Will All of The REAL
Pastors
PLEASE Stand Up! PART FOUR
1.The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside
the still waters. 3.He restoreth my
soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4.Yea, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me. 5.Thou preparest a table
before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my
cup runneth over. 6.Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.
I
have often been guilty of declaring that I believe ‘The Church is in trouble’ & of leaving that statement hanging
in the air like a cricket ball spinning in slow motion towards a plate glass
window. I can announce that I have been very
wrong. As I read my Bible more & more,
I am beginning to see more clearly than ever that Almighty God is still sovereign; that Christ Jesus is still Lord & still unrivalled as The Head of The Church; that The Holy Spirit is
still definitively exercising His Divine
Right to lead, guide & be obeyed. At a time when there are, undoubtedly,
clowns to the left of us & jokers to the right, here we are & we ought
to be grateful to be stuck in the middle, in Him.
There
has never been a time at which God
has been without a people. Neither has there ever been a time when His people have ever been without leadership. That leadership has never been without mandate & said
mandate should be trusted because it’s handed down by He Who works all things according to the counsel of
His own will (Romans8:28, Ephesians1:11).
With
the passing of Moses, Israel came under the leadership of Joshua. When Joshua
died, Israel came under the leadership of the Judges. When we arrive at the end
of the book of Judges, we may be
tempted to say, as I have often said of The Church, ‘Israel is in trouble’
because we’re told that ‘In those days there was no King in Israel: every
man did that which was right in
his own eyes’ (Judges21:25). Cue the slowly spinning cricket ball & cut to
the plate glass window. However, God always
has a plan A. Once we come to the book of 1stSamuel it is here that we see The Lord orchestrate
the promotion of a man who would become the new Shepherd for His people Israel.
It’s no accident that after Judges we have the book of Ruth & as we hop,
skip & jump through it, we see the providential lineage of our Messiah
& the man whose throne He will inherit. That man was David.
Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye
that fear God, give audience. The God of this people of Israel chose our
fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of
Egypt, and with a high arm brought he them out of it. And about the time of
forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. And when he had
destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he divided their land to them by
lot. And after that he gave unto them judges
about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. And
afterward they desired a King: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Kish, a
man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. And when he had
removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their King; to whom also he
gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all
my will. Of this man’s seed hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: (Acts13:16-23).
At
this point I would heartily recommend
that you take some time to read the first 15 chapters of 1stSamuel as
background before going any further. It shouldn’t take you too long, unless you’re reading from the King James Version, in
which case you might have to spray your tongue with Mr. Sheen in order to slip
through it quickly. I’m joking, please do
not spray your tongue with Mr. Sheen or any
other type of wax-based, household
cleaning product. It will not end
well!
The
book of 1stSamuel opens with the story of the miraculous
conception of the Prophet of God after which the book is named & his
dedication to the service of The Lord by his mother Hannah, who had been
barren. She petitions The Lord with her tears, pouring her heart out, asking
Him to give her a son & vows ‘O Lord
of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and
remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a
man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and
there shall no razor come upon his head’ (1stSamuel1:11).
I
love it when The Lord does stuff, because He’s The Lord & He does stuff
like this. True to form, God opens Hannah’s womb & she conceives a child.
When the child is born, it is a son & she names him Samuel because he was
asked for. As soon as the boy is weaned, he is taken to Eli.
And Elkanah [Hannah’s husband] went to Ramah to his house. And the child did minister unto the Lord
before Eli the priest (1stSamuel2:11).
Eli
had two tearaway sons that he either could
not or would not control, they were
Hophni & Phinehas. Sons of Belial. These boys would steal from the
offerings that were brought to be offered before The Lord & they would also
sleep with the women. This was a known
fact to all & sundry, yet their behaviour went unchecked by their father.
Such was the state of the ministry then at that time & so it remains today.
Some of our ministers operate with an unbridled impunity & a diminished
fear of God. Everyone can see what’s going on, everyone talks about it,
everyone knows. However, nothing is done. Not by man at least.
Samuel
flourished. He learned the ropes. He ministered before The Lord in his little
Linen Ephod, he wore the little coat that his mother brought for him every year
when she came with her offering & he grew in favour with The Lord &
with men. Samuel was God’s man, in the midst of everything that was happening, despite the nepotism, blatant immorality
& endemic dishonesty. He was exactly
where God wanted him, doing exactly
what God wanted him to do. The Lord had plans for Eli’s sons & sent a man
to tell their father the bad news. I dread to think what went through Eli’s
mind as he listened to those terrible words of prophecy which included the
deaths of his sons on the same day (1stSamuel2:27-36).
*Whenever I’m tempted to become
frustrated with the state of certain parts of The Church & its leaders, I always re-read this story. Not
only is The Lord completely aware, but He extends His grace to these men in
order to correct their faults & forgive their sins. Eventually He
will judge us all but in the meantime
He will always be well able to replace any
& every individual as He wills.
Again, Almighty God is still sovereign;
Christ Jesus is still Lord & still unrivalled as The Head of The
Church; The Holy Spirit is still
definitively exercising His Divine Right to lead, guide & be obeyed.
And the child Samuel ministered unto the
Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was precious in those days; there was no open vision (1stSamuel3:1).
In
good time God called Samuel & made no bones about telling him what was
going to happen to Eli & his house, as well as what He was going to do,
saying, ‘Behold, I will do a thing in
Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In
that day I will perform against Eli all things
which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make
an end’ (1stSamuel3:11-12).
And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with
him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan
even to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was
established to be a
prophet of the Lord. And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed
himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord (1stSamuel3:19-21).
Well,
as we read on we see that the Philistines rear their ugly heads & engage
Israel in battle. Israel suffer large casualties & decide to bring The Ark
of The Covenant from its place in Shiloh, to Ebenezer. Although the reputation
of The Ark preceded it, Israel failed to secure victory against the enemy &
worst still, The Ark was captured. It was a great slaughter & among those
killed were Hophni & Phinehas, the sons of Eli. True to form, The Lord had
performed the thing He had said that he would do; ‘when I begin, I will also make an end’. Their father Eli keels over
& dies from a broken neck & Ichabod, Phinehas’ son is born. An entire
ministry of 40 years down the drain. The glory had indeed departed from Israel.
God
punished the Philistines & eventually The Ark was returned to Israel, then
Samuel the Prophet began to come into his own, judging Israel & going
before the Messianic figure whose calling & Kingdom would typify that of
The Lord Jesus Christ.
And it came to pass, when Samuel was
old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn
was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beer-sheba. And his sons walked not in his
ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel
unto Ramah, and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy
ways: now make us a King to judge us like all the nations. But the thing
displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a King to judge us. And Samuel
prayed unto the Lord (1stSamuel8:1-6).
This
may have displeased Samuel, but it came as no
surprise to The Lord. He had already said that this would happen when Israel
came into the Promised Land & had made provision in his commandments for
the time when it did. (Deuteronomy17:14-20). The elders of Israel
said they wanted a King because Samuel was old & his sons Joel & Abiah
didn’t walk in his ways, but this was a very poor excuse. Eli was old & his sons were reprobate, yet no one cried out for a King during their tenure. It’s amazing that we will
tolerate the worst things imaginable
in our leaders, but then fail to recognise good men when God gives them to us
& we will mercilessly pick them to pieces. As The Lord continues cleaning
house & executing His plan, He gives Israel a King & warns them what
their new King will do & informs them of the consequences. Israel didn’t
listen but instead insisted, so they inherited Saul. His life & ministry is
a study in itself, but if you’ve taken the time to read the first 15 chapters
of the book of 1stSamuel for yourself, you’ll see this quite
clearly. It sufficeth to say that although he began well, Saul rapidly declined
as a King despite his apparent qualifications. This was made quite clear to him
by the Prophet. ‘But now thy Kingdom
shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the
Lord hath commanded him to be captain
over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee’ (1stSamuel13:14).
