Psalm 78:70 says that God deliberately picked David, a shepherd’s servant, and called him out from the ordinary work of tending sheep to lead his people. The verse shows that God’s choice was intentional and that it reached into an unlikely life. The psalm itself is a long historical review sung by a poet called Asaph, and it is addressed to the people of Israel, reminding them how God has dealt with them from generation to generation.
He also chose David his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds…
Psalm 78:70 (WEB)
What Psalm 78:70 Means
The verse begins with “He also chose,” which tells you the choice was not an accident or a matter of convenience. God acted on purpose. The word “servant” places David in a relationship of loyalty and obedience to God, not in a position of self-made power. David is marked out first by whom he belongs to, and only then by what he does.
The phrase “took him from the sheepfolds” describes a sudden and deliberate move. The sheepfold was a small, enclosed pen, a humble and often lonely workplace. God did not begin with a palace or a court. He began with a young man in a pasture, which makes the point that God’s calling does not wait for a person to look impressive first.
The verse does not promise that every believer will be lifted into public leadership, nor does it describe how David felt about the call. It simply records that God chose him. What it does promise, through the wider psalm, is that God keeps faithful track of his purposes across time, even when his people have failed.
The Context of Psalm 78:70
Psalm 78 belongs to the Psalms, the collected songs and prayers of Israel, and it is a teaching psalm that retells Israel’s history. Its traditional author is Asaph, and it was meant to be sung and passed on so that the next generation would not forget what God had done. The audience is the covenant community, the people who were supposed to remember God’s faithfulness and their own repeated unfaithfulness.
The verses just before this one (67 to 69) describe God setting aside the tribe of Joseph and choosing Judah and Mount Zion instead. Verse 70 continues that pattern of divine selection, moving from tribe to city to person. Verses 71 and 72 then explain that David was brought to shepherd Jacob’s people, and that he led them with integrity of heart and skill of hand. Read this way, the verse is part of a deliberate sequence showing that God’s choices follow his own wisdom, not human expectation.
Key Phrases in Psalm 78:70
1 Samuel 16:11
Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.”
(WEB)
This verse records the moment Samuel asks Jesse whether he has any more sons, and David is sent for from the field where he is tending the sheep. It is the historical account that Psalm 78:70 summarizes, and reading the two together shows the same surprising choice from two angles.
1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
(WEB)
In this verse, God tells Samuel that people look at outward appearance but he looks at the heart. This explains why David was chosen despite being overlooked by his own family. It helps the reader understand the reasoning behind the divine selection described in Psalm 78:70.
A Short Prayer From Psalm 78:70
Lord, thank you that you do not measure people the way the world does. You saw David in a quiet pasture and called him for your purposes, and you have not lost track of ordinary people since then. Help me to trust your choosing in the places where I feel small or overlooked. Teach me to be faithful in the work you have already given me, and to rest in the fact that you know exactly where I am. Amen.
