Station 8: The Anointed Shepherd

Before reading this poem, take a moment to tune into the Spirit.

Get comfortable where you are sitting. Feel free to light a candle or close your eyes. 

Take a few deep breaths and focus on the movement of the air gently expanding and contracting your lungs. 

Be still and know that this is the Spirit rushing through you.

When you are ready, begin by Meditating on the words of this Poem

A King has just been anointed

But it’s not who anybody expected.

From a horn filled with oil

The royal line of David begins

And a promise is put in motion.

As the oil baptizes the curly locks 

of the young shepherd boy

The question is asked 

“Why him?”

As Israel witnessed

The anointing of an unexpected ruler

God was announcing 

the crowning of another shepherd 

to come.

Take with You

David was not the king that anyone wanted. In fact, even his father forgot about him when the Prophet Samuel came to anoint one. Shepherds held an interesting status position in the Bible. 

By the time of Jesus, shepherds close to Jerusalem had the job of selling and inspecting lambs for sacrifice in the Temple. But, at the same time they were homeless, unclean, and often were seen as beggars. Yet, all throughout the scriptures, God aligns himself with the image of the shepherd.

The anointing and exaltation of the shepherd boy David shows us that our expectations of what God can use is often limited. God was preparing us for another shepherd king who we would reject; a king that nobody saw coming.

(1 Samuel 16, Ezekiel 34:23)