{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_33349/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_33349","id":"gutenberg_33349","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33349","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Psalms, XXIII -- Meditations","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Rose Mawhorter and the\nOnline Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n  Transcriber's Notes:\n\n  The word 'Lord' in small-caps has been rendered as +LORD+ to\n  differentiate it from the word 'LORD' in regular all-caps.\n\n  Obvious missing punctuation was added.\n\n  p 83. hill-crest was changed to hillcrest\n\n\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\n\n\n  The Shepherd Psalm\n\n  A Meditation\n\n  By WILLIAM EVANS, Ph.D., D.D.\n  Bible Teacher and Author of\n\n  \"The Book of Books,\" \"How to Memorize,\" \"Outline Study of\n  the Bible,\" \"How to Prepare Sermons and Gospel Addresses,\"\n  \"The Book-Method of Bible Study,\"\n  \"Epochs in the Life of Christ,\" \"Through\n  the Bible, Book by Book,\" etc.\n\n  CHICAGO\n  THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE ASS'N\n  826 North La Salle Street\n\n\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY\n  THE BIBLE INSTITUTE COLPORTAGE\n  ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO\n\n\n  Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n  CONTENTS\n\n  FOREWORD                                        5\n\n  INTRODUCTION                                    7\n\n  CHAPTER ONE: \"The +LORD+ is my shepherd;\n    I shall not want\"                            17\n\n  CHAPTER TWO: \"He maketh me to lie\n    down in green pastures; He leadeth me\n    beside still waters\"                         26\n\n  CHAPTER THREE: \"He restoreth my soul;\n    He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness\n    for His name's sake\"                         36\n\n  CHAPTER FOUR: \"Yea, though I walk\n    through the valley of the shadow of\n    death, I will fear no evil; for thou art\n    with me; thy rod and thy staff they\n    comfort me\"                                  58\n\n  CHAPTER FIVE: \"Thou preparest a table\n    before me in the presence of mine enemies;\n    thou anointest my head with oil;\n    my cup runneth over\"                         73\n\n  CHAPTER SIX: \"Surely goodness and\n    mercy shall follow me all the days of\n    my life; and I will dwell in the house\n    of the +LORD+ forever\"                       79\n\n\n[The illustration on the cover is from an actual photograph by\nthe Author, when he was in Palestine.]\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nTHIS production of the Shepherd Psalm is sent forth at the request of\nmany hundreds of kind persons who have listened to the writer preach on\nit and who desire to see it in print, that it may be a blessing to many\nwho cannot hear it.\n\nIt is a well known Psalm. Untold numbers of sermons have been preached\non it. Books without number have been printed in attempts to set forth\nits life, depth, richness, and beauty. Doubtless much more will be\nwritten and spoken concerning this charming pastoral symphony--and,\nafter that, much more will remain yet to be said, so full is the\ninspiration of the divine Word. May God make this Psalm to the reader\nall that it has been--yea, and more,--to the writer!\n\nWILLIAM EVANS.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nThe Twenty-third Psalm\n\n\nThe world could afford to spare many a magnificent library better than\nit could dispense with this little Psalm of six verses. If the verses of\nthis Psalm had tongues and could repeat the tale of their ministry down\nthroughout the generations of the faithful, what marvels of experience\nthey would reveal! Their biographies would be gathered from the four\nwinds of heaven and from the uttermost parts of the sea; from lonely\nchambers, from suffering sick beds, from the banks of the valley of the\nshadow of death, from scaffolds and fiery piles; witnessing in sunlight\nfrom moors and mountains, beneath the stars and in high places of the\nfield. What hosts of armies of aliens it has put to flight! If by some\nmagic or divine touch, yea, some miraculous power, the saints'\nexperience of this Psalm could shine out between its lines, what an\nillumination of the text there would be!\n\nLuther was fond of comparing this Psalm to the nightingale, which is\nsmall among the birds and of homely plumage, but with what thrilling\nmelody it pours out its beautiful notes! Into how many dungeons filled\nwith gloom and doubt has this little Psalm sung its message of hope and\nfaith! Into how many hearts, bruised and broken by grief, has it brought\nits hymn of comfort and healing How many darkened prison cells it has\nlightened and cheered! Into what thousands of sick rooms has it brought\nits ministry of comfort and support! How many a time, in the hour of\npain, has it brought sustaining faith and sung its song of eternal bliss\nin the valley of the shadow of death! It has charmed more griefs to rest\nthan all the philosophies of the world. And I am persuaded that this\nlittle Psalm-bird will continue to sing its song of comfort and cheer to\nyour children, to my children, and to our children's children, and will\nnot cease its psalmody of love until the last weary pilgrim has placed\nhis last climbing footstep upon the threshold of the Father's house to\ngo out no more. Then, I think, this little bird will fold its golden\npinions and fall back on the bosom of God, from whence it came.\n\nIt has been well said that this Psalm is the most perfect picture of\nhappiness that ever was or ever can be drawn to represent that state of\nmind for which all alike sigh, and the want of which makes life a\nfailure to most. It represents that heaven which is everywhere, if we\ncould but interpret it, and yet almost nowhere because not many of us\ndo.\n\n\n=_Unusual Application_=\n\nHow familiar this Psalm is the world over! Go where you will; inquire in\nevery nation, tongue and tribe under heaven where the Bible is known,\nyou will find this Psalm among the first scriptures learned and lisped\nby the little child at its mother's knee, and the last bit of inspired\nwrit uttered in dying breath by the saintly patriarch.\n\nThis Psalm is so universal, says one, because it is so individual; it is\nso individual because it is so universal. As we read it, we are aware\nnot only of the fact that we are listening to the experience of an Old\nTestament saint, but also that a voice comes speaking to us through the\nlong centuries past--speaking to us in our own language, recounting our\nown experience, breathing out our own hopes.\n\nThe Davidic authorship of this Psalm has been questioned. We believe\nfirmly that David is the writer; and yet a man feels as he reads the\nPsalm that it is so personal, so true to his own individual experience,\nthat he could fain claim to have written it himself. It might seem as\nthough the promises and precious things set forth in this Psalm lie\nbeyond our reach; we have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep,\nbut \"one of like passions with ourselves has passed that way before and\nhas left a cup to be let down, with His name and story written on the\nrim, and we may let that cup down into the well and draw a draught of\nthe deep, refreshing water.\"\n\n\n=_The Location of the Psalm_=\n\nHave you ever noticed just where this Psalm is located? It lies between\nthe Twenty-second and the Twenty-fourth Psalms. A very simple statement\nthat--but how deep and wondrous a lesson lies hidden therein!\n\nThe Twenty-second Psalm. What is it? It is \"The Psalm of the Cross.\" It\nbegins with the words uttered by Christ on the cross: \"My God, my God,\nwhy hast thou forsaken me?\" It ends with the exclamation of the cross:\n\"He hath done it,\" or, as it may be translated, \"It is finished.\" The\nTwenty-second Psalm, then, is the Psalm of Mount Calvary--The Psalm of\nthe Cross.\n\nWhat is the Twenty-fourth Psalm? It is the Psalm of Mount Zion--a\npicture of the King entering into His own. How beautifully it reads:\n\"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting\ndoors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?\nThe LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.\" The Twenty-fourth Psalm,\nthen, is the Psalm of the coming Kingdom of Glory.\n\nThere you have the two mountains; Mount Calvary and Mount Zion. What is\nit that lies between two mountains? A valley with its green grass, its\nquiet waters, its springing flowers, with shepherd and grazing sheep.\nHere, then, is the lesson we learn from the _location_ of the Psalm: it\nis given to comfort, help, inspire and encourage God's people during\nthis probationary period of our life, between the Cross and the Crown.\n\nIs not this the reason why the tenses of this Psalm are _present_\ntenses? \"The +LORD+ _is_ my shepherd\"; \"He _maketh_ me to lie down\"; \"He\n_leadeth_ me.\" Even the last verse, \"_I will_ (not I shall) dwell in the\nhouse of the Lord for ever,\" describes the _present_ attitude of the\nsoul of the Psalmist, who determines by no means to miss participation\nin the fellowship of the saints in heaven.\n\nWe love _the Christ of the Cross_. We may not yet fully understand that\ncross; may not yet have found any particular theory of the atonement\nwhich completely satisfies our intellect. But we have learned to say\nthat we believe in the atonement and in the vicarious death of our\nRedeemer. Somehow or other we have come, by faith, to throw our\ntrembling arms around that bleeding body and cry out in the desperate\ndetermination of our sin-stricken souls to Him who hangs on that cross\nto save us by His death. We have come to express our faith in that\ndivine sacrifice in the words of the hymn:\n\n    Other refuge have I none,\n    Hangs my helpless soul on Thee.\n\nLet us never forget that we reach the Twenty-third Psalm by the way of\nthe Twenty-second Psalm--the Psalm of the Cross. \"The way of the cross\nleads home.\" We love the Christ of the Twenty-second Psalm, the Christ\nof Calvary, the Christ of the Cross.\n\nWe also love _the Christ of the Throne and the Glory_. It may be, that,\nat times, we have trembled and feared as we have thought of the coming\njudgment, but when we have remembered that He who sits upon the throne\nis our Elder Brother, bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh; that He\nleft His throne in the glory and took on Him the form of a servant,\ndying the ignominious death of the cross that He might redeem us and\nsave us from the just wrath of God against sin; that some day, He who\nloved us and gave Himself for us, will say: \"Come, ye blessed of my\nFather, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the\nworld,\" then we take courage and look forward with joy to the time when,\nhaving washed the last sleep from our eyes in the river of Life, we\nshall gaze with undimmed vision upon Him, whom having not seen, we have\nyet loved.\n\nWe love the Christ of the cross, the Christ of the past, the Christ of\nMount Calvary. We love the Christ of the future, the Christ of the\nthrone, the Christ of Mount Zion. But more precious to us, and we say it\nreverently, than the Christ of the past, or the Christ of the future, is\nthe Christ of the present, He who lives with us now, dwells within us,\nwalks by our side every moment and every hour of the day. We used to\nsing in our childhood days that beautiful hymn,\n\n    I think, when I read that sweet story of old,\n    When Jesus was here among men,\n    How He called little children as lambs to His fold,\n    I should like to have been with Him then.\n\n    I wish that His hands had been placed on my head,\n    That His arms had been thrown around me;\n    And that I might have seen His kind look when he said,\n    \"Let the little ones come unto me.