Thursday, January 12, 2012

A Good Shepherd

Reflections on 2 Sam. 24:11-17 & 1 Chron. 21:9-17

God took David from the pasture where he followed the sheep and said to him, "You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler" (2 Samuel 5:2). Indeed, David did shepherd Israel. He protected citizens from marauders, showed compassion to those who were discouraged and in debt, gave hope and courage to soldiers in battle, showed sympathy to the weak and weary, and ruled the people with justice and equity. His treatment of Uriah was the one exception to his just and benevolent rule of Israel, but David repented and was disciplined of God. He was again a man who put the interests of the people above his own (cf. Philippians 2:4).

CHOICE. After David numbered the people, his conscience smote him, and he confessed his sin. Through Gad the prophet, God gave David the choice of three punishments: three years of famine, three months of fleeing before his enemies, or three days of plague. The choice was difficult for as the time diminished from three years to three days, the severity of the punishment increased. In all three, many of the people would die, so David cast himself, and all Israel, on the mercy of God asking only that they not fall into the hands of men. God sent a plague, and seventy-thousand men (soldiers?) died throughout the land.

APPEAL. When the plague was approaching Jerusalem, David was distraught for the people and fell face down before the approaching angel. He prayed to God, "Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? I am the one who has sinned and done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done? O Lord my God, let your hand fall upon me and my family, but do not let this plague remain on your people" (1 Chronicles 21:17). It is especially noteworthy that David shouldered full responsibility for the census even though the people had also done something that angered God!
David offered himself and his family to the plague in order that God might spare the people of Jerusalem. In this, he demonstrated that he still had the heart of a shepherd who cared for his sheep. He foreshadowed the coming Messiah, who had committed no sin yet gave his life for those who had. He said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. -- John 10:11-13

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