Wherever
there’s an Eli, God will provide a Samuel & wherever there’s a Saul, He
will provide a David. I know that this sounds clichéd & perhaps it is a little, but my point is that The
Lord always raises someone up to
Shepherd His flock. Samuel grew up and faithfully served The Lord until the
time that he was ready to take up his duties as a Judge & Prophet over
Israel. Despite the lacklustre performance of Eli & the theft &
whoredom of Hophni & Phineas, God prepared Samuel for his calling.
Similarly, when Israel asked for a King & rejected The Lord, He didn’t fall
to pieces. He continued to execute his plan even though people were slaughtered
in battle. God always has a plan A.
And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long
wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?
fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite:
for I have provided me a King among his sons (1stSamuel16:1).
Of
course, Samuel obeys The Lord & goes, prepared to anoint the new King. It
is here that a most valuable lesson
is to be learned. In Samuel’s experience,
Saul had been tall, good looking & gifted, but these qualities mean
absolutely nothing. Samuel’s experience
in the choosing of Saul may have come
to bear on his judgement in this situation, but when The Lord had instructed
him to go to Jesse, He had said that He would name Saul’s successor.
And it came to pass, when they were
come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. But the Lord said unto
Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I
have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man
looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart (1stSamuel16:6-7).
Parts
of The Church today may not always
led by men who are led by The Holy Spirit, but it is certainly led by men who
are led by other men. Neither is it always
led by men who are convicted of a vocation. However, as I stated previously,
God’s mandate should be trusted because it’s handed down by He Who works all things according to the counsel of
His own will (Romans8:28, Ephesians1:11).
There are plenty of people who are gifted, talented & blessed with
attractive attributes. They’re creative, charismatic & imposing, with a
delivery that’s as sweet as honey
& as smooth as silk. But these
things do not a ministry make. God
looks on the heart.
Neither
Eliab, Abinadab, Shammah or any of the other sons of Jesse that were present,
had the stuff that God was looking for & the Lord refused them all. There
is never any comparison to, or
adequate replacement for, a real
Pastor. At his core is a love of
& for the flock of God & every gift, talent & attribute that
man possesses ought to make him the
very best Shepherd of the sheep that he can be in Christ’s stead. The case of
David as Israel’s Shepherd is unique in that his Kingdom, throne & Pastoral
oversight typified that of the Messiah.
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all
thy children? And he said,
There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel
said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come
hither. And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal
of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the Lord said, Arise,
anoint him: for this is he.
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren:
and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel
rose up, and went to Ramah (1stSamuel16:11-13).
*David may very well have been physically striking, but it is the
heart of a man that is of primary importance to God. We are told that ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?’ (Jeremiah19:9) & yet The Lord sees the
pursuant quality akin to His own
heart in the youngest son of Jesse. I contend that any Pastor must have this
desire in their heart & life. I would further contend that it has to be The Lord that has placed it
there because a true Shepherd of the
flock of God will only desire what
God desires for His people & he will do everything possible to see that
they get it.
The
Spirit of The Lord came upon David but left Saul & was replaced by an evil
spirit. So the King’s servants have a bright idea. If a musician can be found who’s
skilful with the harp, it will sooth the King’s demonised condition.
And Saul said unto his servants, Provide
me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. Then answered one of the
servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a
mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely
person, and the Lord is with
him. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy
son, which is with the sheep.
And Jesse took an ass laden with
bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and
stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer.
And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he
hath found favour in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul,
that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and
was well, and the evil spirit departed from him (1stSamuel16:17-23).
Now
we come to the juicy part of our
story. The bit that everyone knows
& remembers. The stock of any
Sunday school teacher worth their salt. The tale of David & Goliath. I have
to confess that until I began writing this series of articles, I hadn’t paid
close enough attention to the fetes or fates of the men God had called to serve
as Shepherds among His flock. To my shame, I had paid the least attention to
David because this tale is probably the best known Bible story there is &
yet it is the least known in its significance. Apart from the unrivalled masterclass
we receive from Christ Himself, this is easily the most definitive lesson in
Pastoral ministry I have ever seen.
