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The Shepherd's Keeping (Amplified--unless otherwise specified) As a boy shepherding his father's sheep, David learned early how dependent the sheep were upon the shepherd's care and keeping. Himself a tender of the sheep, David early identified himself as one under the protection and provision of the Lord, His Heavenly Keeper. Later he wrote, "The Lord is my shepherd [to feed, guide and shield me]" {Ps. 23:1}. By one seemingly insignificant and often overlooked act, David prefaced his confrontation day with Goliath, "the champion, the Philistine of Gath"{I Sam. 17:23}: "David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper" {I Sam. 17:20 RSV}. Only after faithfully executing his responsibility as a shepherd did he proceed with the more exciting task of taking provisions to his brothers who were encamped within the hearing of Goliath's daily tauntings. How often in adult perils did David see himself as a sheep, haunted and hunted by evil forces. Pursued both by a demonized predecessor and a usurping son, David repeatedly prayed for the delivering and keeping Shepherd to intervene on his behalf. "O keep me, Lord, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed or disappointed, for my trust and refuge are in You" {Ps. 25:20}. "Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I flee to You to hide me...Save my life, O Lord, for Your name's sake; in Your righteousness bring my life out of trouble and free me from distress. And in your mercy and lovingkindness cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my inner self, for I am Your servant" {Ps.143:9,11-12}. "Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man; preserve me from the violent man....Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from the violent men, who have purposed to thrust aside my steps" {Ps.140:1,4}. David, both a shepherd and son at heart, did not attempt to secure his own safety against King Saul without first providing for the safety of his parents. "And David...said to the King of Moab, pray let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me. And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold" {I Sam 22:3 RSV}. David's following the godly counsel of Abigail against bloodguiltiness and self-executed vengeance in the case of Nabal resulted in God's providing him with the protection and keeping which Abigail's prophecy had promised him: "If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the Lord your God; and the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling" {I. Sam. 25:29--RSV}. In response to David's pleas for deliverance and safe keeping, his Heavenly Shepherd heard and acted: "Now will I arise, says the Lord, because the poor are oppressed, because of the groans of the needy; I will set him in safety and in the salvation which he pants" {Ps. 12:5}. "The Lord preserved and gave victory to David wherever he went" {2 Sam. 8:6b}. Echoing in the words of David to Abiathar is the assurance of Christ Jesus, the Good and Great Shepherd, to those who commit themselves to His keeping: "Stay with me, fear not; for he who seeks my life seeks your life; but with me you shall be safeguarded" {I Sam. 22:23}.
- RUTH FRENCH
February 1997 Newsletter | Different Types of Conscience | Pastor's Journal February 1996 Decrease = Increase | They Went Into the Sea On Dry Ground | The Shepherd's Keeping Revised: July 23, 2009.
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