Our church is less than two years into a new building and
already the children’s ministry is larger than the space created for it. We are
praying for God’s guidance in a solution, knowing that God will answer our
prayers. He is our Shepherd.
Each Wednesday my husband and I meet with a small group of
believers, study the Word of God and pray for our collective requests. In our
discussions we share the many ways that God shepherds us. We are His sheep.
This week I am praying daily for wisdom as I write a
particularly challenging term paper. Every day God gives me unexpected thoughts
from His Word that add weight to my thesis. I am humbled and grateful that He
shepherds me.
Today’s devotional reading begins a new two-month study of
Psalm 23. It is called, “Still Waters” because the author’s intent is that
readers experience confidence and peace while studying the depths of this
well-known psalm.
This author begins with a quick look into the heart of David,
the human author of the psalm. Long before this man became king of Israel and
wrote this and other psalms, he was a shepherd boy, the youngest of several
brothers. He was simply doing his job when God sent His prophet Samuel to look
for the next king to replace Saul. He guided this man to this family of brothers,
and when he set his eyes on the eldest, the Lord interrupted his assumptions
and said, “Do not look on his appearance
or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on
the outward appearance, but the Lord
looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
Samuel considered the next eldest and the next, but his Shepherd
kept saying of each that they were not His choice. Finally, Samuel asked the
father send for his youngest who was not there but busy tending sheep . . .
And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had
beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord
said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” (1 Samuel 16:12)
For a God who looks on the heart, it seems odd to first describe
David by his outward appearance. However, throughout the story of David, we are
given many glimpses of his heart. One of the first describes his courage. A literal
giant among their enemy ranks defies Israel’s army and their God. David steps
forward while everyone else is cowering in fear and offers to take the
challenge . . .
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this
Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of
war from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep
for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the
flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And
if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed
him. Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the
living God.” (1 Samuel 17:33–36)
This is the heart of this young shepherd. He is fearless,
not because he is strong or handsome, but because the honor of God and God’s
people are more important to him than protecting himself. He knows that his
Shepherd will give him whatever he needs to defeat the foe, no matter what or
who that foe might be.
David ignored Saul’s estimation of who will win the
battle, and confidently faced Goliath knowing that the Lord is his Shepherd.
Because He is my Shepherd also, I can stand against all giants that threaten me!
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