Perched on a rock in the hills outside of Bethlehem, the young shepherd sat watching his father’s sheep. With his staff slung over his back, his fingers skillfully plucked and strummed the strings of the small harp.
He couldn’t have imaged that a thousand years in the future, another shepherd and his buddies would sit in the same Judean hills under the same stary sky, when to their astonishment, a choir of heaven’s angels would appear, bursting forth in perfect harmony, announcing the King’s arrival.
Alone, this young shepherd composed and sang his worship and praise to the coming King, his God, his constant companion, the shepherd’s Shepherd.
“Lord, our Lord, how magnificent is your name throughout the earth! You have covered the heavens with your majesty ... When I observe your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him?” (Psalm 8:1-4).
“I will thank the Lord with all my heart; I will declare all your wondrous works. I will rejoice and boast about you; I will sing about your name, Most High” (Psalm 9:1–2).
The shepherd became the conductor, as he led the stary hosts. “Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness” (Psalm 29:1–2).
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever”
(Psalm 23:1–6, NKJV).
You guested... the shepherd’s name was David, “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1, ESV).
All Scripture quotation, except as otherwise noted, are from
Holman Bible Publishers’ Christian Standard Bible.
