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diff --git a/33349.txt b/33349.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad2d461 --- /dev/null +++ b/33349.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2387 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** 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 + + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + The word 'Lord' in small-caps has been rendered as +LORD+ to + differentiate it from the word 'LORD' in regular all-caps. + + Obvious missing punctuation was added. + + p 83. hill-crest was changed to hillcrest + + + + * * * * * + + + + + The Shepherd Psalm + + A Meditation + + By WILLIAM EVANS, Ph.D., D.D. + Bible Teacher and Author of + + "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. + + CHICAGO + THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS'N + 826 North La Salle Street + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY + THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE + ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO + + + Printed in the United States of America + + + + + CONTENTS + + FOREWORD 5 + + INTRODUCTION 7 + + CHAPTER ONE: "The +LORD+ is my shepherd; + I shall not want" 17 + + CHAPTER TWO: "He maketh me to lie + down in green pastures; He leadeth me + beside still waters" 26 + + CHAPTER THREE: "He restoreth my soul; + He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness + for His name's sake" 36 + + CHAPTER FOUR: "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" 58 + + CHAPTER FIVE: "Thou preparest a table + before me in the presence of mine enemies; + thou anointest my head with oil; + my cup runneth over" 73 + + CHAPTER SIX: "Surely goodness and + mercy shall follow me all the days of + my life; and I will dwell in the house + of the +LORD+ forever" 79 + + +[The illustration on the cover is from an actual photograph by +the Author, when he was in Palestine.] + + + + +FOREWORD + + +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. + +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! + +WILLIAM EVANS. + + + + +INTRODUCTION + +The Twenty-third Psalm + + +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! + +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 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. + +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. + + +=_Unusual Application_= + +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. + +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. + +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 story written on the +rim, and we may let that cup down into the well and draw a draught of +the deep, refreshing water." + + +=_The Location of the Psalm_= + +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! + +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. + +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. + +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 _location_ 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. + +Is not this the reason why the tenses of this Psalm are _present_ +tenses? "The +LORD+ _is_ my shepherd"; "He _maketh_ me to lie down"; "He +_leadeth_ me." Even the last verse, "_I will_ (not I shall) dwell in the +house of the Lord for ever," describes the _present_ attitude of the +soul of the Psalmist, who determines by no means to miss participation +in the fellowship of the saints in heaven. + +We love _the Christ of the Cross_. 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 us by His death. We have come to express our faith in that +divine sacrifice in the words of the hymn: + + Other refuge have I none, + Hangs my helpless soul on Thee. + +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. + +We also love _the Christ of the Throne and the Glory_. 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 river of Life, we +shall gaze with undimmed vision upon Him, whom having not seen, we have +yet loved. + +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, + + I think, when I read that sweet story of old, + When Jesus was here among men, + How He called little children as lambs to His fold, + I should like to have been with Him then. + + I wish that His hands had been placed on my head, + That His arms had been thrown around me; + And that I might have seen His kind look when he said, + "Let the little ones come unto me." + + --_Mrs. Jemima Luke_ + +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 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. + +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, + + We may not climb the heavenly steeps + To bring the Lord Christ down; + In vain we search the lowest deeps, + For Him no depths can drown. + + But warm, sweet, tender, even yet + A present help is He; + And faith has still its Olivet, + And love its Galilee. + + The healing of His seamless dress + Is by our beds of pain; + We touch Him in life's throng and press, + And we are whole again. + + --_John G. Whittier_ + +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 divine immanence, the continued +presence of the ever-living Christ with His people; for + + For God is never so far off as even to be near, He is within. + + --_F. W. Faber_ + + Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands or feet. + + --_Alfred Tennyson_ + + I know not where His islands lift + Their fronded palms in air; + I only know I cannot drift + Beyond His love and care. + + --_John G. Whittier_ + + + + +THE SHEPHERD PSALM + +[Illustration] + +CHAPTER ONE + +"=The +LORD+ is my shepherd; I shall not want.=" + + +"The +LORD+ 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 (+LORD+); 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. "+LORD+" 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. + +What a world of meaning, then, lies wrapped up in the word "+LORD+" in +the first verse of this 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 +LORD+ of whom Job said: "I know that +thou canst do anything, and no purpose of thine can be hindered"; the +"+LORD+" who never fails in the keeping of His promises, however +seemingly impossible of fulfillment, from a natural viewpoint, those +promises may be; the "+LORD+" 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 +"+LORD+" 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 "+LORD+." What a wealth of +meaning, then, lies in the first clause, "The +LORD+" (who is LORD, and +Lord) such a "+LORD+" is "my Shepherd." + +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. + +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 ++LORD+ thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; he +knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the ++LORD+ 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). + +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 borrowing +trouble, thereby proclaiming to the world that our great Banker is on +the verge of bankruptcy. The "+LORD+" 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. + +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). + + The Lord my Shepherd is, + I shall be well supplied, + Since He is mine and I am His, + What can I want beside? + + --_Isaac Watts_ + +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 +LORD+ is +my Shepherd," and "everything found." + +In a park one day two women were overheard talking. One of them, who by +her appearance 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?" + +Oh, what a world of comfort lies in the thought, "The +LORD+ 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. + + Thou, O Christ, art all I want; + More than all in thee I find. + + --_Charles Wesley_ + + +=_Religion Is a Personal Thing_= + +"The +LORD+ is my shepherd." _My_ Shepherd. Religion is a _personal_ +thing. Really speaking, your religion consists in 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. + +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 HIS sheep by name, not by number. + +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 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?" + +Every Scotch boy knows the Twenty-third Psalm, and so the little fellow +replied, "Yes, sir, I ken (know) the Psalm well." + +"Will you repeat it to me?" said the minister to the boy. + +Slowly and tenderly the lad quoted the words, "The +LORD+ is my +shepherd, I shall not want," unto the end of the Psalm. + +"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 +LORD+ is _my_ Shepherd.'" + +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 me +than any other and all other men in this world; the man without whom +life would not be worth living; _my_ friend, _my_ lover, _my_ husband. + +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 +LORD+ is _my_ +Shepherd.'" + +What a world of difference that little word _my_ 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 for a +friend to sympathize. But one day I stood by an open grave when _my_ +daughter, _my_ child, _my own_ darling girl, _my_ Dorothy, was placed +beneath the sod. Ah! then I knew what grief was. Ah, what a world of +difference that little word _my_ makes! + +It will not profit you much, my friend, to be able to say, "The +LORD+ +is _a_ Shepherd"; you must be more personal; you must say, "The +LORD+ +is _my_ Shepherd." + + A Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep, + A Shepherd both mighty to save and to keep-- + Yes, this is the Shepherd, the Shepherd we need, + And He is a Shepherd indeed! + + Is He yours? Is He yours? + Is this Shepherd, who loves you, _yours_? + + --_Ada R. Habershon_ + + + + +CHAPTER TWO + +[Illustration] + +="He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; +he leadeth me beside still waters."= + + +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. + +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 be a walk of obedience +"in the paths of righteousness." + +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." + +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. + +Most of our favorite hymns indicate this attitude. They are militant, +working, active 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? + +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. + +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. + + Jesus calls us, o'er the tumult + Of our life's wild restless sea; + Day by day His sweet voice soundeth, + Saying, "Christian, follow me!" + + Jesus calls us--from the worship + Of the vain world's golden store; + From each idol that would keep us-- + Saying, "Christian, love me more!" + + In our joys and in our sorrows, + Days of toil and hours of ease, + Still He calls in cares and pleasures-- + "Christian, love me more than these!" + + Jesus calls us! by Thy mercies, + Saviour, may we hear Thy call; + Give our hearts to Thy obedience, + Serve and love Thee best of all. + + --_Cecil F. Alexander_ + +Lie down we _must_. The text says, "He _maketh_ 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 _make_ you +lie down. The overworked watchspring snaps. There must be pauses and +parentheses in all our lives. + +We make much today of _active_ Christianity. We lay emphasis on the +_activities_ 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 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. + +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. + +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." + +In amazement the friend replied, "What, you broke it! Why did you do +that?" + +The shepherd then told him how wayward 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 _lying down_ 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. + +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. + +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 +_making_ this man to "lie down," do you see? + +A deacon in a Baptist church told me this 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 _making_ 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." + +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. + +Fathers and mothers, are we taking time to "lie down," to be alone with +God in prayer and 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"? + +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. + +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 +secret of power lies in being alone with God. Christ _drew_ the +multitudes to Him because He _withdrew_ from them at times. The drawing +preacher is the withdrawing man. Significant are the words of Jesus to +His _active_ disciples: "Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, +and rest a while." + + Resting in the pastures and beneath the Rock, + Resting by the waters where He leads His flock, + Resting, while we listen, at His glorious feet, + Resting in His very arms! O rest complete! + + --_Frances Ridley Havergal_ + +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 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. + +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! + + Lord, what a change within us one short hour + Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make; + What heavy burdens from our bosoms take; + What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! + We kneel, and all around us seem to lower; + We rise, and all the distant and the near + Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear; + We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power! + + Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong-- + Or others--that we are not always strong; + That we are ever overborne with care; + That we should ever weak or heartless be, + Anxious or troubled, then with us in prayer, + And joy and strength and courage are with Thee! + + --_Richard Chenevix Trench_ + + + + +CHAPTER THREE + +[Illustration] + +="He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the +paths of righteousness for his +name's sake."= + + +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 +LORD+ 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). + +But the Psalmist is referring more particularly, perhaps, to the +restoration of the soul from a spiritual lapse or backsliding, +resulting 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. + +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." + + +=_Traps for Falling_= + +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 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. + +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." + + +=_The Wandering Sheep_= + +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 the ways of death." No man is clever enough to guide +himself through the devious ways of life. He needs God as a guide. + +David recalls how tenderly God had dealt with him after his backslidings +and how graciously and completely He had restored him to fellowship. + +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 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. + + +=_The Gentleness of the Shepherd_= + +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 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 _blessed_ is he that +shall not be offended in me." Not a curse, but a blessing will He send. + +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 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. + +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, + + With all the shame, with all the keen distress, + Quick, "waiting not," I flee to Thee again; + Close to the wound, beloved Lord, I press, + That Thine own precious blood may overflow the stain. + + O precious blood, Lord, let it rest on me! + I ask not only pardon from my King, + But cleansing from my Priest, I come to Thee, + Just as I came at first--a sinful, helpless thing. + + Oh cleanse me now, my Lord, I cannot stay + For evening shadows and a silent hour: + Now I have sinned, and now with no delay, + I claim Thy promise and its total power. + + O Saviour, bid me go and sin no more, + And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow + Of Thy perpetual fountain, I implore + That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know. + + --_Frances Ridley Havergal_ + +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. + + Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me? + I am weary and heavy laden, and longing to come to Thee; + And out in the distant darkness Thy dear voice sounds so sweet, + But I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, to kiss Thy feet. + + "Child!" said the gracious Master, "why turnest thou thus away, + When I came through the darkness seeking my sheep that have gone + astray? + I know thou art heavy laden, I know thou hast need of me + And the feet of thy loving Master are weary with seeking thee." + + Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me? + When my untrimmed lamp is dying and my heart is not meet for Thee; + For Thou art so great and holy, and mine is so poor a home, + And I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, that Thou shouldst come. + + "Child," said the tender Shepherd--and His voice was very sweet-- + "I only ask for a welcome, and rest for my weary feet." + Then over my lonely threshold, though weak and defiled by sin, + Though I am not worthy, O Master, I pray Thee enter in. + + --_Helen Marion Burnsides_ + + +=_Christ the Restorer_= + +Do I not speak to a soul who once has known Christ as the Good Shepherd, +but has now wandered away from the fold? + + Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, + But yet in love He sought me, + And on His shoulders gently laid, + He home rejoicing brought me. + + --_Sir Henry W. Baker_ + +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 _until he find it_? 