And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the LORD; I have spoken.
Earlier in this chapter God condemns Israel's shepherds. They fed themselves while the flock scattered, so He takes the sheep into His own hand. Verse 24 names the one He will set over them: "my servant David." Who is this David, and when can such a promise be kept?
Who "My Servant David" Is
Readers have taken the name three ways: a leader of the return from exile, David himself brought back from the dead, or the Messiah. One writer sets out the options and settles them:
Arno Clemens GaebeleinSome have applied this to Zerubbabel, the head of Judah at the return from the Babylonian captivity. Those who deny a future restoration of Israel take that view. Others take these words in a strictly literal sense. They teach that David the king will become head of the nation once more, and that, raised from the dead, he will be the one shepherd over His people. It is not David, but the one who by human descent is the Son of David, and David's Lord as well. The one Shepherd can only be the Messiah. Many passages show that David's name stands as a picture of another.
The verse itself keeps two persons apart: the LORD who speaks, and the prince He sets among the people.
William KellyNot Zerubbabel nor Nehemiah, not the Asmonaean kings, still less the Herods are meant. The King is meant, Messiah-Jehovah, as we know from elsewhere. Yet here He is distinguished from Jehovah who speaks and will do it.
Why He Is Called "Servant"
God does not call Him king here, but servant — and the title is not a temporary one He outgrows when the throne comes.
The Bible TreasurySo He is the true David. No change of scene or circumstances makes any change in His character as the servant of Jehovah's glory and of His people's joy.
A Shepherd Death Could Not Remove
Between this promise and its fulfilment stands the cross:
C. E. StuartDid the Lord, then, by death cease to be a Shepherd? With men this would be the case. Not so, however, with Him. Messiah, as Daniel predicted, was cut off, and the hopes of the nation were crushed for a time. Yet we learn that the Lord will still reign over all Israel as God's servant David, and as their Prince and Shepherd (Ezek. 34:23-24; 37:24).
How God Becomes Their God
The two halves of the verse hold together. God being their God is not a separate promise running alongside the prince. It depends on Him.
F. W. GrantHe has one true Shepherd to set over them. In that sense there is only one; there is not another, and "He shall feed them, even my servant David." … He takes up David's place and office in a more glorious way. David's Son is also David's Lord, "the Beloved," as His name means, and our hearts recognise Him in this way. Only in this way can Jehovah be their God. Only in this way will "the covenant of peace" be theirs — peace by a covenant that will never be broken.
What the Promise Covers
The verses that follow speak of wild animals made harmless and land that yields its crop. Commentators say this rules out reading the passage as a picture of the present age:
William KellyIt is absurd from every point of view to interpret these prophecies of the church or of the gospel. Then the very beasts will have their nature changed, and the earth will yield its increase. It will be the day for which creation waits. Creation groans still and is in pain, but then it will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The Guarantee at the End of the Verse
The verse does not close with conditions for Israel to meet. It closes with the speaker's own name, and that is where its security lies.
William KellyIt is the day when God raises up Messiah for them, no longer rejected and despised as He once was. He is a plant of renown. Israel will no longer go hungry in the land or be a reproach to the Gentiles. Jehovah will be with them, their God, and they His people. Has He spoken, and will He not make it all good? Is anything too hard, too good, for the Lord?
Summary
- One Shepherd. The "David" here is not Zerubbabel, and not David raised from the dead. He is David's Son who is also David's Lord — the Messiah.
- One servant. He takes David's office in a more glorious way. His servant character never changes, whatever the scene.
- One death passed. Messiah was cut off, yet death did not strip Him of the shepherd's place. He will still reign over Israel as their Prince and Shepherd.
- One channel. Only through Him can the LORD be their God and the covenant of peace be theirs — a peace that will never be broken.
- One guarantee. The promise ends with the speaker, not the hearers: He has spoken, and nothing is too hard or too good for Him to make good.