THY WORD IS TRUTH
John 17:17
“I Am The Good Shepherd!”
Today is the third Sunday after Easter and the subject of the sermon today is the Good Shepherd. And the word "good" before the word "shepherd" implies that there are bad shepherds otherwise there is no point to the title.
What is the difference here?
We are talking about qualities of leadership here aren’t we?
Sheep are not the strongest animals on the planet are they. Sheep are not able to protect themselves in a savage world. And that is what a good shepherd should be, a good protector of the sheep.
And to make the distinction between a good and bad shepherd, we heard what God said about the difference between a good and bad shepherd is this morning in the Old Testament reading from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 23.
And the opening warning to the bad shepherds of this world was “Woe to you.” Quite a familiar opening phrase don’t you thinks for Jesus of Nazareth used this rebuke time and time again to the High Priests and scribes of his time (The Pjarisees) who were excellent examples of bad shepherds.
Let look as what the God of the Old Testament says through the mouth of his prophet Jeremiah about the characteristics of bad shepherding. The opening line of the passage is “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD. “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care upon them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done.” I myself have gathered a remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will put shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will not longer be afraid or terrified, nor will there be any of them missing".
The days are coming when I will raise up to David the righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be called The Lord Our Righteousness. And so the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah foretells of a person who will be raised up to David who will be the Good Shepherd of the flock and will reign with justice and righteousness and wisdom.
So the Davidic covenant is where God promises David when he has his prophet Samuel anointed him King of Israel. And what did God Promise David?” And the bible fast forward class will cover this in detail this week. The Davidic covenant is recorded by the Prophet Samuel and later King David himself records it in the Psalms.
Lets look at Samuel first and I have preached upon this covenant a number of times before for the Davidic covenant is an everlasting covenant and Jesus of Nazareth uniquely fulfills this covenant. It is the proof that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah or Christ.
But before we go to the words of the Davidic Covenant, lets look at the first king of Israel and what happened to him. The first king of Israel was also anointed by the prophet Samuel. And God leads with an example of a bad shepherd for God had Saul anointed as Israel’s first Kings but the self centered characteristics of Saul lead him into disobedience and eventually into rejection by God and removal of him as king of Israel.
So what did Saul do that got him fired as king? What were his lack of leadership skills that God chose to remove him as king of Israel. We have to go the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel to see the problem. Saul had been anointed by Samuel and he at first had the Holy Spirit and prophesied as we learned in chapter 10 and Samuel tells Saul, “The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. And these are the key words to understand what got King Saul in trouble with God.
“Do what ever you hand finds to do for God is with you.”
All Saul had to do was to obey what God had for him to do”. But Saul did not follow exactly what God wanted him to do and he paid the price for it.
What were God’s instructions to Saul? And perhaps Saul got in trouble because he saw God’s instructions as just that. Helpful suggestions that Saul as king could follow was Saul thought fit. And that exactly as Saul did for the most part he followed what the thought God wanted him to do but he made exceptions and those exception cost him dearly.
What did God tell Saul to do? Samuel told Saul after he anointed him King, “"I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "
And in these commands to Saul we see the Jealous God of the Old Testament who despised the idolatry of the Amalekites so much that the wanted them utterly destroyed down their livestock and animals every one of them.
But Saul was weak and could not carry these commands out.
Verse 1 of Samuel 15 reads, “Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. 10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night. 12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." 13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" 15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied. 17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?" 20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?
So Saul interpreted Gods commands as if Saul had the option to follow as Saul saw fit. He instead of destroying these animals as God had commanded him, Saul would sacrifice them to God instead in order to bring glory to Saul in the sight of his men instead of glory to God by his obedience.
And what was the result. Verse 23, Samuel tells Saul, “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."
Pride and arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.
So what does God promise to David whom God chooses to replace Saul as the anointed king of Israel?
For the words of the Davidic covenant we have to go to the second book of Samuel when Samuel tells David, “'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.
" 'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son.”
And these last words are the most significant.
And he will be my son. Jesus of Nazareth claimed that the Lord God was his father and they tried to kill him for saying it.
And so we have the good shepherd of the flock in Jesus of Nazareth and he alone fulfills the Davidic covenant for he was obedient but how was he obedient?
He was obedient unto death.
And although King David was not obedient to God the descendent of King David was in Jesus Christ..
David in his adultery with Bathsheba was disobedient to God but there was an important distinction here with King Saul’s disobedience.
King David repented and Saul did not.
Saul was sorry for his sin but he did not pray to God and repent and ask for forgiveness. He arrogantly insisted that he had obeyed God.
But remember that God called David, “A man after my own heart” and then Samuel anointed the little shepherd boy as king of Israel for the psalmist is King David.
He wrote most of the psalms by his own hand and we heard this morning the most familiar one “The Lord is My Shepherd or had written for him all the other psalms. But the most significant psalm that David wrote was his Psalm of Repentance and that is Psalm 51.
For the after God heard this psalm David was forgiven and remained a man after God’s own heart. And here are words of David’s repentance. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.
And later in Psalm 51 we heard David ask God, “Create in me a clean heart O God and take not you Hold Spirit from me. David had just had the example of King Saul and how God had taken his Holy Spirit from Saul.
And God in his compassion between these first two kings of Israel restored David and kept him on the throne of Israel and God kept his promised to David.
Let me close in prayer: Eternal God you reveal your self by the truth of you word. You give both negative and positive examples of leadership and you give the negative self centered example first so that those who follow that example can change their behavior to conform to your instructions and commands for a good and righteous life.
Help us to recognize in our leaders that we choose both in the church and in our nation who protect and guide both our congregation members and citizen of the US with justice and wisdom and are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the protection and well being of those whose care and protection they have been entrusted.
Help us to remove and reject those leaders who would throw us to the wolves for their own personal gain and achievements like King Saul. Amen
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