The Few Sheep

The Few Sheep

Acts 13:22

David never lost a public battle. He was a giant killer who produced giant killers. He reclaimed Jerusalem from the Jebusites, brought back the ark and restored the worship of Jehovah in Zion. The mountains that surrounded Jerusalem by which the Jebusites had fortified themselves became a symbol of how God surrounded his people (Psalm 125:2).

God’s promises about David are astounding. The dynamic way God dealt with him was very typical of the way he deals with his Church. The Davidic order/blessing brought grace and victory. It transcended his generation. God established his throne forever in Zion.  Isaiah prophesied that by the zeal of Jehovah a child, the Lord Jesus, would be born to occupy David’s throne and his rule would not end (Isaiah 9:6; 11:1, 2).  John described the exalted Christ he saw in a vision as ‘he that hath the key of David to open and no man shuts and to shut and no man opens (Revelation 3:7).  David tasted the privileges of grace that would fully come later.  The tabernacle he built was much simpler to access than that of Moses. The form of worship in approaching God’s presence in the tabernacle was praise and music.  It was typical of sacrifices of praise that usher the Church into God’s presence. Not only did he offer sacrifices of praise, he experienced grace during the time of the law. He received mercy through confessing sins in faith instead of being stoned according to the law (Psalm 51). 

Acts 13:22 is a summary of the rise of David as king with lessons of how to please God and experience the fullness in Christ.

1) God removed Saul. Acts 13:22a, “And when he had removed him,”

Before David could be raised, Saul had to be removed. As long as Saul was intact, David was in trouble. You also need to reject the Saul spirit of the flesh and self. Allow God to rule by his Spirit in your life. Allow him to rise to the throne so that you can also rise to the place where you rule with him. The characteristics of a Saul spirit include:

•           A promising start but terrible ending. Saul was promising in several ways.  He starts anointed by God to be king and ends rejected by God from being king (1 Sam 10:1). He started acting humble but ends a proud person (1 Samuel 10:21-23, 27). He started surrounded by men whose hearts God had touched but ends with men trembling before Goliath (1 Samuel 10:26).

•           A big impressive physical appearance head and shoulder above everyone else, but a spiritual dwarf inside (1 Samuel 9:2). Spiritual babies can hope to grow bigger but what hope do pigmies have.

•           A self-dependent spirit that does not wait on God. Saul acted according to what seemed right to logic and his interests (1 Samuel 15:9). He did not fully obey God.

•           Overstepping authority boundaries. Saul carried out a priestly role that was for Samuel to perform. When under pressure from the Philistines and from his own men, he made the offering only for Samuel to arrive just as he finished (1 Samuel 13:8-10, 13).  •     Building a monument to oneself instead of giving God the glory in everything (1 Samuel 15:12). He was more concerned about people’s opinion of him than obeying God’s word (1 Samuel 15:30).

•           Not being truly repentant. Saul was defensive when confronted with his sin. He was covering up. It took the bleating of the sheep to expose that he had left out some sheep when God instructed that everything be destroyed (1 Samuel 15:13, 14). He shifted blame to the people (1 Samuel 15:21).  He from questionable motives asked for forgiveness only after being cornered (1 Samuel 15:25). 

•           Rejecting God’s word. Samuel’s verdict over Saul was ‘you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king’ (1 Samuel 15:23, 26).

•           Fighting new things God chooses to do. A religious spirit defends traditional ways and the status quo when they have become irrelevant, ineffective and God has moved on (1 Samuel 18:9, 11, 25, 19:1, 10).

•           Having no relationship with God. Saul referred to God as 'the Lord your God’ (1 Samuel 15:21) suggesting a non-existent or very weak personal relationship with God. Christ died so you can have a personal/ direct relationship with him as your father.

2) David had a different heart. Acts 13:22, “to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will.”

God found David to be of a different heart. God testified of David that he had a heart after God's heart. He had a spirit different from a Saul spirit. 

•           David finished well. He started by being overlooked by his father at the presentation of possible sons to be anointed (1 Samuel 16:11). But ends with his throne established forever. Unlike Saul, David started surrounded by men who were malcontents rejected by society but ends with an army of giant killers (1 Sam 22:2).

•           David had a smaller stature than his brothers but a spiritual giant inside (1 Samuel 16:12, 7).

•           David always inquired and waited on the Lord before making decisions. He was diligent to know what God wanted and to obey it (1 Samuel 23:2, 4; 30:8; 2 Samuel 2:1; 5:19, 23; 21:1).  This attitude was the secret to his exploits.

•           David respected authority boundaries. When he had opportunity to kill Saul was hunting him down, David refused to kill the Lord’s anointed even though God had rejected Saul and David had been anointed to be the next king by Samuel (1 Samuel 24:6, 10).

•           David built an altar to God not a monument to himself (1 Chronicles 21:22, 26). He also became the ‘father’ of vibrant praise and worship with most of the book of Psalms attributed to him.

•           David was truly repentant (Psalm 51:1-13). He cried to God like one suffocating gasped for life giving oxygen. He was not defensive. He did not shift blame. His motive was to please God and so he could serve God (v. 13). As a result, even though David lost a major private battle he recovered and maintained his clean sheet. A humble and contrite heart God does not despise. He did well not because he never failed but because he mastered the humility to overcome down turns and set backs.

•           David loved God’s word. Unlike Saul who rejected God’s word David wrote 176 verses in Psalm 119 to express his love for God’s word. The word of God prospered him in all his ways (Joshua 1:8).

•           David loved to use relevant methods that flowed with the heart of God. He was a prophetic worshiper and king by seeking to hear from God. His dancing, his fighting methods, and his attitude when God would not let him build the temple are testimony. He let God choose his son for the task and even supported him with resources and connections.

•           David had a personal relationship with God (Psalms). He knew God’s faithfulness and attributes so well that he trusted and praised him. He promoted God and God promoted him.

3) God used a few sheep to raise David. Acts 13:22b “he raised up unto them David to be their king;”

God raises up people for roles in church and society. God is in absolute control (Ephesians 1:11). He calls them and prepares them for their assignment.  The sheepfold where David looked after a few sheep of a poor farmer was his training and testing ground. Caring for the sheep in the dangerous plains and hills shaped his character. He was humble to look after a few sheep (1 Samuel 17:28). The family left him out from the more notable role of being a soldier. Shepherding was not generally a job without honor. In the case of Joseph, the elder brothers went out to look after the flock. It was looking after the family wealth. It was also dangerous and required lots of courage to face invaders and predators. What stands out for David is how faithful he looked after the few family sheep. Maybe the family estimated little loss should the sheep be lost to predators to let their youngest look after them. Before God raises you, he also will ask you to first look after some few sheep. David was so faithful with the sheep that he would literally put his life on the line in their defense (1 Samuel 17:34).

Faithfulness with a few sheep distinguished David for kingship. He was an unlikely candidate. The good news also for you is God knows where you are. He knows how to reach you. He knows how to beat your excuses. God wants every one of His children to become a person after His Own heart. David was such a person. One could not have been farther from the throne than David. He had Rahab the harlot and Ruth a gentile in his ancestry (Judges 2; Ruth 4:20). His father excluded him from opportunity. He was from a tiny place called Bethlehem. He was unknown by the king even after serving him with the harp for a while. He was despised by his brothers (1 Samuel 17:28).The one positive thing going for him was, keeper of a few sheep. David gave his heart to it.   He drew his description of good shepherding in Psalm 23 from his own quality practice. He was with them in the valley of the shadow of death and they lacked nothing.  Even after he was anointed, he went back to his flock (1 Samuel 16:19).   After he was called to Jerusalem to play the harp for King Saul, he returned to keep his father’s sheep, (1 Samuel 17:15). 

When he was alone in the sheepfold, he learnt to play the harp and to praise God. The harp skill brought him before the king. When he fought the lion and the bear, he learnt faith and skill he would need to conquer Goliaths. When he patiently tendered for the little lambs and saw them grow to being big and confident, he learnt the patience necessary to transform malcontents of society to giants for God. In all he learnt to trust God and experience his unfailing favor.

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa