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diff --git a/33349-h/33349-h.htm b/33349-h/33349-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a5c005 --- /dev/null +++ b/33349-h/33349-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3255 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Shepherd Psalm, by William Evans + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +h3 { + color: rgb(85,135,77); +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + padding-right: 15px; + width: 60%; +} + + +.contentsnum { + vertical-align: bottom; + padding-bottom: 15px; + text-align: left; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: rgb(85,135,77); +} /* page numbers */ + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-right: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + float: left; + clear: right; + font-size: smaller; + color: rgb(85,135,77); + background: white; + border: dashed 1px; +} + + + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +p.dropcap:first-letter { + margin-right: 10px; + margin-top: 4px; + font-family:"Times New Roman", Times, serif; + font-size : 400%; + float : left; + color : rgb(85,135,77); +} + + + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; +/* text-align: left;*/ + width: 500px; + font-size: 0.875em; + line-height: 150%; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem .signature { + margin-right: 100px; + text-align: right; +} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.signature {float: right} + + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} +</style> + </head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Shepherd Psalm, by William Evans + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Shepherd Psalm + A Meditation + +Author: William Evans + +Release Date: August 4, 2010 [EBook #33349] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHEPHERD PSALM *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Mawhorter and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="center">Transcribers Notes:<br /> +Obvious missing punctuation was added.<br /> +p 83. hill-crest was changed to hillcrest</div> + +<hr /> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 419px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="419" height="700" alt="" title="" /> +</div> + +<div><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[<i>Page</i> 1]</a></span></div> + + +<h1>The Shepherd Psalm</h1> + +<p class="center">A Meditation</p> + +<h4>By WILLIAM EVANS, Ph.D., D.D.</h4> +<p class="center">Bible Teacher and Author of</p> + +<p class="center">"The Book of Books," "How to Memorize," "Outline Study of +the Bible," "How to Prepare Sermons and Gospel Addresses," +"The Book-Method of Bible Study," +"Epochs in the Life of Christ," "Through +the Bible, Book by Book," etc.</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Chicago</span><br /> +THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS'N<br /> +826 North La Salle Street<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[<i>Page</i> 2]</a></span></p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="center">COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY +<span class="smcap">The Bible Institute Colportage</span> +<span class="smcap">Association of Chicago</span></p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="center">Printed in the United States of America +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[<i>Page</i> 3]</a></span></p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + +<div class="center"> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Foreword</span></td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_5">5</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter One</span>: "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd;<br />I shall not want"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter Two</span>: "He maketh me to lie <br />down in green pastures; He leadeth me <br />beside still waters"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_26">26</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter Three</span>: "He restoreth my soul; <br />He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness <br />for His name's sake"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter Four</span>: "Yea, though I walk <br />through the valley of the shadow of <br />death, I will fear no evil; for thou art <br />with me; thy rod and thy staff they <br />comfort me"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_58">58</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter Five</span>: "Thou preparest a table <br />before me in the presence of mine enemies; <br />thou anointest my head with oil; <br />my cup runneth over"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_73">73</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span class="smcap">Chapter Six</span>: "Surely goodness and <br />mercy shall follow me all the days of <br />my life; and I will dwell in the house <br />of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> forever"</td><td class="contentsnum"><a href="#Page_79">79</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>[The illustration on the cover is from an actual +photograph by the Author, when he was in Palestine.]</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[<i>Page</i> 5]</a></span></p> + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<h2>FOREWORD</h2> + + +<p class="dropcap">This production of the Shepherd Psalm is sent forth at the request of +many hundreds of kind persons who have listened to the writer preach on +it and who desire to see it in print, that it may be a blessing to many +who cannot hear it.</p> + +<p>It is a well known Psalm. Untold numbers of sermons have been preached +on it. Books without number have been printed in attempts to set forth +its life, depth, richness, and beauty. Doubtless much more will be +written and spoken concerning this charming pastoral symphony—and, +after that, much more will remain yet to be said, so full is the +inspiration of the divine Word. May God make this Psalm to the reader +all that it has been—yea, and more,—to the writer!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">WILLIAM EVANS.</span> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[<i>Page</i> 7]</a></span></p> + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<h3>The Twenty-third Psalm</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">The world could afford to spare many a +magnificent library better than it could +dispense with this little Psalm of six +verses. If the verses of this Psalm had tongues +and could repeat the tale of their ministry +down throughout the generations of the faithful, +what marvels of experience they would +reveal! Their biographies would be gathered +from the four winds of heaven and from the +uttermost parts of the sea; from lonely chambers, +from suffering sick beds, from the banks +of the valley of the shadow of death, from scaffolds +and fiery piles; witnessing in sunlight +from moors and mountains, beneath the stars +and in high places of the field. What hosts of +armies of aliens it has put to flight! If by +some magic or divine touch, yea, some miraculous +power, the saints' experience of this +Psalm could shine out between its lines, what +an illumination of the text there would be!</p> + +<p>Luther was fond of comparing this Psalm to +the nightingale, which is small among the +birds and of homely plumage, but with what +thrilling melody it pours out its beautiful +notes! Into how many dungeons filled with +gloom and doubt has this little Psalm sung its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[<i>Page</i> 8]</a></span> +message of hope and faith! Into how many +hearts, bruised and broken by grief, has it +brought its hymn of comfort and healing +How many darkened prison cells it has lightened +and cheered! Into what thousands of +sick rooms has it brought its ministry of comfort +and support! How many a time, in the +hour of pain, has it brought sustaining faith +and sung its song of eternal bliss in the valley +of the shadow of death! It has charmed more +griefs to rest than all the philosophies of the +world. And I am persuaded that this little +Psalm-bird will continue to sing its song of +comfort and cheer to your children, to my children, +and to our children's children, and will +not cease its psalmody of love until the last +weary pilgrim has placed his last climbing +footstep upon the threshold of the Father's +house to go out no more. Then, I think, this +little bird will fold its golden pinions and fall +back on the bosom of God, from whence it +came.</p> + +<p>It has been well said that this Psalm is the +most perfect picture of happiness that ever was +or ever can be drawn to represent that state of +mind for which all alike sigh, and the want of +which makes life a failure to most. It represents +that heaven which is everywhere, if we +could but interpret it, and yet almost nowhere +because not many of us do.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[<i>Page</i> 9]</a></span></p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Unusual Application</i></b></div> + +<p>How familiar this Psalm is the +world over! Go where you +will; inquire in every nation, +tongue and tribe under heaven where the Bible +is known, you will find this Psalm among the +first scriptures learned and lisped by the little +child at its mother's knee, and the last bit of +inspired writ uttered in dying breath by the +saintly patriarch.</p> + +<p>This Psalm is so universal, says one, because +it is so individual; it is so individual because +it is so universal. As we read it, we are aware +not only of the fact that we are listening to the +experience of an Old Testament saint, but also +that a voice comes speaking to us through the +long centuries past—speaking to us in our own +language, recounting our own experience, +breathing out our own hopes.</p> + +<p>The Davidic authorship of this Psalm has +been questioned. We believe firmly that +David is the writer; and yet a man feels as he +reads the Psalm that it is so personal, so true +to his own individual experience, that he could +fain claim to have written it himself. It might +seem as though the promises and precious +things set forth in this Psalm lie beyond our +reach; we have nothing to draw with, and the +well is deep, but "one of like passions with +ourselves has passed that way before and has +left a cup to be let down, with His name and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[<i>Page</i> 10]</a></span> +story written on the rim, and we may let that +cup down into the well and draw a draught of +the deep, refreshing water."</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Location +of the +Psalm</i></b></div> + +<p>Have you ever noticed just +where this Psalm is located? +It lies between the Twenty-second +and the Twenty-fourth +Psalms. A very simple statement that—but +how deep and wondrous a lesson lies hidden +therein!</p> + +<p>The Twenty-second Psalm. What is it? It +is "The Psalm of the Cross." It begins with +the words uttered by Christ on the cross: "My +God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" +It ends with the exclamation of the cross: "He +hath done it," or, as it may be translated, "It is +finished." The Twenty-second Psalm, then, is +the Psalm of Mount Calvary—The Psalm of +the Cross.</p> + +<p>What is the Twenty-fourth Psalm? It is +the Psalm of Mount Zion—a picture of the +King entering into His own. How beautifully +it reads: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; +and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and +the King of glory shall come in. Who is this +King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the +King of glory." The Twenty-fourth Psalm, +then, is the Psalm of the coming Kingdom of +Glory.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[<i>Page</i> 11]</a></span></p> + +<p>There you have the two mountains; Mount +Calvary and Mount Zion. What is it that lies +between two mountains? A valley with its +green grass, its quiet waters, its springing flowers, +with shepherd and grazing sheep. Here, +then, is the lesson we learn from the <i>location</i> of +the Psalm: it is given to comfort, help, inspire +and encourage God's people during this probationary +period of our life, between the Cross +and the Crown.</p> + +<p>Is not this the reason why the tenses of this +Psalm are <i>present</i> tenses? "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> <i>is</i> my +shepherd"; "He <i>maketh</i> me to lie down"; "He +<i>leadeth</i> me." Even the last verse, "<i>I will</i> (not +I shall) dwell in the house of the Lord for +ever," describes the <i>present</i> attitude of the soul +of the Psalmist, who determines by no means +to miss participation in the fellowship of the +saints in heaven.</p> + +<p>We love <i>the Christ of the Cross</i>. We may +not yet fully understand that cross; may not +yet have found any particular theory of the +atonement which completely satisfies our intellect. +But we have learned to say that we believe +in the atonement and in the vicarious +death of our Redeemer. Somehow or other we +have come, by faith, to throw our trembling +arms around that bleeding body and cry out in +the desperate determination of our sin-stricken +souls to Him who hangs on that cross to save<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[<i>Page</i> 12]</a></span> +us by His death. We have come to express +our faith in that divine sacrifice in the words +of the hymn:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Other refuge have I none,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Let us never forget that we reach the +Twenty-third Psalm by the way of the +Twenty-second Psalm—the Psalm of the +Cross. "The way of the cross leads home." +We love the Christ of the Twenty-second +Psalm, the Christ of Calvary, the Christ of the +Cross.</p> + +<p>We also love <i>the Christ of the Throne and +the Glory</i>. It may be, that, at times, we have +trembled and feared as we have thought of the +coming judgment, but when we have remembered +that He who sits upon the throne is our +Elder Brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of +our flesh; that He left His throne in the glory +and took on Him the form of a servant, dying +the ignominious death of the cross that He +might redeem us and save us from the just +wrath of God against sin; that some day, He +who loved us and gave Himself for us, will +say: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit +the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation +of the world," then we take courage and +look forward with joy to the time when, having +washed the last sleep from our eyes in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[<i>Page</i> 13]</a></span> +river of Life, we shall gaze with undimmed +vision upon Him, whom having not seen, we +have yet loved.</p> + +<p>We love the Christ of the cross, the Christ +of the past, the Christ of Mount Calvary. We +love the Christ of the future, the Christ of the +throne, the Christ of Mount Zion. But more +precious to us, and we say it reverently, than +the Christ of the past, or the Christ of the +future, is the Christ of the present, He who +lives with us now, dwells within us, walks by +our side every moment and every hour of the +day. We used to sing in our childhood days +that beautiful hymn,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I think, when I read that sweet story of old,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When Jesus was here among men,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How He called little children as lambs to His fold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I should like to have been with Him then.