it’s complicated
David had lived a simple life before the priest and prophet Samuel charged into his father Jesse’s house and demanded to see his sons. He was the baby of the family. He was charged with one task and that was to see to his family’s flock of sheep. It was a simple task that included leading them to green pastures for grazing, making sure they were supplied with water and keeping a keen eye upon the perimeter for any danger that lurked against them.
But Samuel’s visit complicated things. Now he has been anointed by God to be King and Israel already has a king that David loves. His brothers not only don’t respect him now add jealousy to the mix and things in David’s life went from simple, regimented and safe to complicated and full of worry.
We long for our lives to be simple. The more we long to remove the clutter and clamor from our lives the more we sink into the abyss of anxiety and fall prey to worry. David understood the simplicity of the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. It was one of complete confidence and total trust. He knew that the flock did not fear the perimeters being breached by a predator – that was the Shepherds job to worry about. They didn’t wonder about the water; they had no doubt that the Shepherd would see to that.
They just had to listen for his voice and obey it…no more; no less. Let us take some time to practice the 23rd Psalm. Listen and obey. And allow the anxiety to disappear from your life.
Mathew 6:34
