Being a servant is one feature in the character of David which marks him in every phase of his life, from the time that we see him as the shepherd in Bethlehem to the time of his delivering up the throne of Israel to his son Solomon. He was at all times and in all scenes the servant.
We first find him keeping sheep in the place of a servant. From this lowly place, however, he is drawn of God and anointed to the throne of Israel, but he was still in everything to remain as the servant, not doing his own will or seeking his own glory. Then he is called up to the royal city to serve King Saul with his harp. From this service we find him returned to the care of his sheep at Bethlehem. When the Lord had been dishonored by the Philistines, David was moved to say to Saul, “Thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
Finally David becomes king. But what was the way of David now? Just what it had been before — just what had characterized him when his hand bore the shepherd’s crook, the harp, or as the warrior king; he is still, and that only, the servant, doing Jehovah’s pleasure and seeking only His glory. And so it was perfectly in the blessed Jesus, the true David. Before the foundation of the earth He gave Himself to service: “Lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.”
J. G. Bellett, adapted