Tuesday, September 20, 2005
2 Samuel 5:3 And all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron. And king David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel
SHEPHERD KING
During the time that David was being pursued by King Saul he had several opportunities to take Saul's life. When one of his soldiers told him to take Saul's life, David replied: "As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish."
As David trusted that the Lord would take care of this matter, so it happened. Saul and his army were fighting against the Philistines. Saul and his forces were badly beaten, and Saul himself was wounded. In despair he fell on his own sword and killed himself. Seven years later David was accepted as the new king.
In his youth David had been a shepherd of sheep. Now he was the shepherd of God's people, and his main duty as God's king was to see to it that his people were fed with the Word of God and protected from their enemies. As a good shepherd of Israel, David was a type of the great Good Shepherd that was to come from his family, our Lord Jesus Christ. As all the tribes of Israel joined together in declaring David their shepherd and king, so we, together with all believers in Christ throughout the entire world unite in declaring Jesus, the Son of David, our Good Shepherd and King.
For this is what Jesus, the Son of David, said about Himself: "I am the good Shepherd . . . and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd . . . My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand."
When the last day comes, we shall see not just the tribes of Israel, but all the believers of all ages and all places united in acclaiming the Lord Jesus their Shepherd and King. As David was the shepherd of Israel, so David's Son is our Shepherd now and forever.