\"\n\n                                      --_Mrs. Jemima Luke_\n\nMany of us feel that we would have given anything to have walked by the\nside of the Christ in the days of His earthly pilgrimage, and we almost\nenvy those who saw His face in the flesh. Some of us know the thrill of\njoy that came to our hearts when we trod the sands of Galilee that once\nwere fresh with His footprints, trod the Temple's marble pavements that\nonce echoed with His tread, and sailed the blue waters of Galilee that\nonce were stilled by His wonderful word.\n\nAnd yet, we should not forget that the enjoyment of the real presence of\nChrist is just as truly ours today as it was the possession of the\ndisciples in the days of His flesh. As the old hymn so beautifully says,\n\n    We may not climb the heavenly steeps\n      To bring the Lord Christ down;\n    In vain we search the lowest deeps,\n      For Him no depths can drown.\n\n    But warm, sweet, tender, even yet\n      A present help is He;\n    And faith has still its Olivet,\n      And love its Galilee.\n\n    The healing of His seamless dress\n      Is by our beds of pain;\n    We touch Him in life's throng and press,\n      And we are whole again.\n\n                        --_John G. Whittier_\n\nThe name given to our Lord in connection with His birth was Immanuel,\nwhich being interpreted is, \"God with us.\" One of the most beautiful\ndoctrines of the Christian faith is the divine immanence, the continued\npresence of the ever-living Christ with His people; for\n\n    For God is never so far off as even to be near, He is within.\n\n                                                  --_F. W. Faber_\n\n    Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands or feet.\n\n                                            --_Alfred Tennyson_\n\n    I know not where His islands lift\n      Their fronded palms in air;\n    I only know I cannot drift\n      Beyond His love and care.\n\n                 --_John G. Whittier_\n\n\n\n\nTHE SHEPHERD PSALM\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCHAPTER ONE\n\n\"=The +LORD+ is my shepherd; I shall not want.=\"\n\n\n\"The +LORD+ is my shepherd.\" Have you ever noted how the word \"Lord\" is\nprinted in the Bible? Sometimes all the letters are large capitals\n(LORD); or the first letter is a large capital and the other letters\nsmaller capitals (+LORD+); then, again, the first letter is a large\ncapital and the remaining letters ordinary (Lord). Each method of\nspelling the divine name indicates a different phase of the character of\nGod. \"LORD\" refers to Jehovah as the covenant-keeping God, the One who\nnever fails to fulfill all His promises. \"+LORD+\" points to our Lord\nJesus Christ as the second Person in the Trinity, He who became\nincarnate. \"Lord\" signifies also God in Christ, the Jehovah of the Old\nTestament, God of power, the One who is able to do all things and with\nwhom nothing is impossible, manifesting Himself in Jesus Christ.\n\nWhat a world of meaning, then, lies wrapped up in the word \"+LORD+\" in\nthe first verse of this Psalm! Jehovah who is all-faithful, never\nfailing in His promises, almighty, all-powerful, who is able to supply\nall of our needs, who created the heavens and the earth, who upholds all\nthings by the word of His power, who spake and it was done, who\ncommanded and it stood fast; the +LORD+ of whom Job said: \"I know that\nthou canst do anything, and no purpose of thine can be hindered\"; the\n\"+LORD+\" who never fails in the keeping of His promises, however\nseemingly impossible of fulfillment, from a natural viewpoint, those\npromises may be; the \"+LORD+\" of whom it is said, \"God is not a man that\nhe should lie, nor the Son of man that he should repent.\" \"Hath he said\nand shall He not do it; hath He promised and shall he not bring it to\npass?\" the \"Lord,\" the incarnate One, who for our sakes took on Himself\nour nature with all its sinless infirmities, who was tempted in all\npoints like as we are, yet without sin, and who is thus able to feel our\nneeds and sympathize with us in all our trials and temptations; the\n\"+LORD+\" who, speaking to the multitudes, said, \"I am the good shepherd;\nthe good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep\"--such a Shepherd,\nfaithful, powerful, sympathetic, is our \"+LORD+.\" What a wealth of\nmeaning, then, lies in the first clause, \"The +LORD+\" (who is LORD, and\nLord) such a \"+LORD+\" is \"my Shepherd.\"\n\nWe can then well say, \"I shall not want.\" With such a Shepherd, how\ncould we want for anything for time or eternity? All that we need for\nbody, mind and soul shall be supplied. The God who provided the table in\nthe wilderness, who fed Elijah by the brook, who struck the rock in the\nwilderness that the thirst of His people might be quenched, will provide\nfor His children according to His riches in glory.\n\nReviewing Israel's history in the wilderness it could be recorded,\n\"These forty years Jehovah, thy God, hath been with thee; thou hast\nlacked nothing.\" How wonderfully God supplied the needs of His people\nwhen they were traveling through that long, weary wilderness! \"For the\n+LORD+ thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand; he\nknoweth thy walking through this great wilderness; these forty years the\n+LORD+ thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing\"\n(Deuteronomy 2:7). \"Thou gavest also thy good Spirit to instruct them,\nand withheldest not thy manna from their mouth, and gavest them water\nfor their thirst. Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the\nwilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old,\nand their feet swelled not\" (Nehemiah 9:20, 21).\n\nLet us, then, as the children of God, take all the comfort possible out\nof these words. Let us not go about mourning, grumbling, and borrowing\ntrouble, thereby proclaiming to the world that our great Banker is on\nthe verge of bankruptcy. The \"+LORD+\" is our shepherd; we shall not want\nfor nourishment (verse 1), refreshment (verse 2), rest (verse 3),\nprotection (verse 4), guidance (verse 5), home (verse 6). Here is a Bank\nthe child of God can draw on at any time without fear of its being\nbroken. Millions have been supplied and there's room for millions more.\nNo want shall turn me back from following the Shepherd.\n\nHow encouraging to recall the words of Jesus uttered to the disciples\nwhen they had returned from their itinerary of missionary activity:\n\"When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any\nthing? And they said, Nothing\" (Luke 22:35).\n\n    The Lord my Shepherd is,\n      I shall be well supplied,\n    Since He is mine and I am His,\n      What can I want beside?\n\n                   --_Isaac Watts_\n\nWhen the writer was a lad he secured a position for which he was\npromised so much a week in money and \"everything found,\" by which was\nmeant board, room, and clothing. So this verse may read, \"The +LORD+ is\nmy Shepherd,\" and \"everything found.\"\n\nIn a park one day two women were overheard talking. One of them, who by\nher appearance showed that she was in very straitened circumstances,\nsaid to the other, \"I am at my wit's end; I know not what to do. My\nhusband has been sick and unable to work for almost a year. What little\nmoney we had saved is all spent. We have not a penny with which to buy\nfood or clothing for ourselves or the children. This morning we received\nnotice from the landlord to vacate.\" And then, in words that were full\nof suggestive meaning, she added, \"If John D. Rockefeller were my\nfather, I would not want, would I?\"\n\nOh, what a world of comfort lies in the thought, \"The +LORD+ is my\nShepherd,\" and, therefore, \"I shall not want\"! I shall want for nothing\nin time or eternity. Every need of body, mind, and soul shall be\nsupplied. In the great Shepherd lies strength for my weakness, hope for\nmy despair, food for my hunger, satisfaction for my need, wisdom for my\nignorance, healing for my wounds, power for my temptation--the\ncomplement of all my lack.\n\n    Thou, O Christ, art all I want;\n    More than all in thee I find.\n\n                 --_Charles Wesley_\n\n\n=_Religion Is a Personal Thing_=\n\n\"The +LORD+ is my shepherd.\" _My_ Shepherd. Religion is a _personal_\nthing. Really speaking, your religion consists in your personal\nrelationship to God in Jesus Christ. Not mere profession, but actual\npossession is what counts. Christianity emphasizes the worth of the\nindividual and his personal relation to God. Sin degrades men into mere\nnumbers.\n\nA photograph was placed on my desk. It had inscribed on it a number, but\nno name. It was the likeness of a convict. It was a number I went to\njail to see; a number I spoke with by the cell door; a number I stood by\nand saw handcuffed; a number with whom I walked down the steps of the\njail; a number with whom I walked up the stairs to the scaffold; a\nnumber around whose neck I saw the rope placed; a number I saw drop to\nhis death. Sin degrades personality, but the religion of Christ exalts\nits adherents to a place in that innumerable company which cannot be\nnumbered, but every one of whom bears upon his forehead the name of his\nRedeemer and King. Jesus calleth HIS sheep by name, not by number.\n\nAt the close of a sermon in a church in the Highlands of Scotland the\npreacher, who was supplying the pulpit for a few Sundays, was asked to\ncall upon a shepherd boy who was very sick. Arm in arm with one of the\nelders of the church the minister crossed the moor, climbed the\nhillside, and came to the cottage where the boy and his widowed mother\nlived. After knocking at the door the visitors were admitted by the\nmother. Her face showed the marks of long vigil. The boy was her only\nchild. The minister and elder went into the room where the sick boy lay\non his cot. The minister, looking upon the pale, haggard face of the\nsick shepherd boy, asked him tenderly, \"Laddie, do you know the\nTwenty-third Psalm?\"\n\nEvery Scotch boy knows the Twenty-third Psalm, and so the little fellow\nreplied, \"Yes, sir, I ken (know) the Psalm well.\"\n\n\"Will you repeat it to me?\" said the minister to the boy.\n\nSlowly and tenderly the lad quoted the words, \"The +LORD+ is my\nshepherd, I shall not want,\" unto the end of the Psalm.\n\n\"Do you see,\" said the minister to the boy, \"that in the first clause of\nthe first verse there is just one word for each finger. Hold up your\nhand, laddie; take the second finger of your right hand, put it on the\nfourth finger of your left, hold it over your heart and say with me,\n'The +LORD+ is _my_ Shepherd.'\"\n\nThe fourth finger of the left hand! Why that finger? Every woman knows.\nIt is the ring finger. Who placed that ring on your finger? My friend,\nmy lover, my husband; the man who is more to me and different to me\nthan any other and all other men in this world; the man without whom\nlife would not be worth living; _my_ friend, _my_ lover, _my_ husband.\n\nThe following Sunday the elder and the minister again crossed the moor\nand came to the cottage on the hillside. As the mother opened the door\nto admit them they saw by the expression on her face that a deeper\nsorrow had fallen on her heart since they last saw her. She took them,\nsilently and solemnly, into a little room, and there, covered with a\nsnow-white sheet, lay the lifeless form of the shepherd laddie, her only\nchild. As the minister took the white sheet and passed it from forehead\nto chin, from chin to breast, and from breast to waist, he saw, frozen\nstiff in death, the second finger of the right hand on the fourth of the\nleft hand, which was fastened in death over his heart. The mother\nexclaimed amid her tears, \"He died saying, 'The +LORD+ is _my_\nShepherd.'\"\n\nWhat a world of difference that little word _my_ makes, does it not? As\na pastor I have often stood by the open grave that was to receive the\nbody of someone's beloved daughter, the light and joy of some heart. I\nsought to be deeply sympathetic with those who were suffering\nbereavement. I tried to mourn with those who mourned, and weep with\nthose who wept, and I think I did, so far as it is possible for a\nfriend to sympathize. But one day I stood by an open grave when _my_\ndaughter, _my_ child, _my own_ darling girl, _my_ Dorothy, was placed\nbeneath the sod. Ah! then I knew what grief was. Ah, what a world of\ndifference that little word _my_ makes!