Sermon: Striving to Lead with Integrity and Skill
Scripture Leson: Psalms 78:67-72 “Then he rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights, like the earth that he established forever. He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.”
Introduction: Choosing God’s leadership standard: Integrity and Skill. All these verses provided a fitting conclusion to this long psalm regarding Israel’s early history climaxing in David’s being chosen to serve as king in Zion. Here, God scattered his enemies in judgment and chooses Mount Zion for his sanctuary. Finally, God’s choice of Zion as his dwelling place and of David as his king climaxed all he had been doing for Israel since delivering them from Egypt.
With love and skill, David the shepherd cared for his flocks. As the king of Israel, David would care for God’s people. Despite the relentless pressure they had faced from their enemies and their woeful record of persistent rebellion, God had never abandoned them but had faithfully fulfilled every promise he had made. But the Israelite people had a problem. They did not remain faithful to God, and they did not live by his law. Despite God’s many miracles, they too soon forgot that they needed God and went their own way. Whenever God sent hardships on them the Israelites would turn again to him. They would make promises they didn’t keep. Even though God led his people as a shepherd leads his sheep, they rebelled and suffered the consequences. These consequences led the Israelite people to risk and lose the Ark of the Covenant to their enemies, the Philistines. This happened before Saul was anointed King. King Saul looked like a king, both in statue and influence, yet refused to obey so God rejected Saul as king.
Now God selects a new city and a new king; Mount Zion as his new city and David as his new king. God used a different criterion to select David. God looked for a heart full of integrity and hands that were skilled. David came from the tribe of Judah. He had been a shepherd as a youth – a role that he was able to carry over into his reign as King. He was no longer tending to sheep, however. Now he was tending the flock of Israelite people, leading them as a shepherd leads his sheep. David led his people with integrity of heart. Perhaps the message for our day and time that we can take from these verses is the example we are given of good leadership. God used the sheep pens to train David for leadership. David learned how to lead by shepherding his people. He led the people with “integrity of heart: with skillful hands he led them.” The passage you provided from Psalm 78 describes a pivotal moment in ancient Israel's history when God, in his divine plan, rejected the northern tribe of Ephraim (representing Joseph's descendants) and chose the tribe of Judah and the city of Mount Zion. God then elevated David, a humble shepherd, to rule as king and shepherd over his people, Israel, establishing his permanent sanctuary there.
In this short passage we see displayed God’s Divine Selection. God actively chose David, not based on human expectation but on his own will, elevating him from a humble shepherd to king. We see David’s humble origin did not disqualify for a High Calling. David, a humble shepherd, was raised to a position of immense responsibility, demonstrating that God can take the least expected from their simple beginnings and give them a powerful calling. Then we see displayed godly leadership qualities. The core message for leaders is to serve with "integrity of his heart" (or "upright heart") and "skillful hands". An upright heart refers to a heart that is characterized by integrity, sincerity, honesty, moral uprightness, and a genuine desire to follow God's principles. It describes a person who is truthful, lives with unwavering moral conviction, and aligns their thoughts and actions with righteousness, rather than being deceitful or hypocritical.
This passage should serve as a good example for all future leaders: The passage serves as an instruction for future leaders to emulate David's leadership by having a true heart and skillful hands as they guide God's people. What a picture of King David. What a description of his leadership. “With upright heart, he shepherded them and guided them with his skillful hand.” When I read that, I certainly thought about this church and the leadership of your pastor. And his desire to lead with an upright heart that cares for God’s people and guides them with skill to know God better, to walk with God faithfully and do God’s will. But I don’t think this versus just for pastors like Rev. Oliver. I think it’s for leaders in any area of life and applies to every officer in the church. It even applies to leadership as parents. As a parent, I want to shepherd my children with upright heart and guide them with a skillful hand. Or I think about any group of people that you lead, that you influence. Don’t you want to lead that group of people with an upright heart and skillful hand? I pray that you will lead whoever God has called you to lead, with an upright heart and direct and guide them with a skillful hand.
What hindered Israel from be selected? They were the largest of the tribes, with influence and connection, yet they were rejected. So here are the 5 pitfalls leaders should avoid:
Some leaders are rejected because they choose popularity over courage. So many leaders, at heart, are people pleasers. A key goal of leadership is to lead a diverse group on a common mission. That’s why leadership isn’t for the faint of heart. Your job is as leader is to take people where they wouldn’t go except for your leadership. That requires courage. Deep courage. But when you try to please all kinds of people, you usually end up sacrificing the mission.