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 +LORD+ is my +Shepherd, I shall not be _missing_." "O love that will not let me go." + +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. + + There were ninety and nine that safely lay + In the shelter of the fold, + But one was out on the hills away, + Far off from the gates of gold-- + Away on the mountains wild and bare, + Away from the tender Shepherd's care. + + Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine; + Are they not enough for Thee? + But the Shepherd made answer, "This of mine + Has wandered away from me, + And although the road be rough and steep, + I go to the desert to find my sheep." + + But none of the ransomed ever knew + How deep were the waters crossed, + Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through + Ere He found His sheep that was lost. + Out in the desert He heard its cry-- + Sick and helpless, and ready to die. + + Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way + That mark out the mountain's track? + They were shed for one who had gone astray + Ere the Shepherd could bring him back. + Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn? + They are pierced tonight by many a thorn. + + But all through the mountains, thunder-riven, + And up from the rocky steep, + There arose a glad cry to the gates of heaven, + Rejoice! I have found my sheep! + And the angels echoed around the throne, + Rejoice, for the +LORD+ brings back His own! + + --_Elizabeth C. Clephane_ + + +"=_The Paths of Righteousness_=" + +"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." + +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." + +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 made clear to us, and we will +gladly go with Him all the way. + + I said, "Let me walk in the fields," + He said, "No, walk in the town," + I said, "There are no flowers there," + He said, "No flowers, but a crown." + + I said, "But the skies are black; + There is nothing but noise and din," + But He wept as He sent me back-- + "There is more," He said, "there is sin." + + I said, "But the air is thick, + And fogs are veiling the sun," + He answered, "Yet souls are sick, + And souls in the dark, undone." + + I said, "I shall miss the light, + And friends will miss me, they say." + He answered: "Choose tonight + If I am to miss you or they." + + I pleaded for time to be given. + He said, "It is hard to decide? + It will not seem hard in heaven, + To have followed the steps of your guide." + + I cast one look at the fields, + Then set my face to the town. + He said, "My child, do you yield? + Will you leave the flowers for the crown?" + + Then into His hand went mine, + And into my heart came He; + And I walk in a light divine, + The paths I had feared to see. + + --_George MacDonald_ + + +"=_His Name's Sake_=" + +All this He does for His name's sake. How beautiful those words are, +"_for His name's sake_." 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. + +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." + +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. _For His name's sake_, 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?" + +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 +LORD+ is my Shepherd, I shall not be missing." + + Christ Jesus hath the power, + The power to renew, + The power to cleanse your heart from sin, + And make you wholly true. + Christ Jesus hath the power + For evermore to keep; + Oh, none can pluck you from His hand, + Or rob Him of His sheep! + + --_Dr. James M. Gray_ + + +=_God as a Guide_= + +What a wonderful truth is asserted in this verse--"_He_ leadeth _me_." +Meditate just a moment on these words--"_He_," 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--"_He_ leadeth me"--_me_, 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 "_me_," +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 _leads_, not +drives, His sheep. "He goeth _before_ 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. + + He leadeth me! Oh! blessed thought, + Oh, words with heav'nly comfort fraught! + Whate'er I do, where'er I be, + Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me. + + Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom, + Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom, + By waters calm, o'er troubled sea-- + Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me. + + Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine, + Nor ever murmur nor repine; + Content, whatever lot I see, + Since 'tis my God that leadeth me. + + And when my task on earth is done, + When, by Thy grace, the victory's won, + E'en death's cold wave I will not flee, + Since God through Jordan leadeth me. + + He leadeth me! He leadeth me! + By His own hand He leadeth me; + His faithful follower I would be, + For by His hand He leadeth me. + + --_Joseph H. Gilmore_ + + +=_Knowing God's Will_= + +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 _character_ 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 _general_ will of God +regarding our _character_ may be. + +There is another will of God, however, which affects not our character +but our _career_. This _particular_ will of God is not as easy to +discern 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. + + +=_Three Things About Guidance_= + +Three things may be said to indicate clearly the _particular_ will of +God which concerns my _career_. + +The first comes from a constant and prayerful reading of the _Word of +God_, 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 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 _this_ time. To _him_ at _that particular +time_ 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 _you_ +at _that time_. + +The second element in discerning the will of God is what may be called +_the inward impression_, 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 constant, 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. + +The third feature in discerning the will of God is what may be called +_the favorable circumstance_, or _the open door_. 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. + + So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still + Will lead me on + O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till + The night is gone; + And with the morn those angel faces smile + Which I have loved long since and lost awhile. + + --_John H. Newman_ + +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 things in the +call of Peter to admit Cornelius into the Church (Acts 10 and 11). +First, Peter had the _Word of God_--nothing should be regarded common or +unclean; second, he had _the inward impression_--he was meditating on +what the vision he had seen should mean; and third, there was _the open +door_--three men were already waiting for him to convey him to Caesarea. + +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. + + Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, + Pilgrim through this barren land; + I am weak, but Thou art mighty, + Hold me with Thy powerful hand; + Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. + + Open now the crystal fountain + Whence the healing stream doth flow; + Let the fiery, cloudy pillar + Lead me all my journey through; + Strong Deliverer, be Thou still my Strength and Shield. + + When I tread the verge of Jordan, + Bid my anxious fears subside, + Death of deaths and hell's destruction, + Land me safe on Canaan's side: + Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee. + + --_William Williams_ + + + + +CHAPTER FOUR + +[Illustration] + +="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."