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That His arms had been thrown around me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And that I might have seen His kind look when he said,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Let the little ones come unto me."<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Mrs. Jemima Luke</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>Many of us feel that we would have given +anything to have walked by the side of the +Christ in the days of His earthly pilgrimage, +and we almost envy those who saw His face in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[<i>Page</i> 14]</a></span> +the flesh. Some of us know the thrill of joy +that came to our hearts when we trod the +sands of Galilee that once were fresh with His +footprints, trod the Temple's marble pavements +that once echoed with His tread, and +sailed the blue waters of Galilee that once +were stilled by His wonderful word.</p> + +<p>And yet, we should not forget that the enjoyment +of the real presence of Christ is just as +truly ours today as it was the possession of +the disciples in the days of His flesh. As the +old hymn so beautifully says,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">We may not climb the heavenly steeps<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To bring the Lord Christ down;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In vain we search the lowest deeps,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For Him no depths can drown.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But warm, sweet, tender, even yet<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A present help is He;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And faith has still its Olivet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And love its Galilee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The healing of His seamless dress<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is by our beds of pain;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We touch Him in life's throng and press,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And we are whole again.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>John G. Whittier</i><br /></div></div> + +<p>The name given to our Lord in connection +with His birth was Immanuel, which being interpreted +is, "God with us." One of the most +beautiful doctrines of the Christian faith is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[<i>Page</i> 15]</a></span> +divine immanence, the continued presence of +the ever-living Christ with His people; for</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For God is never so far off as even to be near, He is within.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>F. W. Faber</i><br /></div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands or feet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature"> +—<i>Alfred Tennyson</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I know not where His islands lift<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their fronded palms in air;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I only know I cannot drift<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Beyond His love and care.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>John G. Whittier</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[<i>Page</i> 17]</a></span></div></div> + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus017.jpg" width="400" height="156" alt="Shepherd with flock" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>THE SHEPHERD PSALM</h2> + +<h2>CHAPTER ONE</h2> + + +<h3><b>"The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd; I shall not want."</b></h3> + + + +<p class="dropcap">"The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd." Have you +ever noted how the word "Lord" is +printed in the Bible? Sometimes all +the letters are large capitals (LORD); or the +first letter is a large capital and the other letters +smaller capitals (<span class="smcap">Lord</span>); then, again, the +first letter is a large capital and the remaining +letters ordinary (Lord). Each method of spelling +the divine name indicates a different phase +of the character of God. "LORD" refers to +Jehovah as the covenant-keeping God, the One +who never fails to fulfill all His promises. +"<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" points to our Lord Jesus Christ as the +second Person in the Trinity, He who became +incarnate. "Lord" signifies also God in Christ, +the Jehovah of the Old Testament, God of +power, the One who is able to do all things +and with whom nothing is impossible, manifesting +Himself in Jesus Christ.</p> + +<p>What a world of meaning, then, lies wrapped +up in the word "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" in the first verse of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[<i>Page</i> 18]</a></span> +Psalm! Jehovah who is all-faithful, never failing +in His promises, almighty, all-powerful, +who is able to supply all of our needs, who created +the heavens and the earth, who upholds +all things by the word of His power, who spake +and it was done, who commanded and it stood +fast; the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> of whom Job said: "I know +that thou canst do anything, and no purpose +of thine can be hindered"; the "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" who +never fails in the keeping of His promises, +however seemingly impossible of fulfillment, +from a natural viewpoint, those promises may +be; the "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" of whom it is said, "God is not +a man that he should lie, nor the Son of man +that he should repent." "Hath he said and +shall He not do it; hath He promised and shall +he not bring it to pass?" the "Lord," the incarnate +One, who for our sakes took on Himself +our nature with all its sinless infirmities, who +was tempted in all points like as we are, yet +without sin, and who is thus able to feel our +needs and sympathize with us in all our trials +and temptations; the "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" who, speaking to +the multitudes, said, "I am the good shepherd; +the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep"—such +a Shepherd, faithful, powerful, sympathetic, +is our "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>." What a wealth of +meaning, then, lies in the first clause, "The +<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" (who is LORD, and Lord) such a +"<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" is "my Shepherd."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[<i>Page</i> 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>We can then well say, "I shall not want." +With such a Shepherd, how could we want for +anything for time or eternity? All that we +need for body, mind and soul shall be supplied. +The God who provided the table in the wilderness, +who fed Elijah by the brook, who struck +the rock in the wilderness that the thirst of +His people might be quenched, will provide for +His children according to His riches in glory.</p> + +<p>Reviewing Israel's history in the wilderness +it could be recorded, "These forty years Jehovah, +thy God, hath been with thee; thou hast +lacked nothing." How wonderfully God supplied +the needs of His people when they were +traveling through that long, weary wilderness! +"For the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> thy God hath blessed thee in all +the works of thy hand; he knoweth thy walking +through this great wilderness; these forty +years the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> thy God hath been with thee; +thou hast lacked nothing" (Deuteronomy 2:7). +"Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct +them, and withheldest not thy manna from +their mouth, and gavest them water for their +thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain +them in the wilderness, so that they lacked +nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their +feet swelled not" (Nehemiah 9:20, 21).</p> + +<p>Let us, then, as the children of God, take all +the comfort possible out of these words. Let +us not go about mourning, grumbling, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[<i>Page</i> 20]</a></span> +borrowing trouble, thereby proclaiming to the +world that our great Banker is on the verge of +bankruptcy. The "<span class="smcap">Lord</span>" is our shepherd; we +shall not want for nourishment (verse 1), refreshment +(verse 2), rest (verse 3), protection +(verse 4), guidance (verse 5), home (verse 6). +Here is a Bank the child of God can draw on +at any time without fear of its being broken. +Millions have been supplied and there's room +for millions more. No want shall turn me +back from following the Shepherd.</p> + +<p>How encouraging to recall the words of +Jesus uttered to the disciples when they had +returned from their itinerary of missionary +activity: "When I sent you without purse, and +scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And +they said, Nothing" (Luke 22:35).</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The Lord my Shepherd is,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I shall be well supplied,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since He is mine and I am His,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What can I want beside?<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Isaac Watts</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>When the writer was a lad he secured a position +for which he was promised so much a +week in money and "everything found," by +which was meant board, room, and clothing. +So this verse may read, "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my Shepherd," +and "everything found."</p> + +<p>In a park one day two women were overheard +talking. One of them, who by her ap<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[<i>Page</i> 21]</a></span>pearance +showed that she was in very straitened +circumstances, said to the other, "I am +at my wit's end; I know not what to do. My +husband has been sick and unable to work for +almost a year. What little money we had +saved is all spent. We have not a penny with +which to buy food or clothing for ourselves or +the children. This morning we received notice +from the landlord to vacate." And then, in +words that were full of suggestive meaning, +she added, "If John D. Rockefeller were my +father, I would not want, would I?"</p> + +<p>Oh, what a world of comfort lies in the +thought, "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my Shepherd," and, +therefore, "I shall not want"! I shall want for +nothing in time or eternity. Every need of +body, mind, and soul shall be supplied. In the +great Shepherd lies strength for my weakness, +hope for my despair, food for my hunger, satisfaction +for my need, wisdom for my ignorance, +healing for my wounds, power for my temptation—the +complement of all my lack.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou, O Christ, art all I want;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than all in thee I find.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Charles Wesley</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Religion Is +a Personal +Thing</i></b></div> + +<p>"The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd." +<i>My</i> Shepherd. Religion is a +<i>personal</i> thing. Really speaking, +your religion consists in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[<i>Page</i> 22]</a></span> +your personal relationship to God in Jesus +Christ. Not mere profession, but actual possession +is what counts. Christianity emphasizes +the worth of the individual and his personal +relation to God. Sin degrades men into +mere numbers.</p> + +<p>A photograph was placed on my desk. It +had inscribed on it a number, but no name. +It was the likeness of a convict. It was a number +I went to jail to see; a number I spoke +with by the cell door; a number I stood by +and saw handcuffed; a number with whom I +walked down the steps of the jail; a number +with whom I walked up the stairs to the scaffold; +a number around whose neck I saw the +rope placed; a number I saw drop to his death. +Sin degrades personality, but the religion of +Christ exalts its adherents to a place in that +innumerable company which cannot be numbered, +but every one of whom bears upon his +forehead the name of his Redeemer and King. +Jesus calleth <span class="smcap">His</span> sheep by name, not by +number.</p> + +<p>At the close of a sermon in a church in the +Highlands of Scotland the preacher, who was +supplying the pulpit for a few Sundays, was +asked to call upon a shepherd boy who was +very sick. Arm in arm with one of the elders +of the church the minister crossed the moor, +climbed the hillside, and came to the cottage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[<i>Page</i> 23]</a></span> +where the boy and his widowed mother lived. +After knocking at the door the visitors were +admitted by the mother. Her face showed the +marks of long vigil. The boy was her only +child. The minister and elder went into the +room where the sick boy lay on his cot. The +minister, looking upon the pale, haggard face +of the sick shepherd boy, asked him tenderly, +"Laddie, do you know the Twenty-third +Psalm?"</p> + +<p>Every Scotch boy knows the Twenty-third +Psalm, and so the little fellow replied, "Yes, +sir, I ken (know) the Psalm well."</p> + +<p>"Will you repeat it to me?" said the minister +to the boy.</p> + +<p>Slowly and tenderly the lad quoted the +words, "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd, I shall not +want," unto the end of the Psalm.</p> + +<p>"Do you see," said the minister to the boy, +"that in the first clause of the first verse there +is just one word for each finger. Hold up your +hand, laddie; take the second finger of your +right hand, put it on the fourth finger of your +left, hold it over your heart and say with me, +'The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is <i>my</i> Shepherd.'"</p> + +<p>The fourth finger of the left hand! Why +that finger? Every woman knows. It is the +ring finger. Who placed that ring on your +finger? My friend, my lover, my husband; +the man who is more to me and different to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[<i>Page</i> 24]</a></span> +me than any other and all other men in this +world; the man without whom life would not +be worth living; <i>my</i> friend, <i>my</i> lover, <i>my</i> husband.</p> + +<p>The following Sunday the elder and the minister +again crossed the moor and came to the +cottage on the hillside. As the mother opened +the door to admit them they saw by the expression +on her face that a deeper sorrow had fallen +on her heart since they last saw her. She took +them, silently and solemnly, into a little room, +and there, covered with a snow-white sheet, +lay the lifeless form of the shepherd laddie, +her only child. As the minister took the white +sheet and passed it from forehead to chin, from +chin to breast, and from breast to waist, he +saw, frozen stiff in death, the second finger of +the right hand on the fourth of the left hand, +which was fastened in death over his heart. +The mother exclaimed amid her tears, "He died +saying, 'The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is <i>my</i> Shepherd.'"