2 Sam 5:2, Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, 'You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.'" 
	This morning we have the account of the consolidation of the kingdom of Israel under the former shepherd, David. We have walked along with him through all the time of waiting for this promise of God to take place. He had been anointed by the Prophet Samuel, who was acting directly in obedience to God to select the next one who would be the king of the nation. 
	After that momentous declaration of the plan of God to unfold with this shepherd boy at the heart of the matter, David was then brought into countless times of nearly being killed. This was either in battle against the Philistines, or in having to run away into the wilderness regions to avoid being slain by King Saul, who was jealous after the earthly legacy of the throne. This was despite the fact that Saul, himself, would put David into the leadership role within the military that would ensure that the people knew him as well as this promise of his eventual kingship as declared by Jehovah.
	Through it all, including the escape into the Philistine stronghold itself, David never tried to take the throne that was rightly his to claim. He never tried to do anything that would hasten his ascension at the cost of the life of Saul. 
Despite a number of presented opportunities, David held true to his commitment to honor the one upon whom God had first placed the crown. David severely dealt with anyone who tried to make this happen by the means of human endeavor. He kept his hands clean and his heart pure toward the one whom God had set over Israel, biding his time. He trusted in the Lord, that when God chose the moment of his ascension, that is when he would become king, and not any sooner than the Lord’s timing in action.
	This is, perhaps, one of the great reasons that God had chosen this young shepherd, since he had a heart that was after the Lord. As the prophet Samuel had so informed King Saul in 1 Sam 13:14, Saul had lost the kingdom because he did not have this heart of trust and obedience unto Jehovah. 
	1 Sam 13:14, But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you."
This great reality of the heart of David unto the Lord was well known within the nation of Israel. The people recognized that God had chosen David to be king. This was in David’s time, and throughout the annuals of the history of the nation. 
Consider the fact that, in Acts 13:21+22, Paul was detailing this in the recounting of the way God had worked His the proper and perfect plan. Jehovah put on the eternal throne of His people, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, through the lineage of this great king, David.
Acts 13:21+22, "And then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. "And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' 
The people, even as indicated in this morning’s passage concerning the placement of David willingly upon the throne of the entire nation of Israel, did so because they knew that Jehovah had so chosen this one as the shepherd of the nation. His heart was after God. That mattered to the people who would be so guided and directed in the course of their walk as a nation.
This brings to the forefront an important consideration in our reading through the scriptures together. The person whom God would choose to be sovereign over His people had to have a heart of a shepherd, not the heart of a tyrant. There was a very early precedent to this reality set in the heart of the man whom God selected to lead His people out of their slavery to Egypt. 
In Ex 3:1+2, we see Moses, shepherding the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, as Moses was about to meet God. He had been a shepherd for about 40 years, learning what it meant to care for a flock of sheep that belonged to another. The Lord had been training his heart and mind for the task that was ahead of him, the shepherding of the flock of God’s people.
Ex 3:1+2, Now Moses was pasturing the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flock to the west side of the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 
	Moses’ training with those sheep was what was required for him to understand the wayward tendencies and stubbornness and care that were necessary to patiently and willingly oversee the flock of the people of God that was being formed in the wilderness sojourn. These were the children of Israel, who belonged to Jehovah. Moses took that great care of them, working with them, training them, correcting them, cajoling them, and standing watch over them, into the depths of his entire being. His love of the Lord carried forth into the care of the people whom God had released from bondage and lovingly, yet firmly, carried throughout their wilderness experience. 
	When Moses was at the end of his days on earth, he besought Jehovah to supply another shepherd over the flock of the tribes of Israel, one in whom that same shepherd’s heart would be preeminent. This is recounted in Num 27:15-17. 
Num 27:15-17, Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, "May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation, who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd." 
	The answer of the Lord was to put Joshua into that place over His people. This was in order that the nation would then proceed forth into the Promised Land under the watch and care of one who sought God first. This ensured the keeping and feeding and leading of the nation as it spread forth into that land of milk and honey. 
	David had that same heart after God and subsequently the heart after the people of God. He was upright before the Lord with the desire to have only Jehovah be the means of the walk of his life on this earth. Almost everything he did was under the auspices of wanting to maintain that relationship of honor and praise unto the Lord. 
That is why he refused to lift his hand against the anointed king so put into place by the Lord. That was also the reason that King Saul could no longer stand being in the presence of this one, whom Saul considered a usurper to the throne that he had tried to establish through his hard work.
