The Shepherd or the Beast?

Many of us know the story of King David, at least in part. He is a shepherd boy, the youngest and least likely of his family to become a “somebody.” He is anointed to be King in a turn of events that shock everyone. He learns to play the harp and lyre in the pasture while also fighting a lion and a bear, killing them to save the sheep. He later kills Goliath in another shocking display of God’s favor, soothes Saul’s unrest with music, fights as a general in Israel’s armies, and eventually becomes hunted by an insecure and rebellious King Saul. David struggles, runs, and sees no way of walking into his anointing, but God works it all out in the end. David becomes King and rules with worship, humility, and obedience to God. The end.

Well…

Many of us wish that was the fairytale ending, but the truth is much darker.

David did rule with worship, humility, and obedience to God for much of his life, but his sins were also great. He took Bathsheba from her rooftop bathing and had an affair with her, stealing the wife of one of his closest followers and companions — Uriah the Hittite. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David attempted to hide his sins. When his cover up attempts all failed, he sent Uriah, one of his Mighty Men, to the front lines of a battle that he should have been at himself. Unbeknownst to Uriah, he carried his own sealed death note to his commander. It informed the commander to place Uriah at he front of the fiercest fighting, and to then pull back, leaving Uriah alone to die. His death was sad and full of sinful betrayal.

God’s response was to send the prophet, Nathan, to David’s door. Nathan had a simple story to tell David. It is found in 2 Samuel 12:1-9

1 And the Lord sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, “There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many flocks and herds, 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” 5 Then David's anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.”

There are books, and more books to be written on all that we could glean from this abbreviated version of an otherwise deep and complex story. However, I want to highlight the shift on David’s heart from protector of the sheep, to the lion and bear.

David started as a shepherd and was chosen by God because he had the heart of a shepherd. God wasn’t looking for a man with elite stature (that didn’t go well with Saul anyways), he was looking for a heart after His own. He found that in David, the young shepherd boy. Remember, David was so willing to give his life for stinky sheep that he actually fought a wild lion and bear. He would chase the beasts that snatched the lamb, pursuing them at his own risk. He loved those sheep and understood the weight of his responsibility to care for his family’s flocks. He couldn’t let the hunger of the beasts devour the innocence of the lamb. He had a mantle and he fulfilled it.

But now, Nathan stands before a different man. A man that has drifted so far from the heart of God, he has become the devourer of his sheep, not the protector. His lust consumed him and changed him.

Uriah was under his care. He was a devoted follower of David from the early days when David was running for his life. He was one of David’s flock. David found Uriah as a disenfranchised outcast. David took him in like one of his sheep from younger days, along with many other men that we now lump together under the title of, David’s Mighty Men. Uriah was willing to die for David, and in a sick and twisted way, he did.

David had forsaken his mantle of shepherd for the desires of the beast.

Our lesson today is simple — Don’t let success, comfort, power, temptation, or any other pleasure cause your heart to drift away from God.

It didn’t matter that David had become a king. God wasn’t looking for a king, he was looking for a shepherd to sit on the throne. He wanted “…a man after his own heart…” (1 Sam 13:14/Acts 13:22)

David was now the lion. David was now the bear. He had devoured his own, in order to quench his hunger.

God would redeem David, but not before great agony would beset him. He would lose his son, the sword would now be upon his kingdom forever, and his latter days were filled with family problems, betrayal, abuse, and turmoil that never left his house.

Man of God, you are meant to be the Shepherd of your home. The priest of your family. The spiritual and physical protector of your household.

Don’t become the lion. Don’t become the bear.

You are not the beast, you are the shepherd.

Don’t let the things of this world infiltrate your heart to where you become the the very thing that devours your family and tears it apart. God has great plans for you.

Be the shepherd, as you were created.