</p> + +<p>What a world of difference that little word +<i>my</i> makes, does it not? As a pastor I have +often stood by the open grave that was to receive +the body of someone's beloved daughter, +the light and joy of some heart. I sought to +be deeply sympathetic with those who were +suffering bereavement. I tried to mourn with +those who mourned, and weep with those who +wept, and I think I did, so far as it is possible<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[<i>Page</i> 25]</a></span> +for a friend to sympathize. But one day I +stood by an open grave when <i>my</i> daughter, <i>my</i> +child, <i>my own</i> darling girl, <i>my</i> Dorothy, was +placed beneath the sod. Ah! then I knew what +grief was. Ah, what a world of difference that +little word <i>my</i> makes!</p> + +<p>It will not profit you much, my friend, to be +able to say, "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is <i>a</i> Shepherd"; you +must be more personal; you must say, "The +<span class="smcap">Lord</span> is <i>my</i> Shepherd."</p> + + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i0">A Shepherd both mighty to save and to keep—<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Yes, this is the Shepherd, the Shepherd we need,<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i0">And He is a Shepherd indeed!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Is He yours? Is He yours?<br /><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is this Shepherd, who loves you, <i>yours</i>?<br /></span> + +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="signature">—<i>Ada R. Habershon</i><br /></span> +</div></div> +<div><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[<i>Page</i> 26]</a></span></div> + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus026.jpg" width="400" height="134" alt="Shepherd playing a flute for his flock" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER TWO</h2> + +<h3> +<b>"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;<br /> +he leadeth me beside still waters."</b> +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">They tell us that it is a very difficult +and well-nigh impossible thing to get +a sheep that is hungry to lie down in a +pasture, or that is thirsty to drink by turbulent +waters. A hungry dog will, but not a hungry +sheep. The sheep described in this verse, then, +are such as have been fed and satisfied in richest +pastures, and whose thirst have been slaked +in quiet waters. Doubtless the mind of the +Psalmist is going back to such scenes in his +own shepherd life when he had led his flock +into rich, green pastures, sought out for his +sheep some quiet watering-place, or had so +manipulated the flow of turbulent waters as to +make them flow smoothly.</p> + +<p>The writer of this Psalm is seeking to illustrate +spiritual truths from his own experience +as a shepherd among the hills of Judea. He is +spiritualizing his soliloquy. He thinks of the +cry of God's people for the satisfaction of the +soul's hunger and thirst; he sees the necessity +for such feeding and nourishment if there is to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[<i>Page</i> 27]</a></span> +be a walk of obedience "in the paths of righteousness."</p> + +<p>Spiritualizing this verse, we may say that +the "green pastures" and "still waters" refer +to the spiritual nourishment which the child +of God receives as he waits upon God in the +study of His Word and prayer. There can be +no spiritual strength sufficient to walk in +"paths of righteousness" unless time is taken +to "lie down" in the "green pastures" of the +divine Word by "the still waters" of prayer. +To "lie down" is the first lesson the Great +Shepherd would teach His sheep. Not lie +down after you are tired, but before. "Lie +down" that you may have strength to walk in +"the paths of righteousness." One of the hardest +commands for the soldier to obey is to wait +in the trenches. He would sooner "go over +the top."</p> + +<p>It is generally recognized as being a very +difficult thing to get God's people to thus "lie +down." They will do almost anything and +everything else but that. They will run, walk, +fight, sing, teach, preach, work, in a word do +almost anything and everything except seek +seasons of quiet and periods of retirement for +secret communion with God and quiet soul +nurture.</p> + +<p>Most of our favorite hymns indicate this +attitude. They are militant, working, active<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[<i>Page</i> 28]</a></span> +hymns: "Work, for the night is coming," +"The fight is on," "Onward, Christian soldiers, +marching as to war," "Stand up, stand up for +Jesus," "Steadily marching on, with His banner +waving o'er us," and many another. Where +are such hymns as "Alone with Jesus, O the +hush, the rapture," "In the secret of His presence +how my soul delights to hide," "Take +time to be holy"? How few of us are willing +to go alone into the woods whither the Master +went, clean forspent, clean forspent?</p> + +<p>We do not like pauses in our meetings. If +there should be a pause we seek at once to fill +it in with a verse of Scripture, or someone says, +"Let us sing a verse of hymn sixty-six," and so +we fill up the pauses with choruses.</p> + +<p>From the rush into the hush Jesus calls us. +From the turbulent tumult into the quiet secret +of His presence. Where there is peace, perfect +peace, Jesus calls us.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jesus calls us, o'er the tumult<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of our life's wild restless sea;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Day by day His sweet voice soundeth,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saying, "Christian, follow me!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jesus calls us—from the worship<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of the vain world's golden store;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">From each idol that would keep us—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saying, "Christian, love me more!"</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[<i>Page</i> 29]</a><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In our joys and in our sorrows,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Days of toil and hours of ease,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still He calls in cares and pleasures—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Christian, love me more than these!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jesus calls us! by Thy mercies,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Saviour, may we hear Thy call;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Give our hearts to Thy obedience,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Serve and love Thee best of all.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Alexander</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>Lie down we <i>must</i>. The text says, "He +<i>maketh</i> me to lie down." The word "maketh" +is the Hebrew causative and indicates forcible, +compelling action. Our Great Shepherd knows +that amid the activity, the stress, the strain +and the restlessness of our lives it is absolutely +necessary for us to take periods of quiet and +rest, without which it will be impossible for us +to continue in the way of righteousness. Have +you so much to do that you do not have time +to "lie down"? Then the gracious Shepherd +will see to it that you have less to do. He +would <i>make</i> you lie down. The overworked +watchspring snaps. There must be pauses and +parentheses in all our lives.</p> + +<p>We make much today of <i>active</i> Christianity. +We lay emphasis on the <i>activities</i> of Church +work. Pragmatism is more than quietism to +us. We must "bring things to pass," and +"deliver the goods." This is all very well in +its place, but we fear that the strength of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[<i>Page</i> 30]</a></span> +activities is not very deeply rooted. We shall +be able to bear fruit upward and outward only +as the roots of our spiritual life grow downward +and deep. The secret springs of our +lives must be well cared for.</p> + +<p>One day we read in the daily newspaper of +some leading man in the community who had +fallen and brought discredit on the cause of +Christ. This unfaithful one was described as +having been "an active member of the church." +Yes, that was the trouble. He was too active; +he was not passive enough. He had omitted +to "lie down" and feed in "green pastures" and +drink by the "still waters" of God's Word and +by prayer.</p> + +<p>A friend tells us that while in the Orient he +visited a Syrian shepherd. He observed that +every morning the shepherd carried food to the +sheepfold. On inquiry he found that he was +taking it to a sick sheep. The next morning +the friend accompanied the shepherd and saw +in the sheepfold a sheep with a broken leg. +The friend asked the shepherd how the accident +happened. Was it struck by a stone? +Did it fall into a hole? Did a dog bite it? +How was the limb injured? The shepherd replied, +"No, I broke it myself."</p> + +<p>In amazement the friend replied, "What, you +broke it! Why did you do that?"</p> + +<p>The shepherd then told him how wayward<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[<i>Page</i> 31]</a></span> +this sheep had been, how it had led others +astray, and how difficult it had been to come +near it. It was necessary that something +should be done to preserve the life of this particular +member of the flock, and also to prevent +it from leading other sheep astray. The +shepherd therefore broke its leg and reset it. +This breakage necessitated the sheep's <i>lying +down</i> for a week or more. During that time +it was compelled to take food from the hand +of the shepherd. Thus had the compulsion of +lying down cured the wandering and wayward +disposition of the sheep.</p> + +<p>It is said that when a sheep will not follow +the shepherd he takes up the lamb in his +arms—and then the mother follows.</p> + +<p>So it sometimes happens with the children +of God. Our Great Shepherd has to lay us +aside, put us on our backs, perhaps, for a while +in order that we may look up into His face and +learn needed lessons. A little girl lay dying. +She looked up into the face of her father, who +years before had been a very active church +worker, but on account of business prosperity +had drifted away from Christian moorings, and +said, "Papa, if you were as good as you used +to be, do you think I would have to die?" God +was <i>making</i> this man to "lie down," do you +see?</p> + +<p>A deacon in a Baptist church told me this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[<i>Page</i> 32]</a></span> +story. When first married, he and his wife +observed family prayers every day. This worshipful +spirit continued for some years after +their first child was born; then gradually the +father became so engrossed in business that +the family altar, Bible reading and prayer were +gradually neglected and finally altogether dispensed +with. One day, on coming home from +the office, the deacon found his nine-year-old +girl very ill with a fever. For weeks they +watched over her, but finally the angel of death +took her home. As the deacon told me this +story, the tears filling his eyes, he said, "Then +I knew that my daughter had been taken for +my sake and that God was <i>making</i> me to 'lie +down.' From that day until this, which is over +a quarter of a century, the family altar has +been maintained in our home."</p> + +<p>Mother, in that sweetest of all hours to a +mother, the last hour of the day when the child +is being put to sleep, when the last thing its +eyes rest upon is the face of the mother, does +its last vision rest on a mother who has taught +it to pray, to love Jesus? It would be infinitely +better that the heavenly Father take that little +child to be with Himself than that it should go +out into the world from a godless, Christless, +prayerless home.</p> + +<p>Fathers and mothers, are we taking time to +"lie down," to be alone with God in prayer and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[<i>Page</i> 33]</a></span> +the reading of His Word? Has the family +altar in your home been neglected? What are +you waiting for? Do you want God to come +and lay His hand upon some precious one in +your family circle to take to be with Himself? +Would you then take time to "lie down"?</p> + +<p>It is said that when a sheep is wayward and +will not cross the brook, the shepherd finds +that by taking the little lamb from it and carrying +it across, the mother sheep will at once +follow, rushing over the stream. Fathers and +mothers, are you waiting for God to do this? +Our fathers and mothers used to have the family +altar. They took time to read the Bible +and pray with their children. What kind of +age will the next be if we neglect these religious +privileges? It may be that our parents +were not the scholars that some of their children +are, but I think we may safely say that +they were the saints that we never will be until +we "lie down" in the green pastures and quiet +waters of God's Word and prayer as they did.</p> + +<p>Christian workers especially need to learn +the lesson of "lying down," We are restless; +we fume and worry and fret because we are +tired and hungry. We do not take time to "lie +down." Strange, is it not, that we will do +almost anything but lie down? We will walk, +run, climb, sing, preach, teach—do anything +but "lie down." Let us not forget that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[<i>Page</i> 34]</a></span> +secret of power lies in being alone with God. +Christ <i>drew</i> the multitudes to Him because +He <i>withdrew</i> from them at times. The drawing +preacher is the withdrawing man. Significant +are the words of Jesus to His <i>active</i> disciples: +"Come ye yourselves apart into a +desert place, and rest a while."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Resting in the pastures and beneath the Rock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resting by the waters where He leads His flock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resting, while we listen, at His glorious feet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Resting in His very arms! O rest complete!