= + + +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 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 +LORD+ be with thee" +(I Samuel 17:34-37). + + +=_The Valley of the Shadow_= + +"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. + + In pastures green? Not always; sometimes He + Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me + In weary ways, where heavy shadows be. + + And by still waters? No not always so, + Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow, + And o'er my soul the waves and billows go. + + But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry + Aloud for help, the Master standeth by, + And whispers to my soul, "Lo, it is I!" + + Above the tempest wild I hear Him say, + "Beyond the darkness lies the perfect day, + In every path of thine I lead the way." + + --_Henry H. Barry_ + +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! + +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. + + +=_The Fear of Death_= + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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?" + +"Yes, son." + +"Mamma." + +"Yes." + +"Is your face turned towards me?" + +"Yes." + +"Mamma, will you hold my hand? It's dark, isn't it, Mamma? Good night, +Mamma." + +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. + +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. + + +=_The Valley Is Certain and Narrow_= + +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. + + There is no flock, however watched and tended, + But one dead lamb is there! + There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended, + But has one vacant chair! + + --_Henry W. Longfellow_ + +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. + +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?" + +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." + +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?" + +With heart breaking, the father had to say, "Child, I cannot, I cannot +go with you." + +The girl turned to her mother and said, "Mamma, then you will, won't +you?" + +But the mother, in turn, amid her tears, replied, "Child, I would, but I +cannot. Only Jesus can go with you." + + +=_The Personal Pronouns Change_= + +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"--"_He_ leadeth me." "_He_ +maketh me." "He restoreth;" _he, he, he_. 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 _thou_, +(_thou_--not _he_, is with me, but _thou_) 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, he goes through the valley +of the shadow all alone. Surely, without Christ with him man will +stumble and fall in this valley. + +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. + + Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour, + How lonely life must be! + Like a sailor lost and driven + On a wide and shoreless sea. + + Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour, + No hand to clasp thine own! + Through the dark, dark vale of shadows + Thou must press thy way alone. + + --_W. O. Cushing_ + +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: + + Sunset and evening star, + And one clear call for me! + And, may there be no moaning of the bar, + When I put out to sea. + + * * * * * + + Twilight and evening bell, + And after that the dark! + And, may there be no sadness of farewell, + When I embark; + + For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place + The flood may bear me far, + I hope to see my Pilot face to face + When I have crossed the bar. + + --_Alfred Tennyson_ + +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 +LORD+ thy God." + +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 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." + + Why be afraid of Death as though your life were breath! + Death but anoints your eyes with clay. Oh glad surprise! + + Why should you be forlorn? Death only husks the corn. + Why should you fear to meet the thresher of the wheat? + + Is sleep a thing to dread? Yet sleeping, you are dead + Till you awake and rise, here, or beyond the skies. + + Why should it be a wrench, to leave your wooden bench? + Why not with happy shout run home when school is out? + + The dear ones left behind? O foolish one and blind. + A day--and you will meet--a night--and you will greet! + + This is the death of Death, to breathe away a breath, + And know the end of strife and taste the deathless life. + + And joy without a fear and smile without a tear, + And work, nor care, nor rest, and find the last the best. + + --_Maltbie D. Babcock_ + + +"=_Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me_=" + +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. + + I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; + Ills have no weight and tears on bitterness. + Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? + I triumph still, if Thou abide with me. + + --_Henry F. Lyte_ + +Christ hath _abolished_ 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 _kata_ 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 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. + +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." + +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 fight when attacked. A sheep stands helpless in the presence +of its opponent. Christ, the Good Shepherd, will protect to the last. + +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. + +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. + +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! + + Abide