October 1927
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The Shepherd Psalm B y O scar T . G illan
Just so the Divine Shepherd leads His sheep to places of nour ishment, of refreshment, of rest. It may be in the “Quiet Hour” of the morning that we feed upon the Word of God and drink of the liv ing water. It may be during the heat of the day that a refreshing blessing comes. It may be, per haps, that in the “cool of the day” we shall hear the voice of the Lord. Or it may be that on the
S E R M O N o n t h e Twenty-third P s a l m hardly needs either in troduction or conclusion. Its first verse sounds the keynote and strikes the
The writer of this inspiring message on the Twenty-Third Psalm was a 1927 student of the Bible Institute. It was preached as a sermon before the second-year homiletics class. It proved so full of helpfulness, that we have deemed it worthy of a place in these columns.
theme. Its last verse sums up and crowns the whole. From first to last it is a shepherd Psalm. “The Lord is my shepherd / ' is the bold opening statement. The verses that follow enlarge upon this
Sabbath morning we shall receive spiritual nourishment and our souls shall be refreshed as we gather in the house of the Lord. But He feeds us thus and leads us thus for a purpose. The sheep rest that they may be fitted to walk the dusty roads. They rest in order that they,may be fitted for effort. The sheep cannot lie down all the time. Too much rest is rust. Peter wanted to stay on the mountain top with Jesus, forgetful that there were demon-tormented sufferers on the plain below. Aye, feed heartily and drink deeply, and then arise, and go forth to follow the Master in the paths where He shall lead. “Be strong! “He restoreth my soul.” As we follow the shepherd and his flock, we find that he leads among private fields, olive groves, and vineyards. Whenever a sheep strays therein and is caught there, he is forfeited to the owner of the land. It is then that the shepherd goes after his way ward sheep and brings him back to the flock. “He restor eth my soul.” Literally, this is, “He restores my life.” “Restores me when wandering,” we sing in one of our hymn versions of this Psalm, and this is exactly what the verse means. Which of us has not been restored thus? There are times when we become careless; times when we neglect our prayer or our Bible reading; times when the dark clouds gather and hide our Saviour’s face and we are tempted to forget our high calling. But our Shepherd has never failed. You and I can bear testimony this morning that He has always brought us back. He restores us when wandering. : “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” The shepherd ever leads his flock. The herdsman drives his cattle. The shepherd leads; he never drives. Every step of the way he goes before and chooses the paths that are right. It is not always easy to choose the right path. One way leads to a precipice, another to a road that is rocky. This way plunges into a gloomy ravine, that leads to the desert. But the shepherd values his reputation as a good shepherd. For his name’s sake, he ever leads by paths that are safe and sure and right. He never expects us to follow where He has not gone. He has walked every step of the pathway of life from the cradle to the grave—and beyond. There is no sorrow, no pain, no temptation, that He has not suffered—even death. We are not here to play, to dream, to drift. We have hard work to do, and loads to lift. Shun not the struggle ; face it. ’Tis God’s gift.” W here T he S hepherd L eads
thought in all that it implies until “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” brings all to a climax of beatitude. “The Lord is my shepherd.” We are not surprised to find that the Lord is spoken of as a shepherd. In the lands of the Orient the king or ruler was often thought of as the. shepherd of his people. Of Cyrus, King of Persia, God said, “He is my shepherd.” In the Book of Jeremiah we read, “Who is the shepherd that will stand before me?” which means, “Who is the ruler that will stand be fore me?” It is but natural, then, that Israel, and David in particular, should conceive of the Lord as a Shepherd. The Lord is a Shepherd to His people. And Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.” There is a little word that stands out from among its fellows and challenges our attention. It is the word, “MY.” “The Lord is MY Shepherd.” It has been sug-' gested that we read this psalm, emphasizing the personal pronouns, “my—I—me—my.” Here in that word “My” is the sublime care of God the Father. That one word sweeps at once from Deity to humanity, from God to man, from omnipotence to frailty, from the infinite to the finite, from the vast to the minute. The. Lord is My Shepherd. He marks the sparrow’s fall and counts the hairs of my head.1 . R esults of H is S hepherd C are Since He is my Shepherd, what could follow more naturally than “I shall not want”? With so great a Shepherd, the sheep will surely want for nothing. I shall not want for food, for “green pastures.” I shall not want for drink, for “still waters.” I shall not want for good ness and mercy. I shall not want for guidance. I shall not want for protection. I shall not want for companionship. “Be good and you’ll be lonesome,” is a trite saying of the day. Not so, for the friends that Jesus gives are worth more to us than the crowd of so-called friends that the world gives. At this season of the year we can appreciate “green pastures.” As we go forth into the fields we find their grasses withered, and the hills are brown. We long for the pastures of tender grass. Just so it is in the land of Palestine. The grasses are withered under the rays of the sun and the shepherd seeks out a' pasture where the grass is tender and green, and leads where the still waters flow. The flock follows and is soon feeding contentedly. Here is nourishment. Then we see them by the waters, whether these be well, or spring, or stream. Here is re freshment. And now the flock lies down, while here and there a few sheep continue to crop the grass or drink at the waters. Here is rest. This indeed is a picture of pastoral felicity.
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