THE CRUCIBLE OF BEARS & LIONS AND HIDING IN CAVES ZACH MEERKREEBS
There was a young Hebrew man, the youngest of many brothers, who would make a home in the obscure places of Bethlehem while tending to his father’ s sheep. This young man would experience the hard and lonely work of a shepherd as his father, Jesse, did his work at home. When the prophet Samuel arrived in the city, Jesse favored the older sons and practically wrote off his youngest in the field, minding the sheep. In the gritty work of shepherding the sheep, something was being formed in this young man, David. David had fought off lions and bears that tried to snag his father’ s sheep. David had fallen in love with God and somehow, in the hiddenness of the crucible, became prepared to be anointed and step forward as the next king of Israel. David was not just“ minding the sheep” but was being prepared in the crucible of shepherding, fighting off lions and bears, and, I imagine, meeting with and getting to know the Lord in intimate ways. Intimate enough ways that when a giant named Goliath started talking trash about his God, he would not stand for it.
So many times, when I read the story of David
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