\n\nIt will not profit you much, my friend, to be able to say, \"The +LORD+\nis _a_ Shepherd\"; you must be more personal; you must say, \"The +LORD+\nis _my_ Shepherd.\"\n\n    A Shepherd who giveth His life for the sheep,\n    A Shepherd both mighty to save and to keep--\n    Yes, this is the Shepherd, the Shepherd we need,\n    And He is a Shepherd indeed!\n\n    Is He yours? Is He yours?\n    Is this Shepherd, who loves you, _yours_?\n\n                                --_Ada R. Habershon_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER TWO\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=\"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;\nhe leadeth me beside still waters.\"=\n\n\nThey tell us that it is a very difficult and well-nigh impossible\nthing to get a sheep that is hungry to lie down in a pasture, or that\nis thirsty to drink by turbulent waters. A hungry dog will, but not a\nhungry sheep. The sheep described in this verse, then, are such as\nhave been fed and satisfied in richest pastures, and whose thirst have\nbeen slaked in quiet waters. Doubtless the mind of the Psalmist is\ngoing back to such scenes in his own shepherd life when he had led his\nflock into rich, green pastures, sought out for his sheep some quiet\nwatering-place, or had so manipulated the flow of turbulent waters as\nto make them flow smoothly.\n\nThe writer of this Psalm is seeking to illustrate spiritual truths from\nhis own experience as a shepherd among the hills of Judea. He is\nspiritualizing his soliloquy. He thinks of the cry of God's people for\nthe satisfaction of the soul's hunger and thirst; he sees the necessity\nfor such feeding and nourishment if there is to be a walk of obedience\n\"in the paths of righteousness.\"\n\nSpiritualizing this verse, we may say that the \"green pastures\" and\n\"still waters\" refer to the spiritual nourishment which the child of God\nreceives as he waits upon God in the study of His Word and prayer. There\ncan be no spiritual strength sufficient to walk in \"paths of\nrighteousness\" unless time is taken to \"lie down\" in the \"green\npastures\" of the divine Word by \"the still waters\" of prayer. To \"lie\ndown\" is the first lesson the Great Shepherd would teach His sheep. Not\nlie down after you are tired, but before. \"Lie down\" that you may have\nstrength to walk in \"the paths of righteousness.\" One of the hardest\ncommands for the soldier to obey is to wait in the trenches. He would\nsooner \"go over the top.\"\n\nIt is generally recognized as being a very difficult thing to get God's\npeople to thus \"lie down.\" They will do almost anything and everything\nelse but that. They will run, walk, fight, sing, teach, preach, work, in\na word do almost anything and everything except seek seasons of quiet\nand periods of retirement for secret communion with God and quiet soul\nnurture.\n\nMost of our favorite hymns indicate this attitude. They are militant,\nworking, active hymns: \"Work, for the night is coming,\" \"The fight is\non,\" \"Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,\" \"Stand up, stand\nup for Jesus,\" \"Steadily marching on, with His banner waving o'er us,\"\nand many another. Where are such hymns as \"Alone with Jesus, O the hush,\nthe rapture,\" \"In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to\nhide,\" \"Take time to be holy\"? How few of us are willing to go alone\ninto the woods whither the Master went, clean forspent, clean forspent?\n\nWe do not like pauses in our meetings. If there should be a pause we\nseek at once to fill it in with a verse of Scripture, or someone says,\n\"Let us sing a verse of hymn sixty-six,\" and so we fill up the pauses\nwith choruses.\n\nFrom the rush into the hush Jesus calls us. From the turbulent tumult\ninto the quiet secret of His presence. Where there is peace, perfect\npeace, Jesus calls us.\n\n    Jesus calls us, o'er the tumult\n    Of our life's wild restless sea;\n    Day by day His sweet voice soundeth,\n    Saying, \"Christian, follow me!\"\n\n    Jesus calls us--from the worship\n    Of the vain world's golden store;\n    From each idol that would keep us--\n    Saying, \"Christian, love me more!\"\n\n    In our joys and in our sorrows,\n    Days of toil and hours of ease,\n    Still He calls in cares and pleasures--\n    \"Christian, love me more than these!\"\n\n    Jesus calls us! by Thy mercies,\n    Saviour, may we hear Thy call;\n    Give our hearts to Thy obedience,\n    Serve and love Thee best of all.\n\n                     --_Cecil F. Alexander_\n\nLie down we _must_. The text says, \"He _maketh_ me to lie down.\" The\nword \"maketh\" is the Hebrew causative and indicates forcible, compelling\naction. Our Great Shepherd knows that amid the activity, the stress, the\nstrain and the restlessness of our lives it is absolutely necessary for\nus to take periods of quiet and rest, without which it will be\nimpossible for us to continue in the way of righteousness. Have you so\nmuch to do that you do not have time to \"lie down\"? Then the gracious\nShepherd will see to it that you have less to do. He would _make_ you\nlie down. The overworked watchspring snaps. There must be pauses and\nparentheses in all our lives.\n\nWe make much today of _active_ Christianity. We lay emphasis on the\n_activities_ of Church work. Pragmatism is more than quietism to us. We\nmust \"bring things to pass,\" and \"deliver the goods.\" This is all very\nwell in its place, but we fear that the strength of our activities is\nnot very deeply rooted. We shall be able to bear fruit upward and\noutward only as the roots of our spiritual life grow downward and deep.\nThe secret springs of our lives must be well cared for.\n\nOne day we read in the daily newspaper of some leading man in the\ncommunity who had fallen and brought discredit on the cause of Christ.\nThis unfaithful one was described as having been \"an active member of\nthe church.\" Yes, that was the trouble. He was too active; he was not\npassive enough. He had omitted to \"lie down\" and feed in \"green\npastures\" and drink by the \"still waters\" of God's Word and by prayer.\n\nA friend tells us that while in the Orient he visited a Syrian shepherd.\nHe observed that every morning the shepherd carried food to the\nsheepfold. On inquiry he found that he was taking it to a sick sheep.\nThe next morning the friend accompanied the shepherd and saw in the\nsheepfold a sheep with a broken leg. The friend asked the shepherd how\nthe accident happened. Was it struck by a stone? Did it fall into a\nhole? Did a dog bite it? How was the limb injured? The shepherd replied,\n\"No, I broke it myself.\"\n\nIn amazement the friend replied, \"What, you broke it! Why did you do\nthat?\"\n\nThe shepherd then told him how wayward this sheep had been, how it had\nled others astray, and how difficult it had been to come near it. It was\nnecessary that something should be done to preserve the life of this\nparticular member of the flock, and also to prevent it from leading\nother sheep astray. The shepherd therefore broke its leg and reset it.\nThis breakage necessitated the sheep's _lying down_ for a week or more.\nDuring that time it was compelled to take food from the hand of the\nshepherd. Thus had the compulsion of lying down cured the wandering and\nwayward disposition of the sheep.\n\nIt is said that when a sheep will not follow the shepherd he takes up\nthe lamb in his arms--and then the mother follows.\n\nSo it sometimes happens with the children of God. Our Great Shepherd has\nto lay us aside, put us on our backs, perhaps, for a while in order that\nwe may look up into His face and learn needed lessons. A little girl lay\ndying. She looked up into the face of her father, who years before had\nbeen a very active church worker, but on account of business prosperity\nhad drifted away from Christian moorings, and said, \"Papa, if you were\nas good as you used to be, do you think I would have to die?\" God was\n_making_ this man to \"lie down,\" do you see?\n\nA deacon in a Baptist church told me this story. When first married, he\nand his wife observed family prayers every day. This worshipful spirit\ncontinued for some years after their first child was born; then\ngradually the father became so engrossed in business that the family\naltar, Bible reading and prayer were gradually neglected and finally\naltogether dispensed with. One day, on coming home from the office, the\ndeacon found his nine-year-old girl very ill with a fever. For weeks\nthey watched over her, but finally the angel of death took her home. As\nthe deacon told me this story, the tears filling his eyes, he said,\n\"Then I knew that my daughter had been taken for my sake and that God\nwas _making_ me to 'lie down.' From that day until this, which is over a\nquarter of a century, the family altar has been maintained in our home.\"\n\nMother, in that sweetest of all hours to a mother, the last hour of the\nday when the child is being put to sleep, when the last thing its eyes\nrest upon is the face of the mother, does its last vision rest on a\nmother who has taught it to pray, to love Jesus? It would be infinitely\nbetter that the heavenly Father take that little child to be with\nHimself than that it should go out into the world from a godless,\nChristless, prayerless home.\n\nFathers and mothers, are we taking time to \"lie down,\" to be alone with\nGod in prayer and the reading of His Word? Has the family altar in your\nhome been neglected? What are you waiting for? Do you want God to come\nand lay His hand upon some precious one in your family circle to take to\nbe with Himself? Would you then take time to \"lie down\"?\n\nIt is said that when a sheep is wayward and will not cross the brook,\nthe shepherd finds that by taking the little lamb from it and carrying\nit across, the mother sheep will at once follow, rushing over the\nstream. Fathers and mothers, are you waiting for God to do this? Our\nfathers and mothers used to have the family altar. They took time to\nread the Bible and pray with their children. What kind of age will the\nnext be if we neglect these religious privileges? It may be that our\nparents were not the scholars that some of their children are, but I\nthink we may safely say that they were the saints that we never will be\nuntil we \"lie down\" in the green pastures and quiet waters of God's Word\nand prayer as they did.\n\nChristian workers especially need to learn the lesson of \"lying down,\"\nWe are restless; we fume and worry and fret because we are tired and\nhungry. We do not take time to \"lie down.\" Strange, is it not, that we\nwill do almost anything but lie down? We will walk, run, climb, sing,\npreach, teach--do anything but \"lie down.\" Let us not forget that the\nsecret of power lies in being alone with God. Christ _drew_ the\nmultitudes to Him because He _withdrew_ from them at times. The drawing\npreacher is the withdrawing man. Significant are the words of Jesus to\nHis _active_ disciples: \"Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place,\nand rest a while.\"\n\n    Resting in the pastures and beneath the Rock,\n    Resting by the waters where He leads His flock,\n    Resting, while we listen, at His glorious feet,\n    Resting in His very arms! O rest complete!\n\n                        --_Frances Ridley Havergal_\n\nThese seasons of lying down are periods of renewal of strength for duty,\nnot for indolence or mere ecstasy. By thus feeding in the green pastures\nand drinking by the still waters, we are strengthened in order that we\nmay walk in the paths of righteousness. We eat and drink for strength,\nnot for drunkenness. One may lie in a bath so long that his strength is\nexhausted thereby, or he may take a good plunge in the morning which\nwill be a source of exhilaration to him throughout the day. These times\nof \"lying down\" may be likened to the plunge. We must not be mere\nrecluses or visionaries. Our \"lying down\" must fit us for \"walking.