The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1892-04-23

DRY Verses. Text. Ps. kill,
- Commentary ~ the Rev. d. n.
stearns.
L THE Lord Is my shepherd: | shall not
want" Inasmuch as this psalm comes be-
tween one that describes the death and
resurrection Of the Christ, and one that
speaks Of the fullness OF the earth belong.
ing to the King Of Glory, it looks rs if this.
too, was a kingdom psalm. It il one of the
most helpful and practical Of all the psalms
for the daily life, but we arc constantly en-.
joying kingdom truth by anticipation. 1t
is true for Us now in n measure, but the
fullness Of fulfllment 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 "a a shepherd cared for him.
He is the good, great, chief Shepherd, whoac 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 K, II, IA, $3.50; Heb. xiii. 70; Luke
XIV, 8; ! Pet. v, y. No good thing will He
VIC JULIAN t1oi1A oAS y dTV truly lis,
but will supply I'LL their need according to
His great riches FPS. lxxxiv. II, xxxiv, 10.
Phil. Nv, 19. TO believe heartily and live
daily upon this one verse would bring Joy
to many q sad heart. A statement like
this that does not bring us Joy and peace is
simply not believed. As to what the chief
Shepherd will do for Israel when He comes
in His glory read lisa. Il, GIL; Eek. xxxiv,
1l-2A
Q HE maketh me to lie down in green
pastures: He leadeth me beside the still
waters" Or, rs 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 wanti What glories of m%illennial
blessedness are here foreshadowed for
Israeli and they shall dwell safely and
none shall make them afraid (Ezek. xxxiv,
1915, 2S). No more hunger nor thirst, and
the Lamb in the midst Of the throne shall
feed them and shall lead then, into living
fountains Of wsters (Rev. vii. is, ~. But
what about the believer nowi Jesus Christ
Himself is not only our Redeemer, but He
is. also Il 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 1.-THE water that | shall give
him shall he in him a we'll Of water spring
ing up into everlasting life" tJohn vi, Sc,
81; iv, ~.
8. HE restoreth my soul: He leadeth
me in the paths Of righteousness for His
names sake" He L. 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 girdie OF
His reins Acts iii, q: lisa. xxi, l.; XII, 81.
As to present experience, rs He is the only
Saviour, 40 He is the only restorer, and all
our dealings must he personally with Him
self. Salvation, once ours, cannot be lost.
Hegives himself to US and be is ours forever;
and where He truly begins a work He will
carry it or John x, q, %; Phil. |, g. But
a very little thing MAY interrupt our cont
munion and cause US to walk in darkness.
The least turning from righteousness will
cause a cloud between our souls and Him,
but rs 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 II Il cloud arise through III
failure to abide in Him, one truly p~euitent
look to Him and He will restore our souls
to conscious fellowship with Himself and
not a cloud between.
4. "Yea, though I 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 a reference to the awful valley Of death
tba.t shall be in connection with the judg
mcnt upon the enemies of Israel when It
shall require seven months to bury the
dead. Compare Eek. xxx, IL; Joel iii, ~
In those. days Israel, the rod of God, shall
be His comfort FPS. lxxfv. Q; cx, 2; Jer. K,
Is, Mic. vii, l4). Asto present experience,
we can rejoice that the sting of death,
which is sin q Cor. xv, $3.50. has been
taken away. Sin sturg Jesus to death, and
left its sting In Him, 80 thstdeath cannot
now harm any child Of God Wen,as never
die. but, like Enoch and Elijah. be trsns
lated body and soul q Cor. XIV, 81, ssl But
If Jesus should yet tarry awhile and we
the promise will be as good in death as it
has been in