SHEPHERDS CAN GROW TO BECOME KINGS.

The story is told of a glowing, healthy, and handsome young man who in his teenage was tending his father's sheep in the wilderness. This boy would later grow up to become a great king and one of the greatest kings that the bible talks about. But the rise of David from the shepherd boy to the King is fraught with several life’s lessons worth discussing.

1. Learn to keep your “prophecies” safe until they are fulfilled

1 Samuel 16:13 says that the prophet Samuel anointed David as king in the presence of his brothers. David the shepherd boy was anointed to become king in the presence of 7 of his big brothers when a powerful king was still reigning as king. I struggle to see how David, his father, his 7 brothers, and possibly a number of servants who may have been present managed to keep this information away from the reigning king but it seems that is what happened. Even with David's brothers serving as soldiers in the King army, they kept their mouths shut and kept this knowledge to them until the prophecy was fulfilled in the life of David. Learn to keep your prophecies to yourself until they are fulfilled in your life.

2. Learn to be excellent at what you do

When an evil spirit was tormenting king Saul, there was a suggestion to get a man who could play the lyre to soothe the king. 1 Samuel 16:18 says one of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.” Somebody had seen the shepherd boy David play the lyre well. In addition to being a good player, he was described as brave, a warrior, speaks well, a fine-looking man and the Lord was with him. So my brother just being a good player or singer or teacher or whatever you are good at is not enough to take you where God wants to take you. You need to develop your soft skills in life. You need to read and become knowledgeable. You need to groom yourself well. You need to build a good reputation. And above all, you need to have a good relationship with your God.

3. Learn how to serve and make no attempt to kill the Lords “anointed” leader

When David got the opportunity to serve in the king’s palace, he served very well. The bible says that whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul, he would feel better and the evil spirit would leave him. David served so well that in 1 Samuel 16:22-23, king Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him." Can you imagine if this was you in David's shoes? You have already been anointed as king by the prophet? The sitting king is being tormented by evil spirits? Does his kingdom seem to be falling apart? This was a good opportunity for David to "rise up" and fulfill the prophecy of God over his life. But David knew and understood the power of authority and that King Saul was an anointed king and so he had no business to be rebellious to the King.

In fact, after several attempts by king Saul to kill David, David also had a number of opportunities to retaliate and kill king Saul in 1 Samuel 24 and 26 but David did not even try. David reiterated this in 1 Samuel 26:20 by telling his soldiers that "The Lord forbid that I should lay a hand on the Lord’s anointed."

4. Know the source of your power and strength

When David the shepherd boy was confronted with having to fight the giant Goliath, he says in 1 Samuel 17:45 that “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." David already had battle experience fighting and catching bears and lions by their jaws and killing them. These victories seem like no mean feat but if a bear or a lion were to appear in any of our gatherings, I doubt if any of us would make any attempt to "David" ourselves up to kill these beasts. In spite of these exploits, David attributed his strength in the battle with goliath to the strength of the Lord. May we lay aside all previous victories we have had and attribute our strength to the Lord whenever we are faced with a daunting battle.

5. Learn how to captain 1000 men

In 1 Samuel 18:13, we are told that King Saul gave David command over a thousand men, and David led the troops in their campaigns. Because of the great leaders of his 1000 army, David’s army grew even when he fell out with King Saul. Another attribute of David worth mentioning is that he surrounded himself with strong and skillful military men such that his army was virtually undefeatable. In 1 Chronicle 11 and 12, there are various accounts of mighty men in David's armies, men who could kill 300 people with a spear, men who could kill lions with their bare hands, and men who could virtually walk into an enemy camp for a cup of water. Lest we forget David was as strong as these men so that he was earned the right to be the leader of these men. By the time David became king, 1 Chronicles 12: 22 says that he had a great army, like the army of God.

6. Serve God with a contrite and upright heart

In spite of all the achievements that David had as a shepherd boy and as a king, his hallmark is that he was a man after God's own heart. David says in Psalm 51:16-17 that God does not delight in sacrifice and burnt offerings but rather God delights in a broken and contrite heart. After all our achievements in our families, at work, at school, in business, and in all the ventures we embark upon in our lives, let us always remember that God does not delight in just in our victories and sacrifices but his ultimate desire is that we will love him with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.

May we prepare ourselves well so that by the time God is moving us from our shepherd place to the palace as kings and queens, we will be prepared for the task ahead.