The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1892-04-20
GOD OUR SHEPHERD.
LESSON ~, SECOND QUARTER, INTER-
NATIONAL SERIES, APRIL "a.


tween one that describes the death and
resurrection of the Christ, ard one that
speaks OF the fullness of the earth belong
ing to the King of Glory, it looks rs if this,
too, was kingdom psalm. 1t is one of the
most helpful and practical of all the psalms
for the daily life, bat we arc constantly en-
joying kingdom truth by anticipation. 1t
Is true for us now in a measure, but the
fullness of fuliillment is yet future. Da-
vid knew how he cared for his sheep, how
he fed them, protected them, led them and
all but Laid down his life for them. He
firmly believed that in much greater de-
gree Jehovah as a shepherd cared for him.
He is the good, great, chief Shepherd, who &C
tually laid down His life for the sheep, rose
again from the dead knows all His sheep
by name, seeks them when they go astray,
will never lose one of them, and when He
appears in glory will reward all the under
shepherds who have been faithful to Him
John X, II, a. $3.50; Heb xiii, 20; Luke
XIV, 6; Pet. v ~ No good thing will He
we withhold from any who are truly His,
but will supply all their need according to
His great riches Cps lxxxiv, IL; xxxiv, 10;
Phil iv, 19). To believe heartily and live
daily upon this one verse would bring joy
to many sad heart. 4 statement like
simply not believed. AS to what the chief
Shepherd viii do for Israel when He comes
in His glory read Isa. xl. GIL; Eek. xxxiv,
11-23
9. He maketh me to lie down in green
pastures; He leadeth me beside the still
waters" Or, as in the margin, pastures of
tender grass and waters of quietness.
When sheep lie down in good pasture they
must be abundantly satisfied, and with
quiet water close at hand what more can
they want? What glories of millennial
blessedness are here foreshadowed for
Israeli and they shall dwell safely and
none shall make them afraid (Ezek. xxxiv,
1875, 2S). No more hunger nor thirst, and
the Lamb in the midst of the throne shall
feed them and shall lead them into living
fountains of waters (Rev. vii. 16, 10. But
what about the believer now? Jesus Christ
Himself is not only our Redeemer, but He
is also our green pasture and fountain of
living waters. "He that eateth me shall
live by me-" and HE that eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
in him." and the water that l shall give
him shall be in him we'll of water spring
ing up into everlasting life" John vi, So,
81; iv, 1N.
g. 'He restoTeth my soul; He leadeth
me in the paths of righteousness for His
names sake" He is the great restorer,
and when He comes again He will restore
all things of which the prophets have
spoken. Then a king shall reign in right
eousness and princes shall rule in judg-
ment. Righteousness shall be the girdle
of His loins and faithfulness the girdle Of
His reins (Acts iii, 81; lisa. xxi, 1; xi, 81.
As to present experience as He is the only
ax-iC 10 ct hs 1xrr- ctO all
our dealings must be personally with Him.
self Salvation, once ours, cannot be lost.
Hegives himself to us and he is ours forever;
and where He truly begins a work He will
carry it on (JOhn X, %, IS; Phil j, g.. But
a very little thing may interrupt our COM
munion and cause US to walk in darkness.
The least turning from righteousness will
cause a cloud between our souls and Him;
but as all clouds are earth born, let us live
in the heavenlies where we belong (Eph ii,
5, g. and we may have uninterrupted com
munion Or if n cloud arise through our
failure to abide in Him, one truly penitent
look to Him and He viii restore our souls
to conscious fellowship with Himself and
not cloud between.
t. YEA, though / walk through the val
ley of the shadow of death / will fear no
evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and
thy staff they comfort me" Possibly there
is reference to the awful valley of death
that shall be in connection with the judg-
ment upon the enemies of Israel when it
shall require seven months to bury the
dead. Compare Eek. xxx, u: Joel iii, 2.)
In those days Israel, the rod of God, shall
be His comfort ops. lxXiv, 2; OK, ?; Jer. X,
10; Mic. vii, ~. As to present experience,
we can rejoice that the sting of death,
which is sin q Cor. XIV, $3.50, has been
taken away. Sin stung Jesus TO death, and
left its sting in Him. so that death cannot
now harm any child of God. We may never
die. but, like Enoch and Elijah. be trans
lated body and soul Il Cor. XIV, 81, 52). But
if Jesus should yet tarry awhile and we
pass out from the body for a little season,
tie promise will be as good in death as it
has been in life. al, the Lord thy God, will
hold Thy right hand, saying, Fear not, |
viii aejp thee" Qsa. XII, 13). To die is
gain, to depart and be with Christ is far
better. Absent from the body is present
with the Lord I'll Cor. v, 8; Phil. i, 81, 2S).
Not for one moment will the Saviour leave
us, so that abiding in Him there may not
even be a shadow Many have found it so,
and found it sunshine all the way.
5. Thou p-eparest table before me in
the presence of mine enemies; thou anoint-
est my head with oil; my cup runneth
over" Following for moment the king
dom line of truth we turn to Isa- XIV, 60,
and at the very time of the overthrow Of
Israel's enemies we read of great feast for
the people of God. Zech. xiv, and Rev.
xix, may be read in the light of this with
great profit. The amounting speaks Of
priests and things, and suggests lisa. Xxi, 6
for Israel and Rev. V, 9, 10 for the church,
in connection with Ps. cx, for Him who
is both king of Israel and head of the
church. AS to the daily life of the Chris
tian, enemies are everywhere, seen and I'M
seen but the soul that has learned to feed
on Christ has a continual feast. Christ
Himself had continual feast, even in the
presence of his enemies, as He delighted in =.
the Fathers will and made that His meat
and drink (John iv, "a; vi, 3S). Let US do
likewise and our cups shall run over.
6. Surely goodness and mercy shall fol
low me all the days Of my life; and will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever"
Israel shall dwell safely in her own land;
they shall obtain JOY and gladness, and sor-
row and signing shall fee away lisa. xxxy,
1O). The church shall dwell in the New
Jerusalem. the glory of God will tighten it
and the Lamb be the light thereof REV.
xxi, 23) The goodness and mercy of the
Lord shall fill the whole earth; we shall
see it and enjoy it in all the vigor and fresh
ness of eternal youth if only we are re-
deemed by the precious blood of the Lamb
AS to the present life HE who spared not
His own Son but delivered him up for US
all. how shall He not with Him also freely
give us all thingss" And inasmuch as all
tdingS are for our sal1es, and working to-