Now then, you are to tell My servant David that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to be the ruler over My people Israel.
Let us observe here, I. How desirous and solicitous good people should be to serve the interests of God's kingdom in the world, to the utmost of their capacity. David could not be easy in a house of cedar while the ark was lodged within curtains, Ch1 17:1. The concerns of the public should always be near our hearts.
Commenting on 1 Chronicles 17:1-15
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote--a round tower of rude construction, high walled, but open at the top, in which sheep are often enclosed at night to protect them from wild beasts. The meaning is, I elevated you to the throne from a humble condition solely by an act of divine grace, and not from any antecedent merits of...
Now therefore thus shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, [even] from following the sheep, that thou shouldest be ruler over my people Israel: (g) Of a shepherd of sheep I made you a shepherd of men: so that you did not come to this dignity through your own merits, but by my pure grace.