It
appears that one of the servants of Saul had somehow come to witness David’s exploits
& gifts & gave him a glowing reference before the King, saying, ‘I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite’
(1stSamuel16:18).
However, in none of these matters had
David become lifted up. He faithfully tended his father’s flock & we will
come to see that whatever he had done to earn his reputation, had been done for
the sake of the flock, not for himself. Happy & humble servitude is such a
rarity in the ministry.
After
Samuel had anointed him the new King of Israel, David went back to keeping his father’s sheep & evidently remained there
until he was sent for by the King. He did what Saul had failed to do. He
remained small in his own eyes. David did not
exalt himself, despite his gifts, talents & anointing. Here is a man who
was happy in his place of service, doing whatever
needed to be done for the flock by whatever means necessary. Being a
Shepherd was hot, hard & dirty work but David did it. Shepherds were often
shunned & looked down upon & yet a faithful one is worth his weight in
Gold. When was the last time you met a Pastor like that? Brethren, men like
this are in our midst & The Lord will set them to serve & to Shepherd
His sheep.
Once
again the Philistines wanted to fight Israel. They still do today, Palestine
being a simple Latinisation of the word Philistine. Anyway, they pitch their
army on one side of a valley & Israel pitch on the other. Goliath issues a
challenge to them & lays down terms.
And he stood and cried unto the armies
of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul?
choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight
with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail
against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. And the
Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we
may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid (1stSamuel17:8-11).
At
this point in the story [in my over-active
& extremely vivid imagination], I would skip to the blood & guts in
slow motion, as David delivers his Oscar nominated monologue & despatches
Goliath with a single, well placed stone, launched from his trusty sling. He
then runs, summersaults through the air, lands perfectly in a manner worthy of
an Olympic gymnast, unsheathes the giant’s sword & removes his head, all in
one fluid movement. However, having read the narrative again more carefully
& prayerfully, I see that I’ve missed an entire seam of truth, even though I have been reading it for many, many years.
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and
the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of
Jesse went and followed Saul to
the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto
him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.
But David went and returned from Saul to
feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. And the Philistine drew near morning and
evening, and presented himself forty days (1stSamuel17:12-16).
David
is chosen above all of his brothers
& is anointed King, yet he returns to his flock. David’s reputation
precedes him & Saul sends for him, making him his personal musician &
also his armour bearer. When battle threatened, David’s 3 eldest brothers went
with Saul, but once again David returned to his flock. He never forgets his duty to the sheep, nor his place of service, even
though he knew what was going on at
the front. Some Pastor’s cannot wait to get away from their congregations,
whereas other Pastors cannot wait to return to them. David loved his flock.
Jesse
sends his youngest boy back to the battle with supplies for his three eldest
sons & their Captain. David leaves his flock with a keeper & goes,
shouting for the battle. At this point, Goliath appears & re-issues his
challenge to Israel. David hears every word the man says & it is here that his calling becomes evident.
It is here that we can see the heart
of a man who transitions from being a faithful keeper of his father’s flock, to
the defender & protector of the flock of God.
And all the men of Israel, when they saw
the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of
Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he
come up: and it shall be, that the
man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give
him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. And David spake
to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that
killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine,
that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him
after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. And
Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger
was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with
whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and
the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see
the battle. And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he turned from him toward another, and
spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former
manner (1stSamuel17:24-30).
David’s
touch-paper was now well & truly lit. He was not interested in anything other than the glory of God & the removal
of Israel’s embarrassment & the restoration of her dignity. Eliab, David’s
eldest brother & the first to have been rejected by God, rebukes his
sibling for his boldness, even though his charge of conceit & pride were
groundless. What did his youngest brother have to be conceited or proud about?
Could it be that Eliab was jealous? He was the eldest & yet The Lord had
overlooked him. Indeed, the elder shall serve the younger & the first shall
be last.
