properly · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
David
בְּדָוִ֣דbe.da.Vid
H1732
David · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
servant
עַבְדּ֑וֹav.Do
H5650
a servant · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
took
וַ֝יִּקָּחֵ֗הוּvai.yi.ka.Che.hu
H3947
to take (in the widest variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
sheepfolds
מִֽמִּכְלְאֹ֥תmi.mikh.le.'Ot
H4356
a pen (for flocks) · preposition + noun, common feminine plural construct
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 16:11-12 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And…
Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the…
Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to…
Exodus 3:10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.
1 Samuel 17:15-54 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Beth-lehem.
2 Samuel 3:18 Now then do it: for the LORD hath spoken of David, saying, By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel out of the hand of t…
2 Samuel 6:21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the…
2 Samuel 7:8 Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the shee…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 78:40–end
The matter and scope of this paragraph are the same with the former, showing what great mercies God had bestowed upon Israel, how provoking they had been, what judgments he had brought upon them for their sins, and yet how, in judgment, he remembered mercy at last. Let not those that receive mercy from God be thereby emboldened to sin, for the mercies they receive will aggravate their sin and hasten the punishment of it; yet let not those that are under divine rebukes for sin be discouraged from repentance, for their punishments are means of repentance, and shall not prevent the mercy God has yet in store for them. Observe,
I. The sins of Israel in the wilderness again reflected on, because…
He chose David also his servant,.... To be king of Israel, the youngest of his father's family, when he rejected all the rest; see 1 Samuel 16:6, an eminent type of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is called by his name, Psalm 89:3 and the signification of his name "Beloved" agrees with him, who is beloved of God, as his Son, and as man and Mediator; and beloved of men, of all the saints: and so likewise his character as a servant suits with him; who not only frequently has the name of a servant, Psalm 89:19, but appeared in the form of one, Philippians 2:7, had the work of a servant to do, which he has accomplished, even the great work of our salvation, John 17:4, in doing which, and all things l…
Psalm 78:67-72
67. And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: 68. But he chose the tribe of Judah, the mountain of Zion, which he loved: [365] 69. And built his sanctuary like high places, and like the earth which he has established for ever. 70. And he chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds: 71. He took him froth following the suckling ewes, to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance: 72. And he fed them in the uprightness of his heart, and guided them by the prudence of his hands.
67. And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph. Those who suppose that the word enemies, in the 66th verse, applies to the Israelites, connect these…
The Church Fathers
David sheweth in a psalm that he was chosen from a station which taught simplicity, for he was chosen from following the sheep, even as he himself confesseth and calleth to mind his election in one of his psalms, saying, "He chose David His servant, and took him from following a flock of sheep, and from after the ewes that gave suck."
Lastly there follows, "and He built like as of unicorns His sanctification" [Psalm 78:70]: or, as some interpreters have made thereof a new word, "His sanctifying." The unicorns are rightly understood to be those, whose firm hope is uplifted unto that one thing, concerning which another Psalm says, "One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will require." But the sanctifying of God, according to the Apostle Peter, is understood to be a holy people and a royal priesthood. [1 Peter 2:9] But that which follows, "in the land which He founded for everlasting:" which the Greek copies have εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, whether it be called by us "for everlasting," or "for an age," is at the pleasure of the Latin translators; forasmuch as it does signify either: and therefore the latter is found in some Latin copies, the former in others. Some also have it in the plural, that is, "for ages:" which in the Greek copies which we have had we have not found. But which of the faithful would doubt, that the Church, even though, some going, others coming, she does pass out of this life in mortal manner, is yet founded for everlasting?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Herdsman — In Egypt herdsmen were probably of the lowest caste. Some of Joseph’s brethren were made rulers over Pharaoh’s cattle (Gen. 47:6, 17). The Israelites were known in Egypt as “keepers of cattle;” and…
Sheep-fold — A strong fenced enclosure for the protection of the sheep gathered within it (Num. 32:24; 1 Chr. 17:7; Ps. 50:9; 78:70). In John 10:16 the Authorized Version renders by “fold” two distinct Greek…
David · .Chosen of God — .Chosen of God
Predestination · 19:25; — 19:25;
Promotion · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
Shepherd · .David — .David
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The rejection of Shiloh and of the people worshipping there, but later on, when the God of Israel is again overwhelmed by compassion, the election of Judah, and of Mount Zion, and of David, the king after His own heart. In the time of the Judges the Tabernacle was set up in Shiloh (Jos 18:1); there, consequently, was the central sanctuary of the whole people, - in the time of Eli and Samuel, as follows from Sa1 1:1, it had become a fixed temple building. When this building was destroyed is not known; according to Jdg 18:30., cf. Jer 7:12-15, it was probably not until the Assyrian period. The rejection of Shiloh, however, preceded the destruction, and practically took place simultaneously wit…
The God who had turned against his own people (78:62) chose David, a shepherd (Gen 46:34; 1 Sam 16:10-11), to become their shepherd (Ps 78:52; cp. 23:1).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 78:70
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
He chose David also his servant. It was an election of a sovereignly gracious kind, and it operated practically by making the chosen man a willing servant of the Lord. He was not chosen because he was a servant, but in order that he might be so. David always esteemed it to be a high honour that he was both elect of God, and a servant of God. And took him from the sheepfolds. A shepherd of sheep he had been, and this was a fit school for a shepherd of men. Lowliness of occupation will debar no man from such honours as the Lord's election confers, the Lord seeth not as man seeth. He delights to bless those who are of low estat…
