The Shepherd King - Learning from the Life of David

The Shepherd King
By Roger Ellsworth
Evangelical Press. 320 pages.

When it comes to reading, I'm an omnivore - I read anything. (There was a time when I could, quite literally, quote to you the writing on the side of a sauce bottle in both English and French - without even understanding the French!) Many Christians, however, read very little, and for that reason we need many more books like this one by Roger Ellsworth. In 48 bite-size chapters (each about six pages or less), Ellsworth deals warmly with the life of David, the shepherd king. We follow David in his triumphs, his disasters and his tragedies, always with warm and helpful lessons drawn for Christians today.
Sometimes I find the link between the text and the lessons, or between David and Christ, a little shakier than I would like. Sometimes too, I wish Mr Ellsworth had given us more practical guidance - for example, from the story of Amnon and Tamar. But they are small criticisms of an excellent book; pastors can confidently commend this to their congregations and benefit from it themselves too. The short chapters make it helpful too for personal devotions. On the back cover, John Blanchard says the book: '...provides page after page of down-to-earth, warm-hearted, practical application that will surely be a means of great help to all who have ears to hear. I wholeheartedly commend it.'
So do I.

Gary Benfold

© Evangelicals Now - October 1998
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Main Articles

• Great opportunity for Anglican evangelicals
  Interview with Rev Dr David Peterson - Principal of Oak Hill Theological College in north London
• Cast out - but not forsaken
  The story of Janice Wiseman - a Jewish girl who was converted and then cast out by her family
• Iran - what happens when Christians forgive
  The story of Farzin and a motorbike accident
• The Old Testament - Antiques Roadshow?
  A consideration of the Old Testament - both as essential to an understanding of Jesus and in providing a model for our life today
• All bets are off
  A Christian consideration of gambling in the light of the moral worldview revealed in the Bible (reprinted from World Magazine)
• Crowded House
  An alternative approach to Christian life and witness in the community by a group in Sheffield
• What of the future? (Bulldog for October)
  The problems of being biblically contemporary in church life today
• Nice work - a biblical understanding of labour
  A general consideration of the importance of daily work in God's sight

Other articles

• Why do bad things happen to good people?
• Ally McBeal
• The Shepherd King - Learning from the Life of David
• Rethinking the Wineskin - The Practice of the New Testament Church - (Available free - email Fviola3891@aol.com)
• The X-Files - Fight the Future
• Rainbows Through the Rain - An anthology of poems, prose, hymns, Bible verses and thoughts
• God, Sex and Marriage
• Stepping Through My Nightmares - Ordeals suffered by Sheila Barlow in Kuwait during the Gulf War
• Not By Chance - Shattering the Modern Theory of Evolution
• The Lord is King - Rediscovering Freedom
• Struggling to belong - What is the church for anyway?
• Living Below With The Saints We Know
• Ready Steady Assembly !
• A Priestless People