He Chose David His Servant

Psalm 78 is the great historical psalm of the Book of Psalms — a maskil of Asaph, the second-longest in the book — the story of the people told from Egypt to David. Part 9 is the closing part, and it turns everything around. After the darkness of Shiloh and the captured ark, the Lord rises like a sleeper waking, the enemies are driven back, and Joseph and Ephraim are set aside so that Judah may be chosen, with Mount Zion and a sanctuary built to stand forever. Then the whole long story narrows down to one young shepherd called in from the pens of the flock, and the grandfather who has told it from the beginning reaches his last words — the gentlest of them all.

The central verse, chosen as the name of the song, is:

"He chose David His servant and took him from the sheepfolds"

After Egypt, after the sea, after the wilderness and the betrayals and the anger — the psalm ends with a choice, and the chosen one is not a warrior and not a prince but a boy who watched over animals. Faithfulness in a small hidden place is what makes a person fit to lead a nation.