Article May 5, 1951 Issue

SHEPHERDING OUR PROGRESS

[Of Special Interest to Young People]

WILLIAM GILBERT

Many great men of Bible times were once faithful shepherds. Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law when he received a glorious revelation of God's nature and perceived for the first time his great mission of delivering his people from bondage. David was a shepherd when he was anointed to be king over Israel.

The story of David's career is of interest to young men and women today who may in various ways be faced with questions concerning their own progress. Perhaps the time has come to decide what sort of work one wants to prepare for, or to take steps to obtain necessary training. At a later stage of progress there may be a problem of deciding which of several available positions to accept or of finding a suitable job when opportunities seem scarce. In such instances, as in others like them, we can learn much from the life of the shepherd boy who became a great king.

In I Samuel, sixteenth chapter, it is related that God had directed the prophet Samuel to anoint a new king from among the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite, although Samuel did not know which of Jesse's sons God had chosen. Accordingly he went to Bethlehem and there summoned Jesse and his sons to appear before him. The oldest of the sons, Eliab, seems to have been a tall, handsome man, and Samuel was momentarily tempted to anoint him for this reason. He was prevented from doing so by divine inspiration, which revealed to him that the king must be chosen, not for his physical appearance, but for the quality of his thinking. "For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

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