“He also chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds; from tending the ewes with nursing young He brought him to shepherd Jacob His people, and Israel His inheritance. So David shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart; and guided them with his skillful hands.” Psalm 78:70-72 AMP Bible

 Shepherd and King

I read the above Psalm in my devotional time this morning. David was the youngest and smallest in his family. His brothers were warriors and he was a shepherd. Yet God chose him. In Acts 13:22 (AMP), God tells us why: “…He testified and said, ‘I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY OWN HEART [conforming to My will and purposes], who will do all My will.’” God didn’t look for the biggest, the best-looking or the most popular. He took a teenager from the sheepfold and made him king. As we see in 1 Samuel 16:7b, “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

God is looking for people with humility and who are willing to conform to His will and purposes. He is looking at our hearts. For most of us this won’t bring wealth or fame. We’ll be asked by God to do some hard and at times unpopular things, but He never asks us to do what He wasn’t willing to do first.

Through the lineage of the shepherd and king, David (2 Timothy 2:8), we have the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20) and King of Kings (Revelation 19:16), Jesus. Just like David, Jesus didn’t come in the way man thought He would. They were looking for a Messiah who would overthrow the Roman Empire, but instead being all God, He came down from heaven, took the form of a man, humbled Himself, and died on a cross so He would then be exalted by God and given the Name which is above every name and to which eventually every knee will bow (Philippians 2:5-11).

For us, we are told in Matthew 6:19-21 not to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth which can be destroyed or stolen, but to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven which cannot be destroyed or stolen. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Both David and Jesus knew this. Their hearts were in tune with God’s. The first shepherd and king sinned and failed miserably at times, just like you and I do, and yet God continued to call him a man after His own heart. That gives me hope. Jesus the second Shepherd and King was without sin or failure, and when I put my trust in Him that gives me eternal life.

Father God, thank You that You look at our hearts and even when we sin and fail, You still love us. Help us to conform to Your will and purpose; thank You for our Great Shepherd and King, Jesus. Amen.