\" If\nour private communion with God does not fit us for Christian activity in\nour daily avocation, distrust it. We cannot keep the rapture of\ndevotion if we neglect duty of service. Life must not be all\ncontemplation any more than it must not be all activity. We will not\nneed to speak of these times of lying down, nor advertise that we have\nseasons of quiet communion, of ecstasy and vision; but the result\nthereof will be clearly apparent in our lives as we walk in the path of\nrighteousness, and in the joyful assurance of soul when we are called\nupon to pass through the valley of the shadow.\n\nWould that we knew how much depended, both for ourselves and others, on\nthese seasons of retirement for meditation and prayer! What a blessing\nit would be to us! What a benediction to others!\n\n    Lord, what a change within us one short hour\n    Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make;\n    What heavy burdens from our bosoms take;\n    What parched grounds refresh as with a shower!\n    We kneel, and all around us seem to lower;\n    We rise, and all the distant and the near\n    Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear;\n    We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power!\n\n    Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong--\n    Or others--that we are not always strong;\n    That we are ever overborne with care;\n    That we should ever weak or heartless be,\n    Anxious or troubled, then with us in prayer,\n    And joy and strength and courage are with Thee!\n\n                            --_Richard Chenevix Trench_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER THREE\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=\"He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the\npaths of righteousness for his\nname's sake.\"=\n\n\nDavid, the shepherd Psalmist, is doubtless thinking of the refreshment\nthat comes to the soul from browsing or meditating in the green pastures\nand by the still waters of the Word of God, and of the exhilaration and\ninspiration that comes from being alone with God with an open Bible and\non bended knee. Every true child of God knows the strength and blessing\nthat comes from such fellowship and communion. \"Even the youths shall\nfaint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that\nwait upon the +LORD+ shall renew their strength; they shall mount up\nwith wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall\nwalk, and not faint\" (Isaiah 40:30, 31).\n\nBut the Psalmist is referring more particularly, perhaps, to the\nrestoration of the soul from a spiritual lapse or backsliding,\nresulting from failure to \"lie down.\" We well know from what we have\nread regarding the Oriental shepherd life, that the shepherd must needs\nbe a physician as well as a guide. A sheep is a most defenceless\ncreature. A cat, horse, cow or a dog will defend itself--a sheep cannot.\nSheep have a genius for going wrong. A sheep is said to have less brains\nthan any other animal of its size. If lost, it cannot find its way back\nunaided. A dog, a cat, a horse can, but not a sheep. \"All we, like\nsheep, have gone astray.\" If the Good Shepherd had not gone after us we\nwould not have been in the fold today.\n\nHave you ever looked into a sheep's eyes? They look for all the world\nlike glass eyes. A sheep can see practically nothing beyond ten or\nfifteen yards. It recognizes persons by sound and not by sight. Jesus\nsaid, \"My sheep hear my voice; a stranger will they not follow, for they\nknow not the voice of strangers.\"\n\n\n=_Traps for Falling_=\n\nPalestinian fields were covered with narrow criss-cross paths over which\nthe shepherd would have to lead his flock in seeking new pasture. Some\nof these paths led to a precipice or deep ravine over which a stupid\nsheep might easily fall to its death. From such dangers the shepherd had\nto guard his flock. Some sheep, however, being wayward by nature would\ntake one of these criss-cross paths leading to danger and fall headlong\ninto thickets or down ravines, where they would lie wounded, bleeding\nand dying. What does a stupid sheep know of ravines, precipices or\nhaunts of wild beasts? That hill or valley seems to offer fair prospects\nand good pasture--but death lurks there. The sheep knows not. The\nshepherd would have to seek the lost, wounded sheep, and, finding it,\nbind up its wounds, reset broken limbs and restore its health.\n\nIt is said that if a sheep wandered into a stranger's pasture the finder\ncould cut its throat and keep the carcass, providing the shepherd did\nnot come in time to save the sheep. Many times the shepherd arrived just\nafter the sheep had been mutilated, and by care saved its life and\nrestored it to health again. The sheep was again his own--it was\n\"restored.\"\n\n\n=_The Wandering Sheep_=\n\nDavid is spiritually soliloquizing. He thinks of the tendency of human\nnature to err and stray like a sheep. \"All we like sheep have gone\nastray; we have turned every one to his own way.\" Man, too, has a genius\nfor going wrong. \"There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the\nend thereof are the ways of death.\" No man is clever enough to guide\nhimself through the devious ways of life. He needs God as a guide.\n\nDavid recalls how tenderly God had dealt with him after his backslidings\nand how graciously and completely He had restored him to fellowship.\n\nHow gently Christ deals with the backslider! When John the Baptist\ntemporarily wavered in his conception of the mission of the Christ, and\nsent his disciples to Jesus to ask, \"Art thou he that should come, or\nlook we for another?\" how tenderly Christ dealt with His forerunner! The\ncircumstances in the case might have led us to expect harsh treatment.\nJohn had seen the open heavens and heard the voice of God saying, \"This\nis my beloved Son.\" In a special and miraculous way it had been revealed\nto John that Jesus was the Messiah, \"the Lamb of God, which taketh away\nthe sin of the world!\" The people had looked upon John as a prophet. All\nthat he had said concerning the Christ they had believed, and now from\nthe forerunner of Christ comes this message of doubt repeated to Jesus\nwithin the hearing of the multitudes. But that child of the desert had\nbeen incarcerated for some time in a narrow prison cell. No wonder the\neyes of the caged eagle began to film, and the faith of the stern\nprophet began to waver. Other great men have wavered in their faith\nbefore John. David himself said, even though God had definitely promised\nthat he should succeed Saul as king, \"I shall one day perish by the hand\nof Saul.\" Elijah, after his great triumph over the four hundred prophets\nof Baal, sat down under a juniper tree, and full of fear because of\nJezebel's threat asked disconsolately that he might die. No wonder then\nthat, momentarily, the faith of John the Baptist was in the shadow. You\nand I have failed in faith amid circumstances less trying than those\nwhich surrounded John the Baptist in his dungeon.\n\n\n=_The Gentleness of the Shepherd_=\n\nHow does Jesus answer John? Does He curse the doubter? No. That would\nnot be like Him. He has never been known to do that. Not once, so far as\nwe know, did he ever send a message of censure to a soul in the dungeon\nof darkness, doubt, and despair. We have seen Him blast, with the\nlightning of His eloquence, the false pride of scribe and Pharisee who\nstood before Him in haughtiness and scorn, but we never knew Him to say\na harsh word to a creature that was sore stricken in soul. No, \"He will\nnot break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.\" No, He will\nnot send a curse; He will send a blessing. That will be more like Him.\nHe will say, \"Go tell John again those things that ye do see and hear;\nthe blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed,\nthe dead are raised, the poor are evangelized, and _blessed_ is he that\nshall not be offended in me.\" Not a curse, but a blessing will He send.\n\nHow much like his treatment of us! Do we not remember when we first came\nto Him as our Saviour, how He forgave, freely and gladly, all our sins,\nand sent us on our way rejoicing? Do we not recall how shortly after,\nwhen we had sinned and spotted the clean white sheet of paper He had\ngiven us, that when we brought it back to Him all spotted with sin He\nfreely pardoned, gave us another clean sheet, and, without upbraiding,\nsent us away, saying, \"Thy sins are forgiven; sin no more\"? Yes, we\nrecall it. We believe in the deity of Christ, not because of the\nmetaphysical arguments that have been produced to prove it, no matter\nhow elaborately stated or eloquently discussed; not because our library\nshelves are groaning beneath the weight of evidences of His deity; nor\nbecause theologians are said to have forced Him to that high eminence.\nWe believe Jesus Christ to be God because when we sinned and came asking\npardon He freely forgave, and gave us a clean sheet of acquittal, saying\n\"Thy sins are forgiven; go and sin no more,\" and then when we did sin\nagain and brought back the sheet of paper all blotted over with sin and\nsaid we were sorry and again asked pardon, He freely forgave, and\nwithout chiding sent us on our way rejoicing. That is what makes us\nbelieve in Him as the Son of God and love Him with a love surpassing\nexpression.\n\nPoor wandering soul, have you fallen by the wayside? Have you become a\nwayward sheep? Have you wandered from the fold? Are you tossed about,\nwounded, sick and sore? Do you desire to come back again to the\nShepherd's care? Come now, right now, while the throb of passion is\nstill beating high, while the deed of shame is recent; while the blot of\nsin is still wet; come now, say,\n\n    With all the shame, with all the keen distress,\n    Quick, \"waiting not,\" I flee to Thee again;\n    Close to the wound, beloved Lord, I press,\n    That Thine own precious blood may overflow the stain.\n\n    O precious blood, Lord, let it rest on me!\n    I ask not only pardon from my King,\n    But cleansing from my Priest, I come to Thee,\n    Just as I came at first--a sinful, helpless thing.\n\n    Oh cleanse me now, my Lord, I cannot stay\n    For evening shadows and a silent hour:\n    Now I have sinned, and now with no delay,\n    I claim Thy promise and its total power.\n\n    O Saviour, bid me go and sin no more,\n    And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow\n    Of Thy perpetual fountain, I implore\n    That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know.\n\n                              --_Frances Ridley Havergal_\n\nO wandering sheep, backslidden soul, may the Saviour find you today, put\nHis strong arms around about you, bring you back again into the fold,\nkeep you from wandering, teach you all you need to know, until the\ngloaming, until after having washed the last sleep from your eyes in the\nriver of life, you place your last climbing footstep on the threshold of\nour Father's house to go out no more.\n\n    Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?\n    I am weary and heavy laden, and longing to come to Thee;\n    And out in the distant darkness Thy dear voice sounds so sweet,\n    But I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, to kiss Thy feet.\n\n    \"Child!\" said the gracious Master, \"why turnest thou thus away,\n    When I came through the darkness seeking my sheep that have gone\n      astray?\n    I know thou art heavy laden, I know thou hast need of me\n    And the feet of thy loving Master are weary with seeking thee.\"\n\n    Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?\n    When my untrimmed lamp is dying and my heart is not meet for Thee;\n    For Thou art so great and holy, and mine is so poor a home,\n    And I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, that Thou shouldst come.\n\n    \"Child,\" said the tender Shepherd--and His voice was very sweet--\n    \"I only ask for a welcome, and rest for my weary feet.