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Frances Ridley Havergal</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>These seasons of lying down are periods of +renewal of strength for duty, not for indolence +or mere ecstasy. By thus feeding in the green +pastures and drinking by the still waters, we +are strengthened in order that we may walk in +the paths of righteousness. We eat and drink +for strength, not for drunkenness. One may +lie in a bath so long that his strength is exhausted +thereby, or he may take a good plunge +in the morning which will be a source of exhilaration +to him throughout the day. These +times of "lying down" may be likened to the +plunge. We must not be mere recluses or +visionaries. Our "lying down" must fit us for +"walking." If our private communion with +God does not fit us for Christian activity in our +daily avocation, distrust it. We cannot keep<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[<i>Page</i> 35]</a></span> +the rapture of devotion if we neglect duty of +service. Life must not be all contemplation +any more than it must not be all activity. We +will not need to speak of these times of lying +down, nor advertise that we have seasons of +quiet communion, of ecstasy and vision; but +the result thereof will be clearly apparent in +our lives as we walk in the path of righteousness, +and in the joyful assurance of soul when +we are called upon to pass through the valley +of the shadow.</p> + +<p>Would that we knew how much depended, +both for ourselves and others, on these seasons +of retirement for meditation and prayer! +What a blessing it would be to us! What a +benediction to others!</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lord, what a change within us one short hour<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What heavy burdens from our bosoms take;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">What parched grounds refresh as with a shower!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We kneel, and all around us seem to lower;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We rise, and all the distant and the near<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or others—that we are not always strong;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That we are ever overborne with care;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That we should ever weak or heartless be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Anxious or troubled, then with us in prayer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And joy and strength and courage are with Thee!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature"><span>—<i>Richard Chenevix Trench</i><br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[<i>Page</i> 36]</a></span></div></div> + + + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus036.jpg" width="400" height="167" alt="One man consoling his friend" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER THREE</h2> + +<h3> +<b>"He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the<br /> +paths of righteousness for his<br /> +name's sake."</b> +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">David, the shepherd Psalmist, is doubtless +thinking of the refreshment that +comes to the soul from browsing or +meditating in the green pastures and by the +still waters of the Word of God, and of the +exhilaration and inspiration that comes from +being alone with God with an open Bible and +on bended knee. Every true child of God +knows the strength and blessing that comes +from such fellowship and communion. "Even +the youths shall faint and be weary, and the +young men shall utterly fall; but they that +wait upon the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> shall renew their strength; +they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they +shall run, and not be weary; and they shall +walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:30, 31).</p> + +<p>But the Psalmist is referring more particularly, +perhaps, to the restoration of the soul +from a spiritual lapse or backsliding, resulting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[<i>Page</i> 37]</a></span> +from failure to "lie down." We well know +from what we have read regarding the Oriental +shepherd life, that the shepherd must needs +be a physician as well as a guide. A sheep is +a most defenceless creature. A cat, horse, cow +or a dog will defend itself—a sheep cannot. +Sheep have a genius for going wrong. A sheep +is said to have less brains than any other animal +of its size. If lost, it cannot find its way +back unaided. A dog, a cat, a horse can, but +not a sheep. "All we, like sheep, have gone +astray." If the Good Shepherd had not gone +after us we would not have been in the fold +today.</p> + +<p>Have you ever looked into a sheep's eyes? +They look for all the world like glass eyes. A +sheep can see practically nothing beyond ten +or fifteen yards. It recognizes persons by +sound and not by sight. Jesus said, "My sheep +hear my voice; a stranger will they not follow, +for they know not the voice of strangers."</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Traps for Falling</i></b></div> + +<p>Palestinian fields were covered with +narrow criss-cross paths over which +the shepherd would have to lead his +flock in seeking new pasture. Some +of these paths led to a precipice or deep ravine +over which a stupid sheep might easily fall to +its death. From such dangers the shepherd had +to guard his flock. Some sheep, however, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[<i>Page</i> 38]</a></span> +wayward by nature would take one of these +criss-cross paths leading to danger and fall +headlong into thickets or down ravines, where +they would lie wounded, bleeding and dying. +What does a stupid sheep know of ravines, +precipices or haunts of wild beasts? That hill +or valley seems to offer fair prospects and good +pasture—but death lurks there. The sheep +knows not. The shepherd would have to seek +the lost, wounded sheep, and, finding it, bind +up its wounds, reset broken limbs and restore +its health.</p> + +<p>It is said that if a sheep wandered into a +stranger's pasture the finder could cut its +throat and keep the carcass, providing the +shepherd did not come in time to save the +sheep. Many times the shepherd arrived just +after the sheep had been mutilated, and by care +saved its life and restored it to health again. +The sheep was again his own—it was "restored."</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Wandering Sheep</i></b></div> + +<p>David is spiritually soliloquizing. +He thinks of the tendency +of human nature to err and +stray like a sheep. "All we like +sheep have gone astray; we have turned every +one to his own way." Man, too, has a genius +for going wrong. "There is a way that seemeth +right unto a man, but the end thereof are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[<i>Page</i> 39]</a></span> +the ways of death." No man is clever enough +to guide himself through the devious ways of +life. He needs God as a guide.</p> + +<p>David recalls how tenderly God had dealt +with him after his backslidings and how graciously +and completely He had restored him +to fellowship.</p> + +<p>How gently Christ deals with the backslider! +When John the Baptist temporarily wavered +in his conception of the mission of the Christ, +and sent his disciples to Jesus to ask, "Art +thou he that should come, or look we for another?" +how tenderly Christ dealt with His +forerunner! The circumstances in the case +might have led us to expect harsh treatment. +John had seen the open heavens and heard the +voice of God saying, "This is my beloved Son." +In a special and miraculous way it had been +revealed to John that Jesus was the Messiah, +"the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin +of the world!" The people had looked upon +John as a prophet. All that he had said concerning +the Christ they had believed, and now +from the forerunner of Christ comes this message +of doubt repeated to Jesus within the +hearing of the multitudes. But that child of +the desert had been incarcerated for some time +in a narrow prison cell. No wonder the eyes +of the caged eagle began to film, and the faith +of the stern prophet began to waver. Other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[<i>Page</i> 40]</a></span> +great men have wavered in their faith before +John. David himself said, even though God +had definitely promised that he should succeed +Saul as king, "I shall one day perish by the +hand of Saul." Elijah, after his great triumph +over the four hundred prophets of Baal, sat +down under a juniper tree, and full of fear +because of Jezebel's threat asked disconsolately +that he might die. No wonder then +that, momentarily, the faith of John the Baptist +was in the shadow. You and I have failed +in faith amid circumstances less trying than +those which surrounded John the Baptist in +his dungeon.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Gentleness of the Shepherd</i></b></div> + +<p>How does Jesus answer John? +Does He curse the doubter? +No. That would not be like +Him. He has never been +known to do that. Not once, so far as we +know, did he ever send a message of censure +to a soul in the dungeon of darkness, doubt, +and despair. We have seen Him blast, with +the lightning of His eloquence, the false pride +of scribe and Pharisee who stood before Him +in haughtiness and scorn, but we never knew +Him to say a harsh word to a creature that was +sore stricken in soul. No, "He will not break +the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax." +No, He will not send a curse; He will send a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[<i>Page</i> 41]</a></span> +blessing. That will be more like Him. He +will say, "Go tell John again those things that +ye do see and hear; the blind receive their +sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, +the dead are raised, the poor are evangelized, +and <i>blessed</i> is he that shall not be offended in +me." Not a curse, but a blessing will He send.</p> + +<p>How much like his treatment of us! Do we +not remember when we first came to Him as +our Saviour, how He forgave, freely and +gladly, all our sins, and sent us on our way +rejoicing? Do we not recall how shortly after, +when we had sinned and spotted the clean +white sheet of paper He had given us, that +when we brought it back to Him all spotted +with sin He freely pardoned, gave us another +clean sheet, and, without upbraiding, sent us +away, saying, "Thy sins are forgiven; sin no +more"? Yes, we recall it. We believe in the +deity of Christ, not because of the metaphysical +arguments that have been produced to +prove it, no matter how elaborately stated or +eloquently discussed; not because our library +shelves are groaning beneath the weight of +evidences of His deity; nor because theologians +are said to have forced Him to that +high eminence. We believe Jesus Christ to be +God because when we sinned and came asking +pardon He freely forgave, and gave us a +clean sheet of acquittal, saying "Thy sins are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[<i>Page</i> 42]</a></span> +forgiven; go and sin no more," and then when +we did sin again and brought back the sheet +of paper all blotted over with sin and said we +were sorry and again asked pardon, He freely +forgave, and without chiding sent us on our +way rejoicing. That is what makes us believe +in Him as the Son of God and love Him with +a love surpassing expression.</p> + +<p>Poor wandering soul, have you fallen by the +wayside? Have you become a wayward sheep? +Have you wandered from the fold? Are you +tossed about, wounded, sick and sore? Do +you desire to come back again to the Shepherd's +care? Come now, right now, while the +throb of passion is still beating high, while +the deed of shame is recent; while the blot of +sin is still wet; come now, say,</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">With all the shame, with all the keen distress,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Quick, "waiting not," I flee to Thee again;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Close to the wound, beloved Lord, I press,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That Thine own precious blood may overflow the stain.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O precious blood, Lord, let it rest on me!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I ask not only pardon from my King,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But cleansing from my Priest, I come to Thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Just as I came at first—a sinful, helpless thing.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[<i>Page</i> 43]</a><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh cleanse me now, my Lord, I cannot stay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For evening shadows and a silent hour:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Now I have sinned, and now with no delay,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I claim Thy promise and its total power.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O Saviour, bid me go and sin no more,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of Thy perpetual fountain, I implore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Frances Ridley Havergal</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>O wandering sheep, backslidden soul, may +the Saviour find you today, put His strong +arms around about you, bring you back again +into the fold, keep you from wandering, teach +you all you need to know, until the gloaming, +until after having washed the last sleep from +your eyes in the river of life, you place your +last climbing footstep on the threshold of our +Father's house to go out no more.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I am weary and heavy laden, and longing to come to Thee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And out in the distant darkness Thy dear voice sounds so sweet,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, to kiss Thy feet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Child!" said the gracious Master, "why turnest thou thus away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I came through the darkness seeking my sheep that have gone astray?</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[<i>Page</i> 44]</a><br /></span> +<span class="i0">I know thou art heavy laden, I know thou hast need of me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the feet of thy loving Master are weary with seeking thee."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When my untrimmed lamp is dying and my heart is not meet for Thee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For Thou art so great and holy, and mine is so poor a home,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, that Thou shouldst come.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Child," said the tender Shepherd—and His voice was very sweet—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"I only ask for a welcome, and rest for my weary feet."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then over my lonely threshold, though weak and defiled by sin,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though I am not worthy, O Master, I pray Thee enter in.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Helen Marion Burnsides</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Christ the Restorer</i></b></div> + +<p>Do I not speak to a soul who once +has known Christ as the Good +Shepherd, but has now wandered +away from the fold?