David
had remained a humble & faithful servant despite his calling & anointing, but now his hot pursuit of the
heart of God spurred him on. He had left his ‘few sheep in the wilderness’ in order to Shepherd another,
greater flock & no one realised it. Is there not a cause?
Saul
summons him to his tent & David states quite clearly that he is willing to
kill the man. Point blank. No frills. When Saul objects, he demonstrates a side
of Pastoral ministry that I had hitherto not seen. Whether it was the flock at
home, or here on the battlefield, David was still
tending his father’s sheep. He never, ever stopped being a Shepherd.
And David said unto Saul, Thy servant
kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out
of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he
arose against me, I caught him by
his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the
bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath
defied the armies of the living God. David said moreover, The Lord that
delivered me out of the paw
of the lion, and out of the paw of the
bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto
David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And Saul armed David with his armour, and
he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had
not proved it. And David said
unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. And
he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the
brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his
sling was in his hand: and he
drew near to the Philistine (1stSamuel17:34-40).
I
knew a Pastor who was like Saul. The man was a spineless coward. He was only
ever out at the front when he was preaching or taking an offering of money. Other
than that, he & his wife wanted little or nothing to do with we the people.
When there wasn’t enough cash coming in to cover ministry expenses, he made
sure that he was taken care of first. He made sure that his wages were paid
first. He made sure that his image was untarnished, that he was always well
turned out & that his family were always taken care of. On one occasion in
particular he had one of his associate Pastors stand up before the congregation
& lie about an unexpected bill so that a second offering could be taken. I
was there. I saw these things with my own eyes. I heard them with my own ears
& I am very sorry to say that it is my observation that there are times
when The Church doesn’t need a Goliath arrayed against it because its own
ministers are its biggest enemy.
In
David’s eyes, this battle was no
different to him going out against the Lion or the Bear. Goliath was as much an
animal as they; ‘and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them’ He faithfully tended his father’s sheep
& killed the predators that came to steal, kill & destroy. Now, as a
Shepherd over Israel he would kill this
predator in order to protect the flock of God. He was simply doing what any Shepherd would [or ought to] do & that
is the reason he returned home to Bethlehem to his father’s sheep time after
time. As a matter of fact, I believe that he would have returned to his beloved
sheep once again after killing Goliath, had Saul not prevented him from going
home (1stSamuel18:2). King or not, anointed by Samuel or
not, David saw that this was a
Pastor’s duty. Protect the flock of God. No one else’s. The good Shepherd lays
his life on the line, for the sheep.
His
humility blinded him to any delusions of grandeur, which is why his brother’s
comments didn’t ruffle his feathers. He didn’t care about the money. He didn’t
care about the fame. He didn’t care about getting the girl. A Shepherd cares
for the sheep. His staff, bag & sling were the only tools he needed for the
job because Israel were the flock that needed to be rescued from the big mouth
of the Philistine & I would contend that if David had been 25 stone [or 350 pounds], with one eye & a
limp, he would have said & done exactly
the same things. This was something that he was doing for the God he loved
& the people he loved. This is what a true Pastor does.
I
want you to notice something else. Samuel is conspicuous by his absence. He
didn’t guide David with prophetic words of wisdom or knowledge. He stayed quiet
& he stayed away. What David did on that day, he did instinctively &
when a Shepherd sees that the sheep are in need he goes to their aid. He was
called to be a Pastor. David was humble. David was a servant & he never forgot this fact. He was
tender-hearted. He was compassionate. When he sinned he repented quickly. God
testified of His servant David with these words, ‘because David did that which
was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the
days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite’ (1stKings15:5).
When
he wrote the 23rd Psalm, I believe that it was a testimony not only
to the faithfulness of God, but also to the fact that The Lord had treated him as he had treated his father’s flock
& the flock of God. Dear God may we have more Shepherds like this.
copyright © by
David Samuel Parkins mmxvi all rights reserved.
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