On Being a Leader for God by Warren W. Wiersbe

Author:Warren W. Wiersbe
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group

King David, the Brightness after Rain (2 Samuel 23:1–7)

When we think of David, we usually think of a shepherd, which, in Scripture, is the image of either a spiritual leader (1 Pet. 5:1–4) or a civil leader (see Ezek. 34). Our word “pastor” comes from the Latin word for “shepherd.” You can drive cattle, but you must lead sheep. When David disobeyed the Lord and took a census, God chastened the nation by slaying seventy thousand people. David pled with God, “I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep. What have they done?” (2 Sam. 24:17). David saw his people as a flock, and he was touched deeply by their pains and sorrows. The Lord chose David “to be the shepherd of his people” (Ps. 78:71), and David proved to be a faithful shepherd, like the Son of David who said, “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14). I’ll say more about this later.

David’s last words, recorded in 2 Samuel 23:1–7, mention nothing about shepherding, though in verse 4 he does mention pastures (“rain that brings grass from the earth”). But when you recall that David became king after the reign of Saul, the images in this passage come to life. No matter how incompetent or even how wicked a previous leader may have been, the new leader must signal the dawning of a new day. David’s “last words on leadership” describe God’s chosen leader arriving on the scene like sunshine after rain. He brought to the land not a destructive storm (see Isa. 25:4) but a life-giving rainfall that nourished the vegetation.

Where there is no irrigation in the Holy Land, the ground is barren until the first rains arrive; and then almost overnight the land teems with life and beauty. Godly leaders are like that.

David’s song reminds us that leaders are to be like sunshine and rain, both of which are necessary if the earth is to be fruitful. “May he endure as long as the sun,” Solomon wrote. “May he be like rain falling on a mown field, like showers watering the earth” (Ps. 72:5–6). Solomon also wrote, “A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops” (Prov. 28:3), and he may have had the reign of King Saul in mind. He also wrote, “Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people” (Prov. 28:15). We recall that David killed a lion and a bear to protect his father’s flock (1 Sam. 17:34–37), and when he became king, he replaced a man whose oppressive reign was like the attacks of lions and bears.

In ancient times in the Near East, rulers were often tyrannical and despotic. Read the book of Esther and see how Xerxes ran his kingdom. Rulers were noted for their pride (Dan. 4:28–37; Acts 12:19–24) and anger (Dan. 3), as well as their unwillingness to listen to what anybody else had to say—especially Jehovah God. Like Pharaoh, they asked, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?” (Exod.

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