REFLECTIONS

Our Shepherd

Those many days alone watching over the sheep shaped his life. No one was with him, only God. No one to talk to, only God. No one to protect him during those long days and star-filled nights, only God. But time alone with God provided David opportunity to sharpen his slingshot skills.

Hour after hour he practiced slinging rocks at make-shift bullseyes. He found accuracy was more crucial than power; and small smooth rocks easier to control when accuracy was premium. So, when lions appeared, their catlike moves were no match for young David’s skill with a sling and stone. Or when bears reared to crush their prey, his precision could bring them down. And when the giant Goliath made the haughty challenge to fight, David fearlessly answered the call. The Lord was his shepherd. He feared no evil.

Those lonely days tending sheep prepared young David for battles to be fought in the years ahead. But time alone in the field allowed focus on his softer side too. His poetic prayers strengthened his pursuit after God’s own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14) And he often set his prayers to music, played on his trusty harp kept nearby. Music from his harp also calmed the flock when they became restless.

God uses special times alone to prepare us for the times ahead. Just as those times alone with David, God found Moses alone in a shepherds’ field and called him into service there. In the quiet of night, God wrestled Jacob to gain his attention; and in the solitude of the desert, he prepared Paul to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world.

David was to become a great warrior and king. He would face the wrath of angry kings, rejection of a resentful wife, and suffer the agony of losing two of his children. But those times alone with God built a foundation that would sustain him throughout his life. In the face of his troubles, David knew where to turn. The Lord was his shepherd.

Life’s adventures still await us in our travels through this world. God uses times alone with him to prepare our lives for challenges ahead just as he prepared David.

The Lord is our Shepherd; we shall not want.

You are the light of the world,

Richard +www.reflectingthesavior.org

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