Psalms 78:70
in Psalms 78He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
He chose David also his servant, And took him from the sheepfolds:
KJV
He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds:
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This verse in Psalms 78
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
He chose David also his servant - He chose him that he might set him over his people as their king. The idea is, that David was selected when he had no natural pretensions to the office, as he did not pertain to a royal family, and could have no claim to such a distinction. The account of this choice is contained in 1 Sam. 15:1-30. And took him from the sheep-folds - From the humble occupation of a shepherd. 1Sa 16:11; 2Sa 7:8.
This site's exposition
He rejected the tent of Joseph
on Psalms 78:67-72
The tent of Joseph is rejected and Ephraim refused, and Judah with Mount Zion is chosen in their place. God then took David from the sheepfolds to shepherd Jacob. Spurgeon reads the closing pair, integrity of heart and skillful hands, as the shepherd's own measure.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
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?
A commentator
Philoxenus of Mabbug13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity · Written before 523.
proposed
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, …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
He chose David also his servant,....
As the general scope of this psalm may be of use to us in the singing of it, to put us upon recollecting what God has done for us and for his church formerly, and what we have done against him, so the particulars also may be of use to us, for warning against those sins of unbelief and ingratitude which Israel of old was notoriously guilty of, and the record of which was preserved for our learning.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
God's sovereignty was illustrated in this choice. The contrast is striking--humility and exaltation--and the correspondence is beautiful.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
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 estate.
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.
He chose David - See the account 1Sa 16:11 (note), etc.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַ֭יִּבְחַר | vaiyivchar | and he chose | H977 → | 171 times |
| בְּדָוִ֣ד | bedavid | <in> David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| עַבְדּ֑וֹ | avdo | servant his | H5650 → | 799 times |
| וַ֝יִּקָּחֵ֗הוּ | vaiyikachehu | and he took him | H3947 → | 966 times |
| מִֽמִּכְלְאֹ֥ת | mimikhleot | from [the] folds of | H4356 → | |
| צֹֽאן׃ | tzon | sheep | H6629 → | 274 times |
וַ֭יִּבְחַרand he chose
vaiyivcharH977 →171 times
בְּדָוִ֣ד<in> David
bedavidH1732 →999 times
עַבְדּ֑וֹservant his
avdoH5650 →799 times
וַ֝יִּקָּחֵ֗הוּand he took him
vaiyikachehuH3947 →966 times
מִֽמִּכְלְאֹ֥תfrom [the] folds of
mimikhleotH4356 →
צֹֽאן׃sheep
tzonH6629 →274 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 13:22After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in…
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 13:13–14
“You have acted foolishly,” Samuel declared. “You have not kept the command that the LORD your God gave you; if you had, the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.
- Psalms 78:70–72
He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds;
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 15:5
For David had done what was right in the eyes of the LORD and had not turned aside from anything the LORD commanded all the days of his life, except in the matter of…
- 1 Samuel 16:13
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. Then Samuel set out and…
- 1 Samuel 16:1
Now the LORD said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending…
- 1 Samuel 13:13–14
Through
Exodus 3:1Meanwhile, Moses was shepherding the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 19:8
So he got up and ate and drank. And strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
- Exodus 17:6
Behold, I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. And when you strike the rock, water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in…
- Numbers 10:29
Then Moses said to Hobab, the son of Moses’ father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, “We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said: ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us,…
- 1 Kings 19:8
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Alexander Maclaren, The Psalms, Expositor's Bible; Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 78; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Philoxenus of Mabbug, 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 4 -- On Faith: First Discourse on Simplicity.