\"\n    Then over my lonely threshold, though weak and defiled by sin,\n    Though I am not worthy, O Master, I pray Thee enter in.\n\n                                             --_Helen Marion Burnsides_\n\n\n=_Christ the Restorer_=\n\nDo I not speak to a soul who once has known Christ as the Good Shepherd,\nbut has now wandered away from the fold?\n\n    Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,\n    But yet in love He sought me,\n    And on His shoulders gently laid,\n    He home rejoicing brought me.\n\n                 --_Sir Henry W. Baker_\n\nMay I not remind you of the Master's own parable, \"What man of you,\nhaving one hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave ninety\nand nine in the wilderness, and go after that which has gone astray,\nuntil he find it?\" May I impress upon the words _until he find it_? He\nwill not cease the search until He has found the sheep. It has been said\nthat the first verse of this Psalm may be translated, \"The +LORD+ is my\nShepherd, I shall not be _missing_.\" \"O love that will not let me go.\"\n\nThe Shepherd stands at the door of the sheepfold and counts the sheep,\nhis one hundred sheep. He counts to ninety-nine. One is missing. He\ncannot rest until that last one is found. The door of the sheepfold is\nclosed, and out into the darkness and cold and pain of the night the\nshepherd goes until he finds his lost sheep, and on his shoulders he\ncarries it back to the fold, then calls upon his neighbors to rejoice\nwith him. He has found his lost sheep.\n\n    There were ninety and nine that safely lay\n    In the shelter of the fold,\n    But one was out on the hills away,\n    Far off from the gates of gold--\n    Away on the mountains wild and bare,\n    Away from the tender Shepherd's care.\n\n    Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;\n    Are they not enough for Thee?\n    But the Shepherd made answer, \"This of mine\n    Has wandered away from me,\n    And although the road be rough and steep,\n    I go to the desert to find my sheep.\"\n\n    But none of the ransomed ever knew\n    How deep were the waters crossed,\n    Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through\n    Ere He found His sheep that was lost.\n    Out in the desert He heard its cry--\n    Sick and helpless, and ready to die.\n\n    Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way\n    That mark out the mountain's track?\n    They were shed for one who had gone astray\n    Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.\n    Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?\n    They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.\n\n    But all through the mountains, thunder-riven,\n    And up from the rocky steep,\n    There arose a glad cry to the gates of heaven,\n    Rejoice! I have found my sheep!\n    And the angels echoed around the throne,\n    Rejoice, for the +LORD+ brings back His own!\n\n                                  --_Elizabeth C. Clephane_\n\n\n\"=_The Paths of Righteousness_=\"\n\n\"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.\"\n\nThese words are strikingly significant, and show forth the tender aspect\nof God's guidance. Ofttimes, after rain, the heavy wagon wheels would\nleave deep ruts in the road, which in cold weather would become hardened\nand make it difficult for the sheep to walk. Not such roads did the true\nshepherd willingly choose for his sheep. If compelled, however, to take\nsuch roads, he would choose those that had been flattened down by wagon\nwheels until level. He chose those roads that had been worn smooth, that\nthe tender feet of the sheep might not be bruised. \"He leadeth me in\nsmooth roads.\" \"Thou didst sustain them in the wilderness; their feet\nswelled not.\"\n\nHe who follows the divine leading will always be led aright. His feet\nwill travel in \"right roads.\" No man will go wrong who follows Christ.\nHe never leads the soul into questionable places, and no feet guided by\nHim will go into any place where He Himself does not go. \"Where I am,\nthere shall my servant be.\" \"He that followeth me shall not walk in\ndarkness.\" \"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say\nthat we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do\nnot the truth.\" Sometimes the road He chooses may not be after our\nliking, but it will always be for our best interest, welfare and\nusefulness. This fact will eventually be made clear to us, and we will\ngladly go with Him all the way.\n\n    I said, \"Let me walk in the fields,\"\n    He said, \"No, walk in the town,\"\n    I said, \"There are no flowers there,\"\n    He said, \"No flowers, but a crown.\"\n\n    I said, \"But the skies are black;\n    There is nothing but noise and din,\"\n    But He wept as He sent me back--\n    \"There is more,\" He said, \"there is sin.\"\n\n    I said, \"But the air is thick,\n    And fogs are veiling the sun,\"\n    He answered, \"Yet souls are sick,\n    And souls in the dark, undone.\"\n\n    I said, \"I shall miss the light,\n    And friends will miss me, they say.\"\n    He answered: \"Choose tonight\n    If I am to miss you or they.\"\n\n    I pleaded for time to be given.\n    He said, \"It is hard to decide?\n    It will not seem hard in heaven,\n    To have followed the steps of your guide.\"\n\n    I cast one look at the fields,\n    Then set my face to the town.\n    He said, \"My child, do you yield?\n    Will you leave the flowers for the crown?\"\n\n    Then into His hand went mine,\n    And into my heart came He;\n    And I walk in a light divine,\n    The paths I had feared to see.\n\n                          --_George MacDonald_\n\n\n\"=_His Name's Sake_=\"\n\nAll this He does for His name's sake. How beautiful those words are,\n\"_for His name's sake_.\" Christ's own glory is involved in the security\nand care of His children. The physician cares for your child who is sick\nunto death, for your sake, it is true, but for \"his own name's sake\" as\nwell. To lose your child would hurt his reputation and practice. The\nlawyer protects his client for his client's sake, it is true, but also,\nand perhaps more so, for \"his own name's sake.\" To lose the case would\nbe to hurt his standing in the legal profession. The pilot guides the\nship safely into harbor for the passengers' sake, it is true, but more\nparticularly for \"his own name's sake,\" for to lose the ship would be to\nlose his license.\n\nWe remember that Jesus said, \"Father, I will that they also, whom thou\nhast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.\" He\nalso said, \"And of all that thou hast given me, I have lost none.\"\nChrist Himself is the door. His broad figure and bulk fills it. Who\nshall strip Him of His power, or rob Him of His sheep? He is the secret\nof the security of the believer; yea, He is the security itself. We are\nhid in Him. It is rather the perseverance of the Christ than of the\nbeliever. Here, then, is the security of the believer, saved and kept\nfor \"His own name's sake.\"\n\nHow proud we are of someone who is named after us! We have more\nsolicitude and care for the child that carries our name than for other\nchildren. _For His name's sake_, therefore, is an indication of the\nintense, intimate interest and care of the Christ for His people. Do we\nnot recall what Moses said to Jehovah when He said He thought to destroy\nthe people of Israel? Did not Moses plead thus with God, \"If thou dost\ndestroy them, what shall we say to the nations, and what wilt thou do\nfor thine own name's sake?\"\n\nShall it not be that in that great day not one of Christ's sheep will be\nmissing? \"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me;\nand I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither\nshall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me,\nis greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's\nhand.\" \"The +LORD+ is my Shepherd, I shall not be missing.\"\n\n    Christ Jesus hath the power,\n    The power to renew,\n    The power to cleanse your heart from sin,\n    And make you wholly true.\n    Christ Jesus hath the power\n    For evermore to keep;\n    Oh, none can pluck you from His hand,\n    Or rob Him of His sheep!\n\n                        --_Dr. James M. Gray_\n\n\n=_God as a Guide_=\n\nWhat a wonderful truth is asserted in this verse--\"_He_ leadeth _me_.\"\nMeditate just a moment on these words--\"_He_,\" God, the great and mighty\nOne, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, the One who upholdeth all\nthings by the word of His power, the unerring, unchangeable, all-seeing,\nall-knowing, all-powerful One--\"_He_ leadeth me\"--_me_, poor, trembling,\nwayward, straying, sinning, fallible, erring son of Adam, unworthy,\nunfit, not entitled to the least of God's blessings; yet,\nincomprehensible as the truth may seem, God in heaven leads \"_me_,\"\nhere, on earth. He leadeth me on a journey in which it is so easy of\nmyself to go astray from the right path. Further, He _leads_, not\ndrives, His sheep. \"He goeth _before_ His own sheep and leadeth them.\"\nThe Good Shepherd will not ask you to go anywhere where He Himself has\nnot gone. He does not drive His children. He leads them.\n\n    He leadeth me! Oh! blessed thought,\n    Oh, words with heav'nly comfort fraught!\n    Whate'er I do, where'er I be,\n    Still 'tis God's hand that leadeth me.\n\n    Sometimes 'mid scenes of deepest gloom,\n    Sometimes where Eden's bowers bloom,\n    By waters calm, o'er troubled sea--\n    Still 'tis His hand that leadeth me.\n\n    Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,\n    Nor ever murmur nor repine;\n    Content, whatever lot I see,\n    Since 'tis my God that leadeth me.\n\n    And when my task on earth is done,\n    When, by Thy grace, the victory's won,\n    E'en death's cold wave I will not flee,\n    Since God through Jordan leadeth me.\n\n    He leadeth me! He leadeth me!\n    By His own hand He leadeth me;\n    His faithful follower I would be,\n    For by His hand He leadeth me.\n\n                       --_Joseph H. Gilmore_\n\n\n=_Knowing God's Will_=\n\nGod's way of guidance varies with different individuals. There is\nprobably no point on which we need more careful instruction than that\nwhich concerns the will of God for us. We may speak of two wills of God.\nThe first concerns our _character_ and may be known by all, for it is\ndistinctly declared in the Word of God in such passages, for example,\nas, \"This is the will of God, even your sanctification.\" There can be no\ndoubt or hesitancy with regard to knowing what the _general_ will of God\nregarding our _character_ may be.\n\nThere is another will of God, however, which affects not our character\nbut our _career_. This _particular_ will of God is not as easy to\ndiscern as that which touches our character. Others may not know this\nfor me. In the last analysis God and I alone must solve the problem of\nmy career. It is true I may consult others and get all the light\npossible on the question at issue, but ultimately the solution of the\nmatter is to be found in the quiet with the soul and God Himself.\n\n\n=_Three Things About Guidance_=\n\nThree things may be said to indicate clearly the _particular_ will of\nGod which concerns my _career_.\n\nThe first comes from a constant and prayerful reading of the _Word of\nGod_, through which God will in some way make known to me in particular\nHis will regarding me. The scripture which decides the matter for me may\nnot have the same meaning to others, but I recognize it to be God's will\nfor me. A minister received one day two calls to the pastorate of two\nchurches. One offered a stipend of $3000 a year and manse, and an\nestablished church with 900 members, and located under the shadow of a\ngreat university. A flattering call indeed. The other invitation was\nfrom a struggling suburban church with a membership of 75, and offering\na salary of $1800 a year. What should the minister do? Which call should\nhe accept? To say there was no struggle in the heart at the time would\nbe to belie the fact. The man of God took the two invitations, laid them\non the bed, knelt by its side, and put his open Bible in front of him\nbetween the two letters. After prayer for guidance and after reading the\nWord for some time his attention was riveted upon this verse: \"Set not\nyour mind on high things, but condescend to them that are lowly\" (Romans\n12:16, R. V.). He had read that verse before, many times, but somehow he\ncould not get beyond it at _this_ time. To _him_ at _that particular\ntime_ it was indicative of God's will. Obediently he chose the smaller\nchurch. After years proved the wisdom of the choice. So God will in some\nway indicate to you through the reading of His Word His will for _you_\nat _that time_.