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But yet in love He sought me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And on His shoulders gently laid,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He home rejoicing brought me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Sir Henry W. Baker</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[<i>Page</i> 45]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>May I not remind you of the Master's own +parable, "What man of you, having one hundred +sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not +leave ninety and nine in the wilderness, and +go after that which has gone astray, until +he find it?" May I impress upon the words +<i>until he find it</i>? He will not cease the search +until He has found the sheep. It has been said +that the first verse of this Psalm may be translated, +"The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my Shepherd, I shall not +be <i>missing</i>." "O love that will not let me go."</p> + +<p>The Shepherd stands at the door of the +sheepfold and counts the sheep, his one hundred +sheep. He counts to ninety-nine. One is +missing. He cannot rest until that last one is +found. The door of the sheepfold is closed, +and out into the darkness and cold and pain +of the night the shepherd goes until he finds +his lost sheep, and on his shoulders he carries +it back to the fold, then calls upon his neighbors +to rejoice with him. He has found his +lost sheep.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There were ninety and nine that safely lay<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the shelter of the fold,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But one was out on the hills away,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far off from the gates of gold—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Away on the mountains wild and bare,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Away from the tender Shepherd's care.</span><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[<i>Page</i> 46]</a><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Are they not enough for Thee?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But the Shepherd made answer, "This of mine<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Has wandered away from me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And although the road be rough and steep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I go to the desert to find my sheep."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But none of the ransomed ever knew<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How deep were the waters crossed,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere He found His sheep that was lost.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Out in the desert He heard its cry—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sick and helpless, and ready to die.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way<br /></span> +<span class="i0">That mark out the mountain's track?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They were shed for one who had gone astray<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And up from the rocky steep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There arose a glad cry to the gates of heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rejoice! I have found my sheep!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And the angels echoed around the throne,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Rejoice, for the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> brings back His own!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Elizabeth C. Clephane</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">"<b><i>The Paths of Righteousness</i></b>"</div> + +<p>"He leadeth me in the paths +of righteousness for his +name's sake."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[<i>Page</i> 47]</a></span></p> + +<p>These words are strikingly significant, and +show forth the tender aspect of God's guidance. +Ofttimes, after rain, the heavy wagon +wheels would leave deep ruts in the road, +which in cold weather would become hardened +and make it difficult for the sheep to walk. Not +such roads did the true shepherd willingly +choose for his sheep. If compelled, however, +to take such roads, he would choose those that +had been flattened down by wagon wheels +until level. He chose those roads that had been +worn smooth, that the tender feet of the sheep +might not be bruised. "He leadeth me in +smooth roads." "Thou didst sustain them in +the wilderness; their feet swelled not."</p> + +<p>He who follows the divine leading will +always be led aright. His feet will travel in +"right roads." No man will go wrong who +follows Christ. He never leads the soul into +questionable places, and no feet guided by Him +will go into any place where He Himself does +not go. "Where I am, there shall my servant +be." "He that followeth me shall not walk in +darkness." "God is light, and in him is no +darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship +with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, +and do not the truth." Sometimes the road +He chooses may not be after our liking, but it +will always be for our best interest, welfare +and usefulness. This fact will eventually be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[<i>Page</i> 48]</a></span> +made clear to us, and we will gladly go with +Him all the way.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I said, "Let me walk in the fields,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said, "No, walk in the town,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I said, "There are no flowers there,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said, "No flowers, but a crown."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I said, "But the skies are black;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There is nothing but noise and din,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But He wept as He sent me back—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"There is more," He said, "there is sin."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I said, "But the air is thick,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And fogs are veiling the sun,"<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He answered, "Yet souls are sick,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And souls in the dark, undone."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I said, "I shall miss the light,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And friends will miss me, they say."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He answered: "Choose tonight<br /></span> +<span class="i0">If I am to miss you or they."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I pleaded for time to be given.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said, "It is hard to decide?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">It will not seem hard in heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To have followed the steps of your guide."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I cast one look at the fields,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Then set my face to the town.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">He said, "My child, do you yield?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Will you leave the flowers for the crown?"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Then into His hand went mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And into my heart came He;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And I walk in a light divine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The paths I had feared to see.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>George MacDonald</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[<i>Page</i> 49]</a></span></div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">"<b><i>His Name's Sake</i></b>"</div> + +<p>All this He does for His name's +sake. How beautiful those words +are, "<i>for His name's sake</i>." Christ's +own glory is involved in the +security and care of His children. The physician +cares for your child who is sick unto +death, for your sake, it is true, but for "his +own name's sake" as well. To lose your +child would hurt his reputation and practice. +The lawyer protects his client for his client's +sake, it is true, but also, and perhaps more so, +for "his own name's sake." To lose the case +would be to hurt his standing in the legal profession. +The pilot guides the ship safely into +harbor for the passengers' sake, it is true, but +more particularly for "his own name's sake," +for to lose the ship would be to lose his license.</p> + +<p>We remember that Jesus said, "Father, I +will that they also, whom thou hast given me, +be with me where I am, that they may behold +my glory." He also said, "And of all that thou +hast given me, I have lost none." Christ Himself +is the door. His broad figure and bulk fills +it. Who shall strip Him of His power, or rob +Him of His sheep? He is the secret of the security +of the believer; yea, He is the security +itself. We are hid in Him. It is rather the perseverance +of the Christ than of the believer. +Here, then, is the security of the believer, saved +and kept for "His own name's sake."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[<i>Page</i> 50]</a></span></p> + +<p>How proud we are of someone who is named +after us! We have more solicitude and care +for the child that carries our name than for +other children. <i>For His name's sake</i>, therefore, +is an indication of the intense, intimate +interest and care of the Christ for His people. +Do we not recall what Moses said to Jehovah +when He said He thought to destroy the +people of Israel? Did not Moses plead thus +with God, "If thou dost destroy them, what +shall we say to the nations, and what wilt +thou do for thine own name's sake?"</p> + +<p>Shall it not be that in that great day not +one of Christ's sheep will be missing? "My +sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and +they follow me; and I give unto them eternal +life; and they shall never perish, neither shall +any man pluck them out of my hand. My +Father, which gave them me, is greater than +all; and no man is able to pluck them out of +my Father's hand." "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my Shepherd, +I shall not be missing."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Christ Jesus hath the power,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The power to renew,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The power to cleanse your heart from sin,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And make you wholly true.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Christ Jesus hath the power<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For evermore to keep;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, none can pluck you from His hand,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or rob Him of His sheep!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Dr. James M. Gray</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[<i>Page</i> 51]</a></span></div></div> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>God as a Guide</i></b></div> + +<p>What a wonderful truth is asserted in +this verse—"<i>He</i> leadeth <i>me</i>." Meditate +just a moment on these words—"<i>He</i>," +God, the great and mighty One, +the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the +One who upholdeth all things by the word of +His power, the unerring, unchangeable, all-seeing, +all-knowing, all-powerful One—"<i>He</i> leadeth +me"—<i>me</i>, poor, trembling, wayward, straying, +sinning, fallible, erring son of Adam, +unworthy, unfit, not entitled to the least of +God's blessings; yet, incomprehensible as the +truth may seem, God in heaven leads "<i>me</i>," +here, on earth. He leadeth me on a journey in +which it is so easy of myself to go astray from +the right path. Further, He <i>leads</i>, not drives, +His sheep. "He goeth <i>before</i> His own sheep +and leadeth them." The Good Shepherd will +not ask you to go anywhere where He Himself +has not gone. He does not drive His children. +He leads them.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He leadeth me! Oh! blessed thought,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Oh, words with heav'nly comfort fraught!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whate'er I do, where'er I be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By waters calm, o'er troubled sea—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[<i>Page</i> 52]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Nor ever murmur nor repine;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Content, whatever lot I see,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since 'tis my God that leadeth me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And when my task on earth is done,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When, by Thy grace, the victory's won,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Since God through Jordan leadeth me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">He leadeth me! He leadeth me!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By His own hand He leadeth me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His faithful follower I would be,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For by His hand He leadeth me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Joseph H. Gilmore</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Knowing God's Will</i></b></div> + +<p>God's way of guidance varies +with different individuals. There +is probably no point on which +we need more careful instruction +than that which concerns the will of God +for us. We may speak of two wills of God. +The first concerns our <i>character</i> and may be +known by all, for it is distinctly declared in +the Word of God in such passages, for example, +as, "This is the will of God, even your +sanctification." There can be no doubt or hesitancy +with regard to knowing what the <i>general</i> +will of God regarding our <i>character</i> may +be.</p> + +<p>There is another will of God, however, which +affects not our character but our <i>career</i>. This +<i>particular</i> will of God is not as easy to dis<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[<i>Page</i> 53]</a></span>cern +as that which touches our character. +Others may not know this for me. In the last +analysis God and I alone must solve the problem +of my career. It is true I may consult +others and get all the light possible on the +question at issue, but ultimately the solution +of the matter is to be found in the quiet with +the soul and God Himself.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>Three Things About Guidance</i></b></div> + +<p>Three things may be said to indicate +clearly the <i>particular</i> will +of God which concerns my +<i>career</i>.