There is a courage, a majestic thing
That springs forth from the brow of pain, full grown, Minerva-like, and dares all dangers known.
And all the threatening future yet may bring;
1 Life and Letters of George John liomanes, 188.
' J. Culross, God's Shei)licrd Care, 106. " John McNeill.
454 THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW
Crowned with the helmet of great suffering,
Serene with that grand strength by martyrs shown When at the stake they die and make no moan,
And even as the flames leap up are heard to sing.
A courage so sublime and unafraid,
It wears its sorrows like a coat of mail;
And Fate, the archer, passes by dismayed,
Knowing his best barbed arrows needs must fail
To pierce a soul so armoured and arrayed
That Death himself might look on it and quail.^
3, On what does this fearless courage rest ? Not on the thought that there is no evil in the dark valley. That were false because groundless security. There may be evil great and manifold in the valley ; evil that has the heart, if only it had the opportunity, to ruin us ; tens of thousands setting themselves against us round about; the devil himself going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. Nor does it rest on the foolish fancy that we are able ourselves to cope with the evil. We cannot even see to defend ourselves, although we had the strength ; and any fight in which we might engage were a fight in the dark. Our courage rests on our consciously enjoying the presence of Jehovah our Shepherd. All minor considera- tions are omitted here — such as, that others have been in the valley already, the hope of getting well through it, the thought that bright- harnessed angel-guards surround us, and so forth — and the soul fixes on this chief thing of all, the Shepherd's presence.
It is the love of Christ and trust in Him that alone can give true courage. For notice that there is no attempt made in the Psalm to paint death otherwise than it is, in itself evil, fearful, and appalling. But it is the love of Christ that gives the confidence, the courage that we need. The God who has fed us, the Good Shepherd who has guided us through so many perils, is true and staunch, and will not desert His sheep in the hour of danger. Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.
^ Among Mr. Brown's duties as assistant to Edward Irving in London one was to visit the Sunday schools, once a month each, 1 Ella Wheeler AVilcox, Poems of Passion, 145.
PSALM xxiii. 4 455
when one of the exercises was the repetition of metre Psalms. An incident connected with this duty made such a deep impression on him that more than sixty years afterwards, when he was in his ninety-second year, he recorded the circumstances in a journal conducted by the Young Men's Christian Association of Aberdeen. A poor, sickly boy, too unwell to be out, had repeated the Twenty- third Psalm. Next month it was reported that he was dying, and Mr. Brown went to see him, and found him in a miserable place — a sort of drying loft. The mother met him with tears in her eyes, and told him that her boy had been speaking all night. " What has he been speaking about ? " asked Mr. Brown. " Well, sir, you see I am a Eoman Catholic, and I don't know yoftr hymns, but it's something about death's dark vale." " Oh ! my woman, I know well what your boy has been speaking about ; take me to him." " On reaching his bed [Dr. Brown explained], I found it was a deal box, and he was lying on straw. ' My dear boy,' I said, as he looked up smiling, ' you are dying.' ' Yes, sir.' ' Are you afraid to die ? ' ' No, sir.' ' Why ? ' ' Because I am going to Jesus.' ' But how do you know that you are going to Jesus ? ' ' Because I love Him.' It was a child's answer [said Dr. Brown], but it was music to me." ^
4. The spirit of the verse is that of fearless courage in going forward to encounter the dark unknown. It is not possible to evade entering the valley ; but it is possible to be in it and not to fear realizing a Divine Presence in the gloom, aware of a love and power on which we may securely count. And so this verse, breathed three thousand years ago from the heart of one whom God had comforted, comes down through the ages as God's great Fear not to His people when He leads them into the darkness ; rather, indeed. His great Fatherly assurance that all things shall work together for their good. It is laid up in the Book for the use of all future ages, a promise and strength and joy for whatever evil days may come. Just like those snatches of song and sudden bursts of exaltation that lie scattered throughout the Apocalypse — like that great Alleluia which is to be uttered when the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth — so this verse, mighty for the past, is written for times still future, and lies waiting till there shall be hearts and lips to sing it.