In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.' – 2 Samuel 5:2

Today's Scripture Reading (July 2, 2025): 2 Samuel 5

For some reason, we aspire to be the boss. Maybe we dream of being able to set our own hours and the riches that must follow if we were the ones running the show. We often miss the endless hours spent working when we are the ones in charge of everything. We also tend to overlook the increased stress that arises from even the slightest of problems. And, often, being the boss doesn't bring us endless riches, but debt and the ulcers that come with figuring out how to make payroll or pay other necessary business expenses. One of the complaints I hear from those who are bosses is that they dream of the ability to leave the office and let the problems remain there, just to enjoy life away from work. But bosses seldom get that chance. Regardless of where they are or what they are doing, the boss is constantly on the job, and all the problems are theirs to solve.

The people come to David to ask him to be their King. It must have been a phenomenal act of encouragement for Israel's leader. They remind him that even in the days of Saul, he was the true military leader. And the people seemed to know that God had promised David that he would be the shepherd of the people. However, that is also part of David's problem. Back when he was the shepherd of the sheep, God had called David to be the Shepherd of Israel. But a shepherd was never the boss.

In ancient times, shepherds were often the youngest family members or employees. David had been a shepherd in his father's family, but he was in no way the leader of the family. He was simply the youngest and least significant of Jesse's sons. David went out to the sheep because he had been told to do so. He didn't have a choice. David was a shepherd.

And David was now God's shepherd. And everything would be okay as long as he remembered that he was not the one in charge. He answered to God. The problems didn't belong to him, and neither did the successes. All of that was simply in the hands of his God. The God of Israel was in charge, and David was merely his shepherd, his employee.

There would be times when David would forget that. When David sinned with Bathsheba, he forgot that he was supposed to be the shepherd of Israel and started to believe that he was the king. David's sin was a mistake that would haunt David for the rest of his life. If he had just remembered that God and the people had called him to be a shepherd, that sin might have never happened.

A shepherd remains the image we have of church leaders. We are not the bosses but the servants of those within our circles of influence. And we are always answerable to God, who is our true King even today, just as God was the true King of David's Israel.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 11

See Also 1 Chronicles 11:2