</p> + +<p>The first comes from a constant and prayerful +reading of the <i>Word of God</i>, through which +God will in some way make known to me in +particular His will regarding me. The scripture +which decides the matter for me may not +have the same meaning to others, but I recognize +it to be God's will for me. A minister received +one day two calls to the pastorate of +two churches. One offered a stipend of $3000 +a year and manse, and an established church +with 900 members, and located under the +shadow of a great university. A flattering +call indeed. The other invitation was from a +struggling suburban church with a membership +of 75, and offering a salary of $1800 a +year. What should the minister do? Which +call should he accept? To say there was no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[<i>Page</i> 54]</a></span> +struggle in the heart at the time would be to +belie the fact. The man of God took the two +invitations, laid them on the bed, knelt by its +side, and put his open Bible in front of him between +the two letters. After prayer for guidance +and after reading the Word for some time +his attention was riveted upon this verse: +"Set not your mind on high things, but condescend +to them that are lowly" (Romans +12:16, R. V.). He had read that verse before, +many times, but somehow he could not get +beyond it at <i>this</i> time. To <i>him</i> at <i>that particular +time</i> it was indicative of God's will. +Obediently he chose the smaller church. After +years proved the wisdom of the choice. So +God will in some way indicate to you through +the reading of His Word His will for <i>you</i> at +<i>that time</i>.</p> + +<p>The second element in discerning the will of +God is what may be called <i>the inward impression</i>, +by which we mean the constant, irrepressible, +insistent, persistent conviction in the +heart of the child of God that he ought to +do thus and so in a given case. It often happens +that a strong impulse comes to a child +of God. In a day or two that impulse has +passed away, and he looks back and sees that +he has no assurance that such was the will of +God for him; but to the obedient soul in communion +with the heavenly Father, the con<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[<i>Page</i> 55]</a></span>stant, +irrepressible, insistent and persistent +conviction that a certain thing should or should +not be done is one of the sure indications of +God's voice in the soul.</p> + +<p>The third feature in discerning the will of +God is what may be called <i>the favorable circumstance</i>, +or <i>the open door</i>. If God wants +one to go to a certain place or do a certain +thing, the opportunity to do it will be present +with the call to do it. If it is not, then one +should wait until the door opens. If the pillar +of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night +remains stationary, then Israel must remain +in the camp. When these emblems of God's +guidance lifted and moved, then Israel knew +that it was time for them to move.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still<br /></span> +<span class="i4">Will lead me on<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till<br /></span> +<span class="i4">The night is gone;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And with the morn those angel faces smile<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Which I have loved long since and lost awhile.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>John H. Newman</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>These three things, the Word of God, the inward +impression, and the open door, should +be present in every clear indication of the will +of God. If any one of them is missing, it indicates +that the will of God is not yet clear. +We have a beautiful illustration of these three<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[<i>Page</i> 56]</a></span> +things in the call of Peter to admit Cornelius +into the Church (Acts 10 and 11). First, Peter +had the <i>Word of God</i>—nothing should be regarded +common or unclean; second, he had +<i>the inward impression</i>—he was meditating on +what the vision he had seen should mean; and +third, there was <i>the open door</i>—three men +were already waiting for him to convey him +to Cæsarea.</p> + +<p>Wonderfully instructive is God's guidance +of the children of Israel by the pillar of cloud +by day and the pillar of fire by night. In this +connection we should recall the words of Jesus +when in the Temple, at the time they were +celebrating God's care for His people in the +wilderness in providing them with the pillar +of cloud and the pillar of fire. He said, "I am +the light of the world; he that followeth me +shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the +light of life." Christ is our Guide; the Word +of God is our chart. Having them, we may +rest assured that God who has guided His +people in all the ages will guide us safely to +the end.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Pilgrim through this barren land;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I am weak, but Thou art mighty,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Hold me with Thy powerful hand;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[<i>Page</i> 57]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Open now the crystal fountain<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whence the healing stream doth flow;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let the fiery, cloudy pillar<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lead me all my journey through;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Strong Deliverer, be Thou still my Strength and Shield.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">When I tread the verge of Jordan,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Bid my anxious fears subside,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Death of deaths and hell's destruction,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Land me safe on Canaan's side:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>William Williams</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[<i>Page</i> 58]</a></span></div></div> + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus058.jpg" width="400" height="161" alt="Two men looking forward together" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER FOUR</h2> + +<h3> +<b>"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the<br /> +shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for<br /> +thou art with me; thy rod and<br /> +thy staff they comfort me."</b> +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">It was necessary for shepherds in Palestine, +when leading their flocks from one +pasture to another, to lead them, at times, +through dark ravines, on either side of which +were caves and holes wherein dwelt ravenous +beasts. From the attack of these beasts the +shepherd must protect his flock. For this purpose +he used the staff which he carried with +him. The staff was a great stick with a large +knob at the end of it pierced through with +sharp nails and spikes. This weapon was used +to beat off the attacks of the wild beasts. The +shepherd must be bold and courageous. We +recall how David referred to his encounters +with wild beasts which attacked his flock. "And +David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his +father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a +bear, and took a lamb out of the flock; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[<i>Page</i> 59]</a></span> +I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered +it out of his mouth; and when he arose +against me, I caught him by his beard, and +smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew +both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised +Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing +he hath defied the armies of the living God. +David said moreover, The Lord that delivered +me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the +paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the +hand of the Philistine. And Saul said unto +David, Go, and the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> be with thee" (I +Samuel 17:34-37).</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Valley of the Shadow</i></b></div> + +<p>"The valley of the shadow of +death" may refer to any dark, +dread or awful experience +through which the child of God +is called to pass. In this sense it is used in +many places in the Scriptures. The Christian's +path is not always beside still waters and in +green pastures.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">In pastures green? Not always; sometimes He<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And by still waters? No not always so,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And o'er my soul the waves and billows go.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[<i>Page</i> 60]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Aloud for help, the Master standeth by,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And whispers to my soul, "Lo, it is I!"<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Above the tempest wild I hear Him say,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">"Beyond the darkness lies the perfect day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In every path of thine I lead the way."<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Henry H. Barry</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>But is it not kind of our Father that He +puts the valley in the middle of the Psalm—not +at the beginning of our Christian journey, +lest we should be unduly discouraged, but in +the middle—after we have been strengthened +with food and drink and have been assured of +the tender care and guidance of the Great +Shepherd. Oh! wondrous thought and care!</p> + +<p>Of course, "the valley of the shadow of +death" refers also, and probably more particularly, +to the experience of death itself. At +least we have come to look upon it in such +light, and doubtless thousands of God's people +have found the comforting truth of this verse +a safe pillow in the dying hour. It has lightened +the valley, removed the fear of death, +and illumined immortality.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Fear of Death</i></b></div> + +<p>When a robber would scatter +a flock of sheep and cause fear +and consternation he throws a +dead carcass in the midst of +the flock. Sheep fear nothing as much as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[<i>Page</i> 61]</a></span> +sight of death. Is this not true of man also? +About the last fear taken from the human +heart is "the fear of death." "The last enemy +that shall be destroyed is death." Even though +the believer knows that the sting of death has +been removed, nevertheless there is usually +an attendant fear connected with the passing +out of this life.</p> + +<p>I have read that a famous scientist was in +the habit of visiting a zoological garden in +London. Among the many things that always +interested him was a large snake—a boa constrictor. +It was kept in a large glass case so +that inspection of the reptile was perfectly safe +from the outside. The scientist, we are told, +was in the habit of knocking on the glass in +order to awaken the snake. Instantly, when +the knock was heard, the snake would raise +its head and strike at the glass with its fangs. +The scientist, instinctively shrank back, fearful +of being struck, though he knew there was +absolutely no danger. So sometimes is it with +the believer's relationship to death. Even +though he knows the sting is removed, nevertheless +the experience of death is somewhat +of a dread. The soul naturally recoils at the +thought of death.</p> + +<p>No really thoughtful man will speak lightly +of death. He may, as some men may, in the +fullness of health and vigor, laugh at the idea<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[<i>Page</i> 62]</a></span> +of dying; but when he comes face to face with +the real experience, there is, as any minister or +physician will tell you, quite a different story +to tell.</p> + +<p>It reminds me of an experience in our own +family life. Behind a former residence of ours +was a stretch of woods where, after school, our +boys would go to play their outdoor games. +It was the understanding in the home that +when the whistle was blown or some other +signal given the boys should come home for +their meals. At times the boys would come +home in response to the signal in a somewhat +murmuring spirit. They have said something +like this to their mother: "Mother, what did +you call us home for anyway? Didn't you +know that we were just in the midst of a great +game and our side was about to win? We wish +you wouldn't call us." I have felt as I have +listened to them speaking thus to their mother +that, just at that particular time and in the +middle of the day, they could, apparently, get +along very well without their mother. But I +have noticed this also, that at night time, after +their mother had prayed with them and the +lights were turned out, there was another +story to tell. It seems to me that I can still +hear one of the boys calling out in the dark to +his mother, "Mamma, are you there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, son."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[<i>Page</i> 63]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mamma."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Is your face turned towards me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, will you hold my hand? It's dark, +isn't it, Mamma? Good night, Mamma."</p> + +<p>Ah, yes, in the day-time they might think +they could get along very well without their +mother, but when the night comes, and the +lights are all out, and it's dark, then nobody +on earth but mother will do.</p> + +<p>So it is with you, my friend. In your bravado +of health and strength you may say that +you are not afraid of death, but you wait until +your feet come down to the brink of the river; +then there will be a different story to tell. +Some men haven't much use for God in life, +but nobody else but God will do in the hour +of death.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Valley Is Certain and Narrow</i></b></div> + +<p>Death is certain. It is appointed +unto men once to die. While +the Lord tarries, every child of +Adam will have to pass through +the experience of death.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There is no flock, however watched and tended,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But one dead lamb is there!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But has one vacant chair!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Henry W. Longfellow</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[<i>Page</i> 64]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>We cannot bribe death. We cannot avoid +or evade passing through the valley of the +shadow. We cannot dig under it, nor tunnel +around it, nor fly over it. Face it we must. +It behooves us, therefore, to make sure that we +have the light and the life which alone will +secure for us a happy exit from this valley +and a glorious entrance into the unfading light +of a new day.</p> + +<p>The valley of the shadow of death is narrow, +very narrow—so narrow indeed that even a +mother cannot take her one-hour-old babe +with her. It is so narrow. She must go through +the valley alone. Single file, if you please, is +the order of march through this valley of the +shadow. An aged woman lay dying. By her +bedside, with his hand in hers, sat the man +who for over fifty years had been her husband. +The light was failing fast, and eternity drawing +near to the aged woman. Grasping the +hand of her husband tightly, she said, "John, +it's getting dark. Take my hand. For over +fifty years we have traveled together, and you +have led me. Now it's getting dark, and I +cannot see the way. John, come with me, won't +you?"