with me! fast falls the eventide; + The darkness deepens--Lord, with me abide! + When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, + Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me! + + Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; + Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; + Change and decay in all around I see; + O Thou who changest not, abide with me! + + I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless; + Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. + Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory? + I triumph still, if Thou abide with me! + + Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; + Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies; + Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee; + In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me! + + --_Henry F. Lyte_ + + + + +CHAPTER FIVE + +[Illustration] + +="Thou preparest a table before me in the +presence of mine enemies; thou +anointest my head with oil; +my cup runneth over."= + + +There is a variety of senses in which the truth of this verse may be +understood. + +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! + +One day Charles Wesley stood looking out of a partly open window at the +fierce storm howling without, when a young robin, quickly 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: + + Jesus, Lover of my soul, + Let me to Thy bosom fly! + +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." + +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." + +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? + +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?... He that sitteth in the heavens +shall laugh"--and so shall we. + + On the Rock of Ages founded, + Who can shake thy sure repose? + With salvation's walls surrounded, + Thou mayes't smile at all thy foes. + + --_Rev. John Newton_ + + +"=_Thou Anointest My Head with Oil: My Cup Runneth Over_=" + +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. + +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. + + Thou, O Christ, art all I want; + More than all in Thee I find! + + --_Charles Wesley_ + +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. + +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. + + There are hermit souls that live withdrawn + In the peace of their self-content; + There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart + In a fellowless firmament. + There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths + Where highways never ran-- + But let me live by the side of the road + And be a friend to man. + + Let me live in my house by the side of the road + Where the race of men go by-- + The men who are good and the men who are bad, + As good and as bad as I, + I would not sit in the scorner's seat, + Or hurl the cynic's ban-- + Let me live in the house by the side of the road + And be a friend to man. + + I see from my house by the side of the road, + By the side of the highway of life, + The men who press with the ardor of hope, + The men who are faint with the strife; + But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears-- + Both parts of an infinite plan-- + Let me live in a house by the side of the road + And be a friend to man. + + --_Sam Walter Foss_ + + + + +CHAPTER SIX + +[Illustration] + +="Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me +all the days of my life; and I will dwell +in the house of the +LORD+ for ever."= + + +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: + + Goodness and mercy all my life + Shall surely follow me, + And in God's house for evermore + My dwelling place shall be. + + --_William Whittingham_ + +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 +LORD+" is doubtless here contrasted with the tent of +the shepherd, just as the words "dwell for ever" are contrasted with +the fact that the fugitive was allowed to stay in the shepherd's tent +only a limited time. + +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. + +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 ++LORD+ is my shepherd" are able to say "I will dwell in the house of the ++LORD+ for ever." + +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 +LORD+ 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 +LORD+ 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 had +omitted, as it is written in the Scotch hymn book: + + Goodness and mercy all my life + Shall surely follow me; + And in God's house for evermore + My dwelling place shall be. + + --_William Whittingham_ + +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 ++LORD+ for ever"? + +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?-- + + "My mind is beyond the river that hath no bridge." + +Is yours? You--man, woman, with all your senses, of strong and sound +mind, can you give expression to an exclamation of faith like that? + +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! + +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." + + Is the way so dark, O wanderer, + Is the hillcrest wild and steep, + Far, so far, the vale beyond thee, + Where the homelights vigil keep? + Still the goal lies far before thee, + Soon will fall on thee the night; + Breast the path that takes thee onward, + Fight the storm with all thy might. + + Tho' thy heart be faint and weary, + Tho' thy footsteps fain would cease, + Journey onward--past the hillcrest + Lie for thee the Plains of Peace! + + Is thy path so rough, O pilgrim, + Passing on thy way through life; + Deep the sorrows that beset thee, + Great the burden, wild the strife? + Tho' the hill of life be weary, + Tho' the goal of rest be far, + Set thy whole heart to endeavor, + Turn thy soul to yon bright star. + + From the toiling, from the striving + There at last shall come release; + One shall bring thee past the hillcrest, + Home unto his Plains of Peace; + One shall bring thee past the hillcrest, + Home, Home, Home unto His Plains of Peace! + + --_Clifton Bingham_ + + + + + +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.txt or 33349.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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