Secondly, some leaders pretend things are better than they are. So you live in a fishbowl in ministry, and people are always asking you how you are. It’s so tempting to say things are going great, when they’re not. Maybe it’s hard at home or your relationship with God seems flat. Or you’re really struggling with discouragement or defeat. The pressure to say everything’s fine when it isn’t is intense. Make sure your public talk should match your private walk. And while you don’t need to tell everybody that things are tough, you need to tell somebody. It is alright to say, “We have a few challenges, but I’m grateful for what we get to do here. Leaders, your public talk should match your private walk.
Thirdly, some leaders move the goal post to justify their results. It’s strange how many of these temptations have to do with not telling the truth. But if you’ve hung around with pastors long enough, you quickly realize that truth is often the first casualty of an environment filled with high expectations. The mission of the church is to reach people with the love of Christ and see them mature in the love of Christ. Leaders, don’t just preach truth. Live it.
Fourth, some leaders compromise pursuing false unity. One of the hallmarks of a New Testament church is unity. But it’s so easy to work toward false unity, kind of like a dysfunctional family that pretends everything is great when it’s not. Even a quick glance at the New Testament church shows that the unity of the first century wasn’t easy or false. Paul and others had some long, honest conversations and fought more than a few battles to get it. False unity sweeps things under the rug, ignores warning signs and pretends everything’s great when it’s not. Honest conversations, humbly undertaken, can lead to true unity.
Finally, some leader attack people, not problems. Speaking of conflict, when you really engage it, things can get intense. It’s so easy in that moment to attack people, not problems. In fact, many leaders conclude that people are the problem. But wise leaders know better. When you attack problems, not people, you can begin to make progress. People aren’t the problem… the problem is the problem. People, as hard as it is to believe, are the solution. Don’t assume the worst. There may be some people who are out to harm you, but most people aren’t. They are sincerely doing what they believe is best for the future. Their vision just conflicts with yours and that of your team. Believe the best about the person who disagrees with you, not the worst.
The leaders of Israel sought to please the people rather than God; they pretend that they were better than the prophets were saying, they move the goal post by setting an alternative altar for God because Jerusalem was too far away; and finally, they attacked the prophets and refused their message. And the text said,…”Then he (God) rejected the tents of Joseph, he did not choose the tribe of Ephraim; but he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion, which he loved.”
And so I just want to pray for these characteristics over us in any leadership roles we have, and then to pray this over those who lead us in any way. Think about people who lead you in any way, at home, in a church setting, in a business setting, whatever it might be. Don’t you want to be led by people with upright hearts who are skillful in their leadership?
God, we pray that you’d help us to lead with upright hearts before you. God, help us to realize that the people we lead, that their greatest need from us is a clean, close, pure, humble heart before you. God, we pray that you would draw us closer and closer to yourself. Conform our hearts to your heart, and in this way, make us better leaders. With upright heart, help us to shepherd people, help us to care for people well, to guide people well, to counsel people well, to encourage or instruct, motivate people toward good, toward their flourishing and their thriving in you. And we pray that you’d help us to do that with skill in whatever area we are leading them in. God, help us to be good leaders. And God, we pray for leaders like this around us and leaders like this in our lives. We pray that as we think of different people who we are following right now in any capacity, God, we intercede for them. We pray that they would have upright hearts, that they would shepherd and care for us and others they lead well and guide us and others with skill.
God, we pray this for government leaders. We pray you give them upright hearts to care well for the people that they’re leading and to guide them with skillful hands. God, we pray for that grace in leaders all around us, and for this grace in our own lives as leaders. And as we pray this, Jesus, we praise you as the perfect Leader. We are so thankful that you are our Lord and King, that we can gladly, without question, hesitation, or reservation, follow you wherever and however you lead us. God, help us to trust you and obey you all day long today because you are the perfect leader. And God, help us to point people to Jesus as the perfect leader around us today.
Use our lives toward that end and however you want. God, we pray all this according to your Word in Psalm 78:72 in Jesus’ name, in the name of the one who shepherds us today with upright heart and guides us today with skillful hand. The hymn “Savior Like A Shepherd lead us” says…
Savior, like a shepherd lead us, Much we need Thy tender care; In Thy pleasant pastures feed us, For our use Thy folds prepare: Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are; Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.
We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our way; Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us, Seek us when we go astray: blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray; blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Hear, O hear us when we pray.
Early let us seek Thy favor, Early let us do Thy will; Blessed Lord and only Savior, With Thy love our bosoms fill: blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still; blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Thou hast loved us, love us still. Amen.
