The darkness gathers, thro' the gloom no star Eises to guide. We have wandered far, Without Thy lamp we know not where we are. At evening bring us home.
The clouds are round us and the snowdrifts thicken, 0 Thou, dear Shepherd, leave us not to sicken, In the waste night, our tardy footsteps quicken. At evening bring us home.^
3. It was in anticipation of the time when His Son was to take our likeness upon Him, and die for us men, and for our salvation, that God revealed Himself to the Old Testament saints as " the Shepherd of Israel, leading Joseph like a flock." They rejoiced in the light that stretched toward them from the far-off day of Christ's appearing. Of him they read the sure words of prophecy, "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." We know how He, in one of the most touching of all His parables, applied this emblem to Himself, and thus gave it its true significance ind beauty. "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and im known of mine." " I am the good shepherd : the good shepherd giveth his life for the feheep."
^ On this, the " Good Shepherd " Sunday, one's thoughts circulate round the significant symbol. The thought before me
^ John Skclton.
394 A PERSONAL PROVIDENCE
at this moment is the completeness of His knowledge of the sheep, their ills, necessities, possibilities, all involving on the part of the Shepherd completeness of sacrifice, " perfect sympathy- calling out the perfect remedy," as Westcott puts it. And one perceives the truth of this the more one's own sympathies are educated, and one's own life flows out.^
\ ^ It is cheering to remember that, for the sake of His own
f Name, and of His own glory, as well as for the sake of His great
/ love, the full supply of all our needs is guaranteed by our relation-
1 ship to Him as our Shepherd. A lean, scraggy sheep, with torn
limbs and tattered fleece, would be small credit to the shepherd's
care ; but unless we will wander from Him, and will not remain
restfully under His protection, there is no fear of such ever being
our lot. We may lie down in peace, and sleep in safety, because
the Shepherd of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. No lion or
bear can ever surprise our ever- watchful Guardian, or overcome
our Almighty Deliverer. He has once laid down His life for the
sheep ; but now He ever liveth to care for them, and to ensure
to them all that is needful for this life, and for that which is to
come.
" The Lord is my Shepherd." He saith not was ; He saith not may be, or will be. " The Lord is my Shepherd " — is on Sunday, is on Monday, and is through every day of the week; is in January, and is in December, and in every month of the year ; is at home, and is in China ; is in peace, and is in war ; in abundance, and in penury. Let us live in the joy of the truth here pointed out : " The Lord is my Shepherd ; I shall not want " ; and let us learn to trust for others as well as for ourselves. Not only are the sheep of the flock safe, but the little lambs — about which the ewes may be more solicitous than about their own safety — are all under the same guardian Eye, and the same Shepherd's care.^
^ 4. The Lord is my Shepherd — what does that mean for me ?
(1) God has the shepherd-heart, pulsing with pure and generous love — love that means grace and sacrifice.
(2) He has the shepherd-eye, that takes in the whole flock, and misses even the one poor sheep that wanders astray.
(3) He has the shepherd-nearness; not Living far away, and hearing about us now and then through the report of His angels ; He is about us and among us day and night.
^ R. AV. Corbet, Letters from a Mi/stic of the Present Day, 158. ^ Hudson Taylor, Choice Sayings, 22.
PSALM XXIII. 1
;95
(4) He has sliepheicl-knowledge, being acquainted with every- thing that concerns us, understanding our desires better than we do ourselves.
(5) He has shepherd-strength ; He is " able to keep " us ; and we need not fear the teeth of the lion or the paw of the bear, so long as we are under His defence.
(6) He has shepherd-faithfulness ; and we may fully trust Him. He hath said, " I will never leave you, I will never for- sake you " ; so that we may boldly say, " The Lord is my helper ; I will not fear what man can do unto me."
(7) He has shepherd-tenderness, carrying the lambs in His arms and gathering them in His bosom. There is nothing that comes out into more wonderful relief in Scripture than this tenderness. A comforted saint is " like one whom his mother comforteth." In upholding His people God spreads underneath them " the everlasting arms." His pity is like unto a father's pity. In nurturing our life from feebleness to strength, "Thy gentleness hath made me great." His control is not that of the cold, sharp bit thrust between our teeth, and the compelling lash, but, " I will guide thee with mine eye." When He defends from the arrow and flying death, it is not by clothing in a shirt of mail, that pains and burdens, while it defends, the wearer ; but, " He shall cover thee with his feathers" — could anything be softer and gentler ? — " He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust." That is the God to whom David bids us look up.^