	Even after David was brought before Saul, in order to play the lyre that soothed the severe pains that Saul was suffering in his mind, Saul would get moody and suspicious and not want to have David there too long. That is why, despite the fact that it ultimately made the people love David all the more, Saul inadvertently pushed David away from him by making him a commander of the forces of Israel. Maybe Saul hoped that the enemies of Israel would do the dirty work of killing David in battle. 
	However, as we read in 1 Sam 18:13-16, all this did was make David even more popular with the people, and enrage Saul into those jealous fits that most of us know from our readings about this first king. Saul certainly suffered the unintended consequences of this decision, as it elevated David rather than destroying him.
	1 Sam 18:13-16, Therefore Saul removed him from his presence, and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. And David was prospering in all his ways for the Lord was with him. When Saul saw that he was prospering greatly, he dreaded him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, and he went out and came in before them. 
	This working action of David in the leading of the forces of Israel in battle was as well part of the statement in this morning’s passage of why David was chosen, willingly chosen as the one whom the nation would follow as their king. David had proven himself worthy of the place unto which he had been sought after and anointed by the servant of the Most High and Holy Lord God Almighty. David had been blessed by the Lord with that heart of leadership, not as a tyrant but as a shepherd, who cared for the people under his command and guidance. He treated them as he treated the king who was trying to kill him, with the respect and the honor that blessed the Lord.
	This is one of the reasons that, despite the anger and the treacherous behavior of Saul toward David, this young shepherd garnered the respect and admiration and loyalty of men who were willing to follow him throughout the wilderness regions. This included his brothers and so many others who were under oppression and in need of someone who would hear their cries for help.
As stated in 1 Sam 22:1+2, they willingly pledged themselves to this man who became their captain, their shepherd even in the midst of his perilous exile. 1 Sam 22:1+2, So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father's household heard of it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented, gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him. 
The choice of the Lord of David as the next king of Israel was known throughout the nation. Despite all the anger and the ceaseless and deadly stirring of jealousy and frustration within the current monarch, the people knew that David would some day become the king. 
This was related in the account of how Abigail, the wife of Nabal, defused what would have been the tragic response of David to the taunts and insults. David and his men had been the protector of Nabal’s shepherds and flocks during their stay near Carmel. They stood guard over them, making sure that none of the sheep were lost and that the men were fed and kept safe. Yet, when David and his men were in need of food and assistance, Nabal refused and foolishly hurled insults at David.
Abigail intervened in the situation, as we read in 1 Sam 25:30+31, by reminding David that everyone knew that he would become the king someday. She also appealed to him not to destroy the home and family of a fellow Israelite, thus bringing a shameful smear upon the name and the reputation of David.
1 Sam 25:30+31, And it shall come about when the Lord shall do for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint you ruler over Israel, that this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the Lord shall deal well with my lord, then remember your maidservant." 
	David responded accordingly to the wisdom and discernment of Abigail, and thus avoided this possible pitfall to his ascension of the throne. As well, this entire account showed the heart of this man who cared for those shepherds and their flocks, as he cared for those people who were in need and oppressed. He had that heart after the hurting and the needy and the downtrodden. This was as a shepherd cares for the flock despite all their stubbornness and willfulness and wandering tendencies and propensity to get lost and in trouble.  
	God, through the Prophet Nathan, would remind David of this as Jehovah would also promise to establish the house of David upon the throne of Israel. Please turn to 2 Sam 7:8-12, as we will conclude with this passage today. 
	2 Sam 7:8-12, "Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, 'Thus says the Lord of hosts," I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over My people Israel. And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 
	Just as with Moses, God took David from the pastures with the sheep of his family and made him to be the shepherd over the flock of the people of the Lord. This would be the heritage from which the nation would be ruled. 
As we go forward, we will find that this was the manner which God used to describe His relationship with His people. It is also the great heritage that we have now in Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd. 
God’s heart has always been that of the care and keeping of His people as a shepherd would keep and care for the flocks. He will always make sure that we are pastured on the good grasses that will nourish and sustain our growth and health, all the days of our lives. That is our heritage as the Lord’s people under His tender care. Lord willing, we will pick up with this passage as we go forward in His Word together, next year. So be it.
Previously, when Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and in. And the Lord said to you, 'You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be a ruler over Israel.'" Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Eccl 12:13+14. The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. Amen.