The Shepherd Boy

by G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Category: The Life And Times Of David | Jan 1972

"The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1).

This well-known psalm has often cheered and refreshed the hearts of those who love the Lord. It is a shepherd's song about the chief Shepherd; short and simple, but heart-warming. Only a man who had known God's shepherd-care in his own life could have written it. David wrote it, and we love to sing it.

"He ... took him from the sheepfolds", wrote Asaph, "to feed ... Israel His inheritance" (Psalm 78:70,71). The chief Shepherd had called the shepherd-hearted man to shepherd His people. He was eminently fitted for the work. His training had been with sheep; let us watch him at work:

"when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a Iamb out of the flock, I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he rose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and slew him" (1 Sam.

17:34,35).

This is an astonishing account of the young shepherd's prowess. Why should he risk his life for a mere lamb of the flock when all the odds were against him? What chance had a strippling of a youth against a lion or a bear? David knew his God, and they that know Him can do exploits (Dan. 11:32).

Two things impress us: first, his confidence in the shepherd care of God, and second, his love for the lambs. Here is a stirring example for shepherds among God's people today. Have we lost any lambs from our assembly? If so, did we travail in prayer for them as we might have done? It costs something to save lambs; the lion is still on the prowl seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8), hence the need for Peter's exhortation to shepherds to be watchful and sober.

Lions prowl by night and bears hunt by day, but David kept watch and did not spare himself in his shepherd-care. When Samuel later came to anoint one of Jesse's sons, all his brothers paraded before the prophet but David was out on the hillside with his lambs and sheep. The chief part of a shepherd's work is with the sheep. David spent his time tending the sheep and keeping watch for their enemies. This is an important lesson for shepherds.

The language used by David in Psalm 23 no doubt reflects his watchfulness over the welfare of his own flock. And he uses these shepherd terms to express the chief Shepherd's care for him, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

He leadeth me beside the still waters" (ver. 2). How expressive I Green pastures, and still waters. When the Lord spoke to Simon Peter on that memorable occasion at the sea of Tiberius, He said, "Simon ... Feed My lambs ... Tend My sheep ... Feed My sheep" (John 21:15-17). This word comes to shepherds among God's people today. The chief Shepherd who taught David and Peter will teach us also.

The lambs of the flock need to be fed in the "green pastures" of the Word. Bible-classes for the young should be held in every church of God. This is necessary and important. The young need a wide coverage of the Word to bring out the lessons that they need. And they must not only be fed with the Word, they must also be taught to pray, for this restores the soul. Without prayer they will not be able to endure. And how important it is that they should be guided in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. There are wrong habits to be corrected. Lying and cheating in every form must be shown to be wrong. They must be taught the importance of putting the Lord first in all things, and to set apart the Lord's day for the Lord's service as much as is in their power. They must be shown the importance of giving the Lord His portion of all that He gives to them, and to yield their lives to Him who gave His life for them (2 Cor. 5:14,15).

It was a wise word that David gave to his son Solomon in 1 Chron. 28:9. Young disciples would do well to memorize it. And how helpful are David's words to the Lord, and to Israel in 1 Chron. 29.

But even when the lambs of the flock have been fed and guided there is still the need to watch over them and protect them from the lion and the bear. In the secret place of the Most High shepherd-hearted men must prevail in prayer to snatch the disciples from the grasp of the enemy.

When the time drew near for David to leave the obscurity of the sheepfold to "feed Israel His inheritance" the prophet was sent to anoint him for this greater work. The man who had learned to trust God in secret must now come forward and demonstrate his trust in God before the people of Israel. It was David who wrote:

"Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that put their trust in Thee, before the sons of men I" (Psalm 31:19).

David was a bright example of this, and his conduct in the Vale of Elah proved the reality of his trust in God.

At his anointing "The Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward" (1 Sam. 16:13). The word of the LORD to Samuel that day was:

"The LORD seeth not as man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart".

We should all note well this word. What we are in secret with God is the measure of our true value. Only by cultivating fellowship with God in secret can we show out His excellencies to others.

G. Jarvie, Glasgow | Jan 1972
The Life And Times Of David