\n\nThe second element in discerning the will of God is what may be called\n_the inward impression_, by which we mean the constant, irrepressible,\ninsistent, persistent conviction in the heart of the child of God that\nhe ought to do thus and so in a given case. It often happens that a\nstrong impulse comes to a child of God. In a day or two that impulse has\npassed away, and he looks back and sees that he has no assurance that\nsuch was the will of God for him; but to the obedient soul in communion\nwith the heavenly Father, the constant, irrepressible, insistent and\npersistent conviction that a certain thing should or should not be done\nis one of the sure indications of God's voice in the soul.\n\nThe third feature in discerning the will of God is what may be called\n_the favorable circumstance_, or _the open door_. If God wants one to go\nto a certain place or do a certain thing, the opportunity to do it will\nbe present with the call to do it. If it is not, then one should wait\nuntil the door opens. If the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of\nfire by night remains stationary, then Israel must remain in the camp.\nWhen these emblems of God's guidance lifted and moved, then Israel knew\nthat it was time for them to move.\n\n    So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still\n            Will lead me on\n    O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till\n            The night is gone;\n    And with the morn those angel faces smile\n    Which I have loved long since and lost awhile.\n\n                                --_John H. Newman_\n\nThese three things, the Word of God, the inward impression, and the open\ndoor, should be present in every clear indication of the will of God. If\nany one of them is missing, it indicates that the will of God is not yet\nclear. We have a beautiful illustration of these three things in the\ncall of Peter to admit Cornelius into the Church (Acts 10 and 11).\nFirst, Peter had the _Word of God_--nothing should be regarded common or\nunclean; second, he had _the inward impression_--he was meditating on\nwhat the vision he had seen should mean; and third, there was _the open\ndoor_--three men were already waiting for him to convey him to Caesarea.\n\nWonderfully instructive is God's guidance of the children of Israel by\nthe pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. In this\nconnection we should recall the words of Jesus when in the Temple, at\nthe time they were celebrating God's care for His people in the\nwilderness in providing them with the pillar of cloud and the pillar of\nfire. He said, \"I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall\nnot walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.\" Christ is our\nGuide; the Word of God is our chart. Having them, we may rest assured\nthat God who has guided His people in all the ages will guide us safely\nto the end.\n\n    Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,\n    Pilgrim through this barren land;\n    I am weak, but Thou art mighty,\n    Hold me with Thy powerful hand;\n    Bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more.\n\n    Open now the crystal fountain\n    Whence the healing stream doth flow;\n    Let the fiery, cloudy pillar\n    Lead me all my journey through;\n    Strong Deliverer, be Thou still my Strength and Shield.\n\n    When I tread the verge of Jordan,\n    Bid my anxious fears subside,\n    Death of deaths and hell's destruction,\n    Land me safe on Canaan's side:\n    Songs of praises I will ever give to Thee.\n\n                                       --_William Williams_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FOUR\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=\"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the\nshadow of death, I will fear no evil; for\nthou art with me; thy rod and\nthy staff they comfort me.\"=\n\n\nIt was necessary for shepherds in Palestine, when leading their flocks\nfrom one pasture to another, to lead them, at times, through dark\nravines, on either side of which were caves and holes wherein dwelt\nravenous beasts. From the attack of these beasts the shepherd must\nprotect his flock. For this purpose he used the staff which he carried\nwith him. The staff was a great stick with a large knob at the end of it\npierced through with sharp nails and spikes. This weapon was used to\nbeat off the attacks of the wild beasts. The shepherd must be bold and\ncourageous. We recall how David referred to his encounters with wild\nbeasts which attacked his flock. \"And David said unto Saul, Thy servant\nkept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a\nlamb out of the flock; and I went out after him, and smote him, and\ndelivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught\nhim by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant slew both the\nlion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of\nthem, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. David said\nmoreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out\nof the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of the\nPhilistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the +LORD+ be with thee\"\n(I Samuel 17:34-37).\n\n\n=_The Valley of the Shadow_=\n\n\"The valley of the shadow of death\" may refer to any dark, dread or\nawful experience through which the child of God is called to pass. In\nthis sense it is used in many places in the Scriptures. The Christian's\npath is not always beside still waters and in green pastures.\n\n    In pastures green? Not always; sometimes He\n    Who knoweth best, in kindness leadeth me\n    In weary ways, where heavy shadows be.\n\n    And by still waters? No not always so,\n    Ofttimes the heavy tempests round me blow,\n    And o'er my soul the waves and billows go.\n\n    But when the storm beats loudest, and I cry\n    Aloud for help, the Master standeth by,\n    And whispers to my soul, \"Lo, it is I!\"\n\n    Above the tempest wild I hear Him say,\n    \"Beyond the darkness lies the perfect day,\n    In every path of thine I lead the way.\"\n\n                             --_Henry H. Barry_\n\nBut is it not kind of our Father that He puts the valley in the middle\nof the Psalm--not at the beginning of our Christian journey, lest we\nshould be unduly discouraged, but in the middle--after we have been\nstrengthened with food and drink and have been assured of the tender\ncare and guidance of the Great Shepherd. Oh! wondrous thought and care!\n\nOf course, \"the valley of the shadow of death\" refers also, and probably\nmore particularly, to the experience of death itself. At least we have\ncome to look upon it in such light, and doubtless thousands of God's\npeople have found the comforting truth of this verse a safe pillow in\nthe dying hour. It has lightened the valley, removed the fear of death,\nand illumined immortality.\n\n\n=_The Fear of Death_=\n\nWhen a robber would scatter a flock of sheep and cause fear and\nconsternation he throws a dead carcass in the midst of the flock. Sheep\nfear nothing as much as the sight of death. Is this not true of man\nalso? About the last fear taken from the human heart is \"the fear of\ndeath.\" \"The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.\" Even though\nthe believer knows that the sting of death has been removed,\nnevertheless there is usually an attendant fear connected with the\npassing out of this life.\n\nI have read that a famous scientist was in the habit of visiting a\nzoological garden in London. Among the many things that always\ninterested him was a large snake--a boa constrictor. It was kept in a\nlarge glass case so that inspection of the reptile was perfectly safe\nfrom the outside. The scientist, we are told, was in the habit of\nknocking on the glass in order to awaken the snake. Instantly, when the\nknock was heard, the snake would raise its head and strike at the glass\nwith its fangs. The scientist, instinctively shrank back, fearful of\nbeing struck, though he knew there was absolutely no danger. So\nsometimes is it with the believer's relationship to death. Even though\nhe knows the sting is removed, nevertheless the experience of death is\nsomewhat of a dread. The soul naturally recoils at the thought of death.\n\nNo really thoughtful man will speak lightly of death. He may, as some\nmen may, in the fullness of health and vigor, laugh at the idea of\ndying; but when he comes face to face with the real experience, there\nis, as any minister or physician will tell you, quite a different story\nto tell.\n\nIt reminds me of an experience in our own family life. Behind a former\nresidence of ours was a stretch of woods where, after school, our boys\nwould go to play their outdoor games. It was the understanding in the\nhome that when the whistle was blown or some other signal given the boys\nshould come home for their meals. At times the boys would come home in\nresponse to the signal in a somewhat murmuring spirit. They have said\nsomething like this to their mother: \"Mother, what did you call us home\nfor anyway? Didn't you know that we were just in the midst of a great\ngame and our side was about to win? We wish you wouldn't call us.\" I\nhave felt as I have listened to them speaking thus to their mother that,\njust at that particular time and in the middle of the day, they could,\napparently, get along very well without their mother. But I have noticed\nthis also, that at night time, after their mother had prayed with them\nand the lights were turned out, there was another story to tell. It\nseems to me that I can still hear one of the boys calling out in the\ndark to his mother, \"Mamma, are you there?\"\n\n\"Yes, son.\"\n\n\"Mamma.\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Is your face turned towards me?\"\n\n\"Yes.\"\n\n\"Mamma, will you hold my hand? It's dark, isn't it, Mamma? Good night,\nMamma.\"\n\nAh, yes, in the day-time they might think they could get along very well\nwithout their mother, but when the night comes, and the lights are all\nout, and it's dark, then nobody on earth but mother will do.\n\nSo it is with you, my friend. In your bravado of health and strength you\nmay say that you are not afraid of death, but you wait until your feet\ncome down to the brink of the river; then there will be a different\nstory to tell. Some men haven't much use for God in life, but nobody\nelse but God will do in the hour of death.\n\n\n=_The Valley Is Certain and Narrow_=\n\nDeath is certain. It is appointed unto men once to die. While the Lord\ntarries, every child of Adam will have to pass through the experience of\ndeath.\n\n    There is no flock, however watched and tended,\n    But one dead lamb is there!\n    There is no fireside, howsoe'er defended,\n    But has one vacant chair!\n\n                           --_Henry W. Longfellow_\n\nWe cannot bribe death. We cannot avoid or evade passing through the\nvalley of the shadow. We cannot dig under it, nor tunnel around it, nor\nfly over it. Face it we must. It behooves us, therefore, to make sure\nthat we have the light and the life which alone will secure for us a\nhappy exit from this valley and a glorious entrance into the unfading\nlight of a new day.