheep. “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage but being ensamples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (I Peter 5:2-4).
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