</p> + +<p>But John could not go, and with tear-filled +eyes and trembling voice, he said, "Anna, I +cannot, cannot go. Only Jesus can go with +you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[<i>Page</i> 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>She was a little girl of ten years. The angel +of death was hovering over her bed. The end +was drawing near. She said to her father, who +was standing by the mother's side at the bed, +"Papa, it's getting dark and I cannot see. Will +you please go with me?"</p> + +<p>With heart breaking, the father had to say, +"Child, I cannot, I cannot go with you."</p> + +<p>The girl turned to her mother and said, +"Mamma, then you will, won't you?"</p> + +<p>But the mother, in turn, amid her tears, replied, +"Child, I would, but I cannot. Only +Jesus can go with you."</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><b><i>The Personal Pronouns Change</i></b></div> + +<p>It is interesting to note the +change in the personal pronoun +in this verse. Up to this point +the Psalmist has been speaking +in the third person and using the personal pronoun +"He"—"<i>He</i> leadeth me." "<i>He</i> maketh +me." "He restoreth;" <i>he, he, he</i>. When he +comes to speak of the valley of the shadow +of death, however, the third personal pronoun +is changed to that of the second person, "Yea, +though I walk through the valley of the +shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for <i>thou</i>, +(<i>thou</i>—not <i>he</i>, is with me, but <i>thou</i>) art with +me." There is no room for a third person in +this valley. If one does not have Christ as +Saviour and Guide in the dark hour of death,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[<i>Page</i> 66]</a></span> +he goes through the valley of the shadow all +alone. Surely, without Christ with him man +will stumble and fall in this valley.</p> + +<p>Poor indeed is that soul who, when his feet +are about to enter the valley, has no Guide, or, +when he comes to the brink of death's river, +has no Pilot.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">How lonely life must be!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Like a sailor lost and driven<br /></span> +<span class="i0">On a wide and shoreless sea.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">No hand to clasp thine own!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Through the dark, dark vale of shadows<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou must press thy way alone.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>W. O. Cushing</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>But what a blessing and comfort it is for +those who know Christ as Saviour and Comforter, +to have the assurance that in that last +hour of life He is by their side to guide them. +It was doubtless this thought of the presence +of Christ that comforted Tennyson when he +wrote the words of that beautiful poem:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Sunset and evening star,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And one clear call for me!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, may there be no moaning of the bar,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I put out to sea.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[<i>Page</i> 67]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0"> * * * * *<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Twilight and evening bell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And after that the dark!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And, may there be no sadness of farewell,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I embark;<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The flood may bear me far,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I hope to see my Pilot face to face<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When I have crossed the bar.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Alfred Tennyson</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>Some one has called the fourth verse of the +Psalm a song of the waters. Did you ever hear +singing on the water? There is something wonderful +about it. The water seems to take all +harshness out of the music, and puts something +exquisitely beautiful into it. Here then +is "a psalm of the waters," a song for the believer +to sing when his feet are touching the +margin of the river: "When thou passest +through the waters, I will be with thee; and +through the rivers, they shall not overflow +thee.... For I am the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> thy God."</p> + +<p>Here, too, is "a song in the night." Sing it, +Christian pilgrim, when earth's last hour is at +hand. Sing it as you enter the valley. Sing +it as the darkness deepens. Sing it when the +light of earth's day begins to fade. Sing it +when the earth is receding, heaven is opening +and God is calling you. Sing it until the glory +of the eternal morn breaks upon thine enraptured +vision. Sing it until your feet stand<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[<i>Page</i> 68]</a></span> +upon that golden shore against which death's +chilly wave never again shall dash, and where +death is no more. Sing it, sing this song of the +waters—"Yea, though I walk through the +valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no +evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy +staff they comfort me."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Why be afraid of Death as though your life were breath!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Death but anoints your eyes with clay. Oh glad surprise!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Why should you be forlorn? Death only husks the corn.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why should you fear to meet the thresher of the wheat?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Is sleep a thing to dread? Yet sleeping, you are dead<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Till you awake and rise, here, or beyond the skies.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Why should it be a wrench, to leave your wooden bench?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Why not with happy shout run home when school is out?<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">The dear ones left behind? O foolish one and blind.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">A day—and you will meet—a night—and you will greet!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">This is the death of Death, to breathe away a breath,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And know the end of strife and taste the deathless life.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[<i>Page</i> 69]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And joy without a fear and smile without a tear,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And work, nor care, nor rest, and find the last the best.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Maltbie D. Babcock</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">"<b><i>Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me</i></b>"</div> + +<p>The rod is a protection from all +the adversaries of the night. +No enemy, not even the last +enemy, death, can affright the +soul in the care of the tender +Shepherd, for He has extracted the sting from +death. The staff is used for counting the sheep +as they pass one by one into the fold. This +action is sometimes called "passing under the +rod." The language used here indicates safety +and security.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ills have no weight and tears on bitterness.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Henry F. Lyte</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>Christ hath <i>abolished</i> death and brought life +and immortality to light. The word "abolished" +is a very strong one in the Greek. It +has three root letters, a, r and g. Then the +preposition <i>kata</i> is added to it, thus making our +English word "energy" which means "a working +force." Then, in a way known to Greek +students, the preposition gives the word, as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[<i>Page</i> 70]</a></span> +were, the force of a double negative. So the +Apostle teaches us that Christ, when He came +into the world and died on the cross, did something +with death. He double-twisted it, He +de-vitalized it, double-negatived it, made it +inoperative, rendered it powerless, so that ever +afterwards it would be unable to hurt the children +of God.</p> + +<p>I do not know very much about bees except, +of course, that they sting. I am told, however, +that when a bee stings you it leaves its sting +in the wound and goes away to die. A little +child may play with the bee after it has stung +a person without any harm coming to the +child. The bee has lost its power to hurt. So +we are told that the sting of death is sin. Death +stung Christ on the cross and left its sting in +Him, so that ever after it could not hurt the +children of God. He is "Death of death and +hell's destruction."</p> + +<p>Christ, the Great Shepherd, will be there at +the entrance of the valley to meet you and +lead you through. He will beat off all the +powers of death. He will destroy all the enemies +of darkness and convey you safely +through the valley into the Homeland. He +holds the keys of death and the grave. How +helpless a thing a sheep is! How much in need +of a defender it is! It seems as though almost +any other animal can defend itself. A dog will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[<i>Page</i> 71]</a></span> +fight when attacked. A sheep stands helpless +in the presence of its opponent. Christ, the +Good Shepherd, will protect to the last.</p> + +<p>The comforting thoughts of this verse must +certainly take the sting out of death to those +who grasp the great truths taught here. It +surely abolishes death and illumines immortality.</p> + +<p>No one need fear death with such thoughts +as these before him. The Apostle Paul asserts +that every believer in Christ has "a cheerful +view of death," and desires rather "to be absent +from the body and at home with the +Lord" than to remain here upon the earth.</p> + +<p>Go to thy grave, not as the slave scourged +to his dungeon, or the dog whipped to his kennel, +but as the prince wraps around him the +drapery of his couch and lies down to pleasant +dreams. The conscious companionship of the +Christ will remove thy fears. With what +alacrity, courage and fearlessness doth he walk +the highway whose heart is honest and whose +conscience doth not convict him of the violation +of his country's laws! How different with +the criminal! How full of fear and apprehension!</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The darkness deepens—Lord, with me abide!<br /></span> +<span class="i0">When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[<i>Page</i> 72]</a></span><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Change and decay in all around I see;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">O Thou who changest not, abide with me!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I triumph still, if Thou abide with me!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Henry F. Lyte</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[<i>Page</i> 73]</a></span></div></div> + + + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus073.jpg" width="400" height="147" alt="One man anointing the head of another" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER FIVE</h2> + +<h3> +<b>"Thou preparest a table before me in the<br /> +presence of mine enemies; thou<br /> +anointest my head with oil;<br /> +my cup runneth over."</b> +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">There is a variety of senses in which +the truth of this verse may be understood.</p> + +<p>It is said that in the ancient days a shepherd's +tent was a kind of city of refuge. The +man who had unwittingly slain another could +find refuge in a shepherd's tent from the +avenger of blood. The fugitive was permitted +to stay a given length of time within the shepherd's +care, during which time he was as safe +from the pursuer as though he were in the +actual city of refuge. The pursuer might be +raging with fury outside of the door of the tent, +but the fugitive could eat with perfect safety +and peace in the presence of his enemy. How +like Christ in His relation to the believer!</p> + +<p>One day Charles Wesley stood looking out +of a partly open window at the fierce storm +howling without, when a young robin, quickly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[<i>Page</i> 74]</a></span> +passing some other birds, flew to his breast, +seeking shelter from its foes. It was then he +wrote that wonderful hymn, the opening words +of which are:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Jesus, Lover of my soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let me to Thy bosom fly!<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Is not this a picture of this verse of the +Psalm? "And a man (Jesus Christ) shall be +for a hiding place and a refuge from the storm." +Are we not safe in Him from all our foes? +"There is therefore now no condemnation to +them that are in Christ Jesus."</p> + +<p>We are told that in David's day it was the +custom of conquering kings and princes to +bring the royal captives of the contending defeated +army into a large banqueting house. +To each pillar in the house a prisoner of royal +blood or a commanding officer was chained. +The banquet tables were heavily laden with +good things of which the victors partook. +Feasting and jollification were indulged in, +and joy and gladness were manifest in the +presence of defeated and chained enemies. Are +we not made "always to triumph" over all our +foes in Christ? Are we not made "more than +conquerors" in Him who hath "led captivity +captive"? "Ye shall eat your meat in quietness, +and nothing shall make you afraid."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[<i>Page</i> 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>Or, again, it may be that reference is made +in this verse to the grazing of sheep in fields +full of snakeholes or of poisonous plants. A +sheep raiser in Texas once told the writer that +he lost a great many sheep because snakes +would come up through holes in the ground +and bite the sheep as they grazed, poisoning +them. After losing many of the flock he finally +discovered a remedy. A mixture of some kind +was poured down the holes, which killed the +snakes, and after that the sheep were able to +graze in peace and safety. Hath not Christ +abolished death for the believer? Has He not +deprived death of its sting and stripped the +grave of its victim? Hath He not overcome +that old serpent, the Devil? Do we not overcome +the dragon, that old serpent, the Devil +and Satan, the accuser of the brethren day and +night—do we not overcome him by the blood +of the Lamb?</p> + +<p>Whichever of these meanings may be +adopted as indicating the teaching of this verse, +we may be certain that the truth the Psalmist +desires to express is this: That God gives His +children victory over all their foes, and makes +them more than conquerors over all their +enemies. Thus shall we "eat our meat in peace +and quietness, and nothing shall make us +afraid." "Why do the heathen rage?...