\n\nThe valley of the shadow of death is narrow, very narrow--so narrow\nindeed that even a mother cannot take her one-hour-old babe with her. It\nis so narrow. She must go through the valley alone. Single file, if you\nplease, is the order of march through this valley of the shadow. An aged\nwoman lay dying. By her bedside, with his hand in hers, sat the man who\nfor over fifty years had been her husband. The light was failing fast,\nand eternity drawing near to the aged woman. Grasping the hand of her\nhusband tightly, she said, \"John, it's getting dark. Take my hand. For\nover fifty years we have traveled together, and you have led me. Now\nit's getting dark, and I cannot see the way. John, come with me, won't\nyou?\"\n\nBut John could not go, and with tear-filled eyes and trembling voice, he\nsaid, \"Anna, I cannot, cannot go. Only Jesus can go with you.\"\n\nShe was a little girl of ten years. The angel of death was hovering over\nher bed. The end was drawing near. She said to her father, who was\nstanding by the mother's side at the bed, \"Papa, it's getting dark and I\ncannot see. Will you please go with me?\"\n\nWith heart breaking, the father had to say, \"Child, I cannot, I cannot\ngo with you.\"\n\nThe girl turned to her mother and said, \"Mamma, then you will, won't\nyou?\"\n\nBut the mother, in turn, amid her tears, replied, \"Child, I would, but I\ncannot. Only Jesus can go with you.\"\n\n\n=_The Personal Pronouns Change_=\n\nIt is interesting to note the change in the personal pronoun in this\nverse. Up to this point the Psalmist has been speaking in the third\nperson and using the personal pronoun \"He\"--\"_He_ leadeth me.\" \"_He_\nmaketh me.\" \"He restoreth;\" _he, he, he_. When he comes to speak of the\nvalley of the shadow of death, however, the third personal pronoun is\nchanged to that of the second person, \"Yea, though I walk through the\nvalley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for _thou_,\n(_thou_--not _he_, is with me, but _thou_) art with me.\" There is no\nroom for a third person in this valley. If one does not have Christ as\nSaviour and Guide in the dark hour of death, he goes through the valley\nof the shadow all alone. Surely, without Christ with him man will\nstumble and fall in this valley.\n\nPoor indeed is that soul who, when his feet are about to enter the\nvalley, has no Guide, or, when he comes to the brink of death's river,\nhas no Pilot.\n\n    Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour,\n      How lonely life must be!\n    Like a sailor lost and driven\n      On a wide and shoreless sea.\n\n    Oh, to have no Christ, no Saviour,\n      No hand to clasp thine own!\n    Through the dark, dark vale of shadows\n      Thou must press thy way alone.\n\n                         --_W. O. Cushing_\n\nBut what a blessing and comfort it is for those who know Christ as\nSaviour and Comforter, to have the assurance that in that last hour of\nlife He is by their side to guide them. It was doubtless this thought of\nthe presence of Christ that comforted Tennyson when he wrote the words\nof that beautiful poem:\n\n        Sunset and evening star,\n        And one clear call for me!\n        And, may there be no moaning of the bar,\n        When I put out to sea.\n\n          *   *   *   *   *\n\n        Twilight and evening bell,\n        And after that the dark!\n        And, may there be no sadness of farewell,\n        When I embark;\n\n        For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place\n        The flood may bear me far,\n        I hope to see my Pilot face to face\n        When I have crossed the bar.\n\n                                   --_Alfred Tennyson_\n\nSome one has called the fourth verse of the Psalm a song of the waters.\nDid you ever hear singing on the water? There is something wonderful\nabout it. The water seems to take all harshness out of the music, and\nputs something exquisitely beautiful into it. Here then is \"a psalm of\nthe waters,\" a song for the believer to sing when his feet are touching\nthe margin of the river: \"When thou passest through the waters, I will\nbe with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee....\nFor I am the +LORD+ thy God.\"\n\nHere, too, is \"a song in the night.\" Sing it, Christian pilgrim, when\nearth's last hour is at hand. Sing it as you enter the valley. Sing it\nas the darkness deepens. Sing it when the light of earth's day begins to\nfade. Sing it when the earth is receding, heaven is opening and God is\ncalling you. Sing it until the glory of the eternal morn breaks upon\nthine enraptured vision. Sing it until your feet stand upon that golden\nshore against which death's chilly wave never again shall dash, and\nwhere death is no more. Sing it, sing this song of the waters--\"Yea,\nthough I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no\nevil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.\"\n\n    Why be afraid of Death as though your life were breath!\n    Death but anoints your eyes with clay. Oh glad surprise!\n\n    Why should you be forlorn? Death only husks the corn.\n    Why should you fear to meet the thresher of the wheat?\n\n    Is sleep a thing to dread? Yet sleeping, you are dead\n    Till you awake and rise, here, or beyond the skies.\n\n    Why should it be a wrench, to leave your wooden bench?\n    Why not with happy shout run home when school is out?\n\n    The dear ones left behind? O foolish one and blind.\n    A day--and you will meet--a night--and you will greet!\n\n    This is the death of Death, to breathe away a breath,\n    And know the end of strife and taste the deathless life.\n\n    And joy without a fear and smile without a tear,\n    And work, nor care, nor rest, and find the last the best.\n\n                                       --_Maltbie D. Babcock_\n\n\n\"=_Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me_=\"\n\nThe rod is a protection from all the adversaries of the night. No enemy,\nnot even the last enemy, death, can affright the soul in the care of the\ntender Shepherd, for He has extracted the sting from death. The staff is\nused for counting the sheep as they pass one by one into the fold. This\naction is sometimes called \"passing under the rod.\" The language used\nhere indicates safety and security.\n\n    I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;\n    Ills have no weight and tears on bitterness.\n    Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?\n    I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.\n\n                                     --_Henry F. Lyte_\n\nChrist hath _abolished_ death and brought life and immortality to light.\nThe word \"abolished\" is a very strong one in the Greek. It has three\nroot letters, a, r and g. Then the preposition _kata_ is added to it,\nthus making our English word \"energy\" which means \"a working force.\"\nThen, in a way known to Greek students, the preposition gives the word,\nas it were, the force of a double negative. So the Apostle teaches us\nthat Christ, when He came into the world and died on the cross, did\nsomething with death. He double-twisted it, He de-vitalized it,\ndouble-negatived it, made it inoperative, rendered it powerless, so that\never afterwards it would be unable to hurt the children of God.\n\nI do not know very much about bees except, of course, that they sting. I\nam told, however, that when a bee stings you it leaves its sting in the\nwound and goes away to die. A little child may play with the bee after\nit has stung a person without any harm coming to the child. The bee has\nlost its power to hurt. So we are told that the sting of death is sin.\nDeath stung Christ on the cross and left its sting in Him, so that ever\nafter it could not hurt the children of God. He is \"Death of death and\nhell's destruction.\"\n\nChrist, the Great Shepherd, will be there at the entrance of the valley\nto meet you and lead you through. He will beat off all the powers of\ndeath. He will destroy all the enemies of darkness and convey you safely\nthrough the valley into the Homeland. He holds the keys of death and the\ngrave. How helpless a thing a sheep is! How much in need of a defender\nit is! It seems as though almost any other animal can defend itself. A\ndog will fight when attacked. A sheep stands helpless in the presence\nof its opponent. Christ, the Good Shepherd, will protect to the last.\n\nThe comforting thoughts of this verse must certainly take the sting out\nof death to those who grasp the great truths taught here. It surely\nabolishes death and illumines immortality.\n\nNo one need fear death with such thoughts as these before him. The\nApostle Paul asserts that every believer in Christ has \"a cheerful view\nof death,\" and desires rather \"to be absent from the body and at home\nwith the Lord\" than to remain here upon the earth.\n\nGo to thy grave, not as the slave scourged to his dungeon, or the dog\nwhipped to his kennel, but as the prince wraps around him the drapery of\nhis couch and lies down to pleasant dreams. The conscious companionship\nof the Christ will remove thy fears. With what alacrity, courage and\nfearlessness doth he walk the highway whose heart is honest and whose\nconscience doth not convict him of the violation of his country's laws!\nHow different with the criminal! How full of fear and apprehension!\n\n    Abide with me! fast falls the eventide;\n    The darkness deepens--Lord, with me abide!\n    When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,\n    Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!\n\n    Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day;\n    Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away;\n    Change and decay in all around I see;\n    O Thou who changest not, abide with me!\n\n    I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;\n    Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.\n    Where is death's sting? where, grave, thy victory?\n    I triumph still, if Thou abide with me!\n\n    Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;\n    Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;\n    Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;\n    In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!\n\n                                          --_Henry F. Lyte_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER FIVE\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=\"Thou preparest a table before me in the\npresence of mine enemies; thou\nanointest my head with oil;\nmy cup runneth over.\"=\n\n\nThere is a variety of senses in which the truth of this verse may be\nunderstood.\n\nIt is said that in the ancient days a shepherd's tent was a kind of city\nof refuge. The man who had unwittingly slain another could find refuge\nin a shepherd's tent from the avenger of blood. The fugitive was\npermitted to stay a given length of time within the shepherd's care,\nduring which time he was as safe from the pursuer as though he were in\nthe actual city of refuge. The pursuer might be raging with fury outside\nof the door of the tent, but the fugitive could eat with perfect safety\nand peace in the presence of his enemy. How like Christ in His relation\nto the believer!\n\nOne day Charles Wesley stood looking out of a partly open window at the\nfierce storm howling without, when a young robin, quickly passing some\nother birds, flew to his breast, seeking shelter from its foes. It was\nthen he wrote that wonderful hymn, the opening words of which are:\n\n    Jesus, Lover of my soul,\n    Let me to Thy bosom fly!\n\nIs not this a picture of this verse of the Psalm? \"And a man (Jesus\nChrist) shall be for a hiding place and a refuge from the storm.\" Are we\nnot safe in Him from all our foes? \"There is therefore now no\ncondemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus.\"\n\nWe are told that in David's day it was the custom of conquering kings\nand princes to bring the royal captives of the contending defeated army\ninto a large banqueting house. To each pillar in the house a prisoner of\nroyal blood or a commanding officer was chained. The banquet tables were\nheavily laden with good things of which the victors partook. Feasting\nand jollification were indulged in, and joy and gladness were manifest\nin the presence of defeated and chained enemies. Are we not made \"always\nto triumph\" over all our foes in Christ? Are we not made \"more than\nconquerors\" in Him who hath \"led captivity captive\"? \"Ye shall eat your\nmeat in quietness, and nothing shall make you afraid.\"\n\nOr, again, it may be that reference is made in this verse to the grazing\nof sheep in fields full of snakeholes or of poisonous plants. A sheep\nraiser in Texas once told the writer that he lost a great many sheep\nbecause snakes would come up through holes in the ground and bite the\nsheep as they grazed, poisoning them. After losing many of the flock he\nfinally discovered a remedy. A mixture of some kind was poured down the\nholes, which killed the snakes, and after that the sheep were able to\ngraze in peace and safety. Hath not Christ abolished death for the\nbeliever? Has He not deprived death of its sting and stripped the grave\nof its victim? Hath He not overcome that old serpent, the Devil? Do we\nnot overcome the dragon, that old serpent, the Devil and Satan, the\naccuser of the brethren day and night--do we not overcome him by the\nblood of the Lamb?\n\nWhichever of these meanings may be adopted as indicating the teaching of\nthis verse, we may be certain that the truth the Psalmist desires to\nexpress is this: That God gives His children victory over all their\nfoes, and makes them more than conquerors over all their enemies. Thus\nshall we \"eat our meat in peace and quietness, and nothing shall make us\nafraid.\" \"Why do the heathen rage?... He that sitteth in the heavens\nshall laugh\"--and so shall we.\n\n    On the Rock of Ages founded,\n      Who can shake thy sure repose?\n    With salvation's walls surrounded,\n      Thou mayes't smile at all thy foes.\n\n                     --_Rev. John Newton_\n\n\n\"=_Thou Anointest My Head with Oil: My Cup Runneth Over_=\"\n\nA shepherd must needs be a physician also. In the belt of the shepherd\nmedicines are always carried. Sheep are very susceptible to sicknesses\nof many kinds, particularly fevers. Ofttimes at night as the sheep\npassed into the fold the shepherd's knowing eye would detect that one or\nanother of them was sick and feverish. Perhaps it had been bitten by a\nserpent or torn by some wild animal. He would take the feverish sheep\nand plunge its head into clear, cold water, plunging the head so far\ninto the pail that the water would run over, or anoint the bruise with\nmollifying ointment. Doubtless David is thinking of this experience of\nhis shepherd life.\n\nOr, again, David may be referring to the bountiful water supply provided\nfor the sheep and applying it to the rich provision God has made for the\nbeliever. Not only is there grace enough for oneself, but with the\nbeliever as a channel, an abundance for others.\n\n    Thou, O Christ, art all I want;\n    More than all in Thee I find!\n\n                 --_Charles Wesley_\n\nThis is the wonderful truth taught by Jesus in the Temple: \"Now on the\nlast day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If\nany man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me,\nas the scripture hath said, from within him shall flow rivers of living\nwater.\" Here we see how the believer may come to Christ for the\nquenching of his own thirst, and then draw on, or drink more deeply of,\nChrist for the quenching of the thirst of others. \"Thou, O Christ, art\nall I want, more than all in Thee I find.\" Here we have the personal and\nrelative side of a consecrated life of service.\n\nMy cup is to \"run over.\" No selfish religion must I claim. I am to be\nsatisfied with Christ first myself, then I am to take from Him so large\na supply that others with whom I come into contact may also partake of\nHis fullness. No hermit, no ascetic, monk, or recluse would the Master\nhave me be.\n\n    There are hermit souls that live withdrawn\n    In the peace of their self-content;\n    There are souls, like stars, that dwell apart\n    In a fellowless firmament.\n    There are pioneer souls that blaze their paths\n    Where highways never ran--\n    But let me live by the side of the road\n    And be a friend to man.\n\n    Let me live in my house by the side of the road\n    Where the race of men go by--\n    The men who are good and the men who are bad,\n    As good and as bad as I,\n    I would not sit in the scorner's seat,\n    Or hurl the cynic's ban--\n    Let me live in the house by the side of the road\n    And be a friend to man.\n\n    I see from my house by the side of the road,\n    By the side of the highway of life,\n    The men who press with the ardor of hope,\n    The men who are faint with the strife;\n    But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears--\n    Both parts of an infinite plan--\n    Let me live in a house by the side of the road\n    And be a friend to man.\n\n                                        --_Sam Walter Foss_\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER SIX\n\n[Illustration]\n\n=\"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me\nall the days of my life; and I will dwell\nin the house of the +LORD+ for ever.\"=\n\n\nThe writer was once called to speak with a Scotch Presbyterian elder who\nwas rapidly passing from this life. I had read to him this last verse of\nthe Psalm, when, turning in his bed, he said to me in words that were\nalmost his last, \"Take my Bible and read that verse to me from 'The\nPsalms in Metre' in the back of my Bible.\" I took his Scotch Bible from\na table close by and read:\n\n    Goodness and mercy all my life\n    Shall surely follow me,\n    And in God's house for evermore\n    My dwelling place shall be.\n\n            --_William Whittingham_\n\nSome one has well said that \"goodness and mercy\" are God's two collie\ndogs to preserve the Christian from all danger. Others have likened\n\"goodness and mercy\" to the Christian's footmen to wait upon him daily.\n\"The house of the +LORD+\" is doubtless here contrasted with the tent of\nthe shepherd, just as the words \"dwell for ever\" are contrasted with\nthe fact that the fugitive was allowed to stay in the shepherd's tent\nonly a limited time.\n\nThis verse expresses the confidence of the Christian with regard to the\nfuture. It is the Christian's confidence that in the Father's house a\nmansion is prepared for him, and that when the earthly house of this\ntabernacle is taken down and dissolved by death he has a house not made\nwith hands, eternal in the heavens. This is surely a grand provision for\nold age, a life insurance worthy of the name, a home for the winter of\nlife, and a blessed assurance with regard to one's eternity. How poor\nindeed is that soul that cannot say, \"Yea, though I walk through the\nvalley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,\" for the grave is\nnot the terminus but the passageway that leads to endless light and\nlife, into the glory and beauty of the house of the Lord in which the\nbeliever shall \"dwell for ever.\" Beyond the night of death lies the\nperfect day; beyond the valley of the shadow lie the plains of peace.\n\nOne cannot help but wonder if you, reader, have such a confident hope\nwith regard to your future life. Only those who are able to say \"The\n+LORD+ is my shepherd\" are able to say \"I will dwell in the house of the\n+LORD+ for ever.\"\n\nA famous Scotch preacher tells us that a demented boy, who was in the\nhabit of attending one of the classes in his Sunday school, was sick\nunto death. The minister was asked to go to see the boy. He went to the\nhouse, and in speaking with the lad and after reading the Scriptures he\nwas about to leave, when this boy, with only half his reasoning power,\ndemented and partly idiotic, asked the great preacher if he wouldn't\nkneel down and recite for him the Twenty-third Psalm. In obedience to\nthe boy's request he knelt and repeated the Twenty-third Psalm, until he\ncame to the last verse which, as you know, reads \"Surely goodness and\nmercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the\nhouse of the +LORD+ for ever.\" But the preacher did not repeat this last\nverse, for he was saying to himself while on his knees, \"this verse can\nhardly be true of this boy, surely goodness and mercy has not followed\nhim all the days of his life, and further, what does he know about the\ndetermination of this verse--to dwell in the house of the +LORD+ for\never?\" And so the great preacher was rising from his knees, having\nomitted the last verse, when the boy reached out his hand and, placing\nit on the shoulder of the minister, pressed him again to his knees and\nrepeated the last verse of the Psalm--the verse the preacher had\nomitted, as it is written in the Scotch hymn book:\n\n    Goodness and mercy all my life\n      Shall surely follow me;\n    And in God's house for evermore\n      My dwelling place shall be.\n\n            --_William Whittingham_\n\nThis was a lesson the preacher never forgot. Can you, my reader, you,\nwith all your senses, your keenness of brain and intellect--can you say\nwhat this idiotic boy could say: \"I will dwell in the house of the\n+LORD+ for ever\"?\n\nI am reminded in this connection of one of Bunyan's characters in the\n\"Pilgrim's Progress.\" He is referred to as \"Mr. Feeble Mind.\" This\ncharacter in speaking of his immortal hope--that hope which lies beyond\nthe valley of the shadow and the grave--expresses it in this way: \"But\nthis I am resolved on: to run when I can, to go when I cannot run, and\nto creep when I cannot go. As to the main, I thank Him that loved me. I\nam fixed. My way is before me. My mind is beyond the river that hath no\nbridge, though I am, as you see, but of a feeble mind.\" Mark that\nwonderful expression, will you?--\n\n    \"My mind is beyond the river that hath no bridge.\"\n\nIs yours? You--man, woman, with all your senses, of strong and sound\nmind, can you give expression to an exclamation of faith like that?\n\nThere are some of my readers on whose head time has laid its hand and\nwhitened their hair to the whiteness of that winter in which all their\nglory must fade. Their sun of life is going down beyond the hill of\nlife. The young may die; the old must die. Oh, the pity of it, to see\nthe old and gray with no eternal life insurance for the winter of life!\nThe gray head is indeed a crown of glory if it be found in the way of\nlife; otherwise it is a fool's cap. Reader, may your eventide be light,\nand may your path be as the path of the just that shineth brighter and\nbrighter unto the perfect day!\n\nThus we see that the grave is not the end. We pass through the grave\nonly in order that we may place our last climbing footstep upon the\nthreshold of our Father's house, to go out no more. Then we shall dwell\nfor ever there. Beyond the grave lie the Plains of Peace, the\nHomeland--with all the loved who have gone before--those whom we \"have\nloved long since and lost awhile.\"\n\n    Is the way so dark, O wanderer,\n    Is the hillcrest wild and steep,\n    Far, so far, the vale beyond thee,\n    Where the homelights vigil keep?\n    Still the goal lies far before thee,\n    Soon will fall on thee the night;\n    Breast the path that takes thee onward,\n    Fight the storm with all thy might.\n\n    Tho' thy heart be faint and weary,\n    Tho' thy footsteps fain would cease,\n    Journey onward--past the hillcrest\n    Lie for thee the Plains of Peace!\n\n    Is thy path so rough, O pilgrim,\n    Passing on thy way through life;\n    Deep the sorrows that beset thee,\n    Great the burden, wild the strife?\n    Tho' the hill of life be weary,\n    Tho' the goal of rest be far,\n    Set thy whole heart to endeavor,\n    Turn thy soul to yon bright star.\n\n    From the toiling, from the striving\n    There at last shall come release;\n    One shall bring thee past the hillcrest,\n    Home unto his Plains of Peace;\n    One shall bring thee past the hillcrest,\n    Home, Home, Home unto His Plains of Peace!\n\n                           --_Clifton Bingham_","title":"The Shepherd Psalm: A Meditation","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":16792}