<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[<i>Page</i> 76]</a></span> +He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh"—and +so shall we.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">On the Rock of Ages founded,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Who can shake thy sure repose?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With salvation's walls surrounded,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Thou mayes't smile at all thy foes.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Rev. John Newton</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<div class="sidenote">"<b><i>Thou Anointest My Head with Oil: My Cup Runneth Over</i></b>"</div> + +<p>A shepherd must needs be a +physician also. In the belt +of the shepherd medicines +are always carried. Sheep +are very susceptible to sicknesses +of many kinds, particularly fevers. Ofttimes +at night as the sheep passed into the fold +the shepherd's knowing eye would detect that +one or another of them was sick and feverish. +Perhaps it had been bitten by a serpent or torn +by some wild animal. He would take the feverish +sheep and plunge its head into clear, cold +water, plunging the head so far into the pail +that the water would run over, or anoint the +bruise with mollifying ointment. Doubtless +David is thinking of this experience of his +shepherd life.</p> + +<p>Or, again, David may be referring to the +bountiful water supply provided for the sheep +and applying it to the rich provision God has +made for the believer. Not only is there grace +enough for oneself, but with the believer as a +channel, an abundance for others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[<i>Page</i> 77]</a></span></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Thou, O Christ, art all I want;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">More than all in Thee I find!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Charles Wesley</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>This is the wonderful truth taught by Jesus +in the Temple: "Now on the last day, the great +day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, +If any man thirst, let him come unto me and +drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture +hath said, from within him shall flow +rivers of living water." Here we see how the +believer may come to Christ for the quenching +of his own thirst, and then draw on, or +drink more deeply of, Christ for the quenching +of the thirst of others. "Thou, O Christ, +art all I want, more than all in Thee I find." +Here we have the personal and relative side +of a consecrated life of service.</p> + +<p>My cup is to "run over." No selfish religion +must I claim. I am to be satisfied with Christ +first myself, then I am to take from Him so +large a supply that others with whom I come +into contact may also partake of His fullness. +No hermit, no ascetic, monk, or recluse would +the Master have me be.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">There are hermit souls that live withdrawn<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In the peace of their self-content;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In a fellowless firmament.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where highways never ran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[<i>Page</i> 78]</a></span>—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But let me live by the side of the road<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And be a friend to man.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Let me live in my house by the side of the road<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the race of men go by—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The men who are good and the men who are bad,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">As good and as bad as I,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">I would not sit in the scorner's seat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Or hurl the cynic's ban—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let me live in the house by the side of the road<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And be a friend to man.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">I see from my house by the side of the road,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">By the side of the highway of life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The men who press with the ardor of hope,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The men who are faint with the strife;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Both parts of an infinite plan—<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Let me live in a house by the side of the road<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And be a friend to man.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Sam Walter Foss</i><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[<i>Page</i> 79]</a></span></div></div> + + + + + +<div><br /></div> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> +<img src="images/banner.jpg" width="600" height="37" alt="" title="" /> +</div> +<div><br /></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 400px;"> +<img src="images/illus079.jpg" width="400" height="128" alt="A Happy Man" title="" /> +</div> + +<h2>CHAPTER SIX</h2> + +<h3> +<b>"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me<br /> +all the days of my life; and I will dwell<br /> +in the house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for ever."</b> +</h3> + + +<p class="dropcap">The writer was once called to speak +with a Scotch Presbyterian elder who +was rapidly passing from this life. I +had read to him this last verse of the Psalm, +when, turning in his bed, he said to me in words +that were almost his last, "Take my Bible and +read that verse to me from 'The Psalms in +Metre' in the back of my Bible." I took his +Scotch Bible from a table close by and read:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Goodness and mercy all my life<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shall surely follow me,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in God's house for evermore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My dwelling place shall be.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>William Whittingham</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>Some one has well said that "goodness and +mercy" are God's two collie dogs to preserve +the Christian from all danger. Others have +likened "goodness and mercy" to the Christian's +footmen to wait upon him daily. "The +house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span>" is doubtless here contrasted +with the tent of the shepherd, just as the words<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[<i>Page</i> 80]</a></span> +"dwell for ever" are contrasted with the fact +that the fugitive was allowed to stay in the +shepherd's tent only a limited time.</p> + +<p>This verse expresses the confidence of the +Christian with regard to the future. It is the +Christian's confidence that in the Father's +house a mansion is prepared for him, and that +when the earthly house of this tabernacle is +taken down and dissolved by death he has a +house not made with hands, eternal in the +heavens. This is surely a grand provision for +old age, a life insurance worthy of the name, +a home for the winter of life, and a blessed assurance +with regard to one's eternity. How +poor indeed is that soul that cannot say, "Yea, +though I walk through the valley of the +shadow of death, I will fear no evil," for the +grave is not the terminus but the passageway +that leads to endless light and life, into the +glory and beauty of the house of the Lord in +which the believer shall "dwell for ever." Beyond +the night of death lies the perfect day; +beyond the valley of the shadow lie the plains +of peace.</p> + +<p>One cannot help but wonder if you, reader, +have such a confident hope with regard to +your future life. Only those who are able to +say "The <span class="smcap">Lord</span> is my shepherd" are able to +say "I will dwell in the house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for +ever."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[<i>Page</i> 81]</a></span></p> + +<p>A famous Scotch preacher tells us that a +demented boy, who was in the habit of attending +one of the classes in his Sunday school, was +sick unto death. The minister was asked to go +to see the boy. He went to the house, and in +speaking with the lad and after reading the +Scriptures he was about to leave, when this +boy, with only half his reasoning power, demented +and partly idiotic, asked the great +preacher if he wouldn't kneel down and recite +for him the Twenty-third Psalm. In +obedience to the boy's request he knelt and +repeated the Twenty-third Psalm, until he +came to the last verse which, as you know, +reads "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow +me all the days of my life, and I will +dwell in the house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for ever." But +the preacher did not repeat this last verse, for +he was saying to himself while on his knees, +"this verse can hardly be true of this boy, +surely goodness and mercy has not followed +him all the days of his life, and further, what +does he know about the determination of this +verse—to dwell in the house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for +ever?" And so the great preacher was rising +from his knees, having omitted the last verse, +when the boy reached out his hand and, placing +it on the shoulder of the minister, pressed +him again to his knees and repeated the last +verse of the Psalm—the verse the preacher<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[<i>Page</i> 82]</a></span> +had omitted, as it is written in the Scotch +hymn book:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Goodness and mercy all my life<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Shall surely follow me;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And in God's house for evermore<br /></span> +<span class="i0">My dwelling place shall be.<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>William Whittingham</i><br /> +</div></div> + +<p>This was a lesson the preacher never forgot. +Can you, my reader, you, with all your senses, +your keenness of brain and intellect—can you +say what this idiotic boy could say: "I will +dwell in the house of the <span class="smcap">Lord</span> for ever"?</p> + +<p>I am reminded in this connection of one of +Bunyan's characters in the "Pilgrim's Progress." +He is referred to as "Mr. Feeble Mind." +This character in speaking of his immortal +hope—that hope which lies beyond the valley +of the shadow and the grave—expresses +it in this way: "But this I am resolved on: to +run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and +to creep when I cannot go. As to the main, I +thank Him that loved me. I am fixed. My +way is before me. My mind is beyond the +river that hath no bridge, though I am, as you +see, but of a feeble mind." Mark that wonderful +expression, will you?—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"My mind is beyond the river that hath no bridge."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Is yours? You—man, woman, with all your<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[<i>Page</i> 83]</a></span> +senses, of strong and sound mind, can you give +expression to an exclamation of faith like that?</p> + +<p>There are some of my readers on whose head +time has laid its hand and whitened their hair +to the whiteness of that winter in which all +their glory must fade. Their sun of life is +going down beyond the hill of life. The young +may die; the old must die. Oh, the pity of it, +to see the old and gray with no eternal life +insurance for the winter of life! The gray head +is indeed a crown of glory if it be found in the +way of life; otherwise it is a fool's cap. Reader, +may your eventide be light, and may your path +be as the path of the just that shineth brighter +and brighter unto the perfect day!</p> + +<p>Thus we see that the grave is not the end. +We pass through the grave only in order that +we may place our last climbing footstep upon +the threshold of our Father's house, to go out +no more. Then we shall dwell for ever there. +Beyond the grave lie the Plains of Peace, the +Homeland—with all the loved who have gone +before—those whom we "have loved long since +and lost awhile."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Is the way so dark, O wanderer,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Is the hillcrest wild and steep,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Far, so far, the vale beyond thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Where the homelights vigil keep?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Still the goal lies far before thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Soon will fall on thee the night;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[<i>Page</i> 84]</a></span><br /></span> +<span class="i0">Breast the path that takes thee onward,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fight the storm with all thy might.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Tho' thy heart be faint and weary,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tho' thy footsteps fain would cease,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Journey onward—past the hillcrest<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lie for thee the Plains of Peace!<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Is thy path so rough, O pilgrim,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Passing on thy way through life;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Deep the sorrows that beset thee,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Great the burden, wild the strife?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tho' the hill of life be weary,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Tho' the goal of rest be far,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Set thy whole heart to endeavor,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Turn thy soul to yon bright star.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">From the toiling, from the striving<br /></span> +<span class="i0">There at last shall come release;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One shall bring thee past the hillcrest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Home unto his Plains of Peace;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">One shall bring thee past the hillcrest,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Home, Home, Home unto His Plains of Peace!<br /></span> +</div><div class="signature">—<i>Clifton Bingham</i><br /> +</div></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Shepherd Psalm, by William Evans + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SHEPHERD PSALM *** + +***** This file should be named 33349-h.htm or 33349-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/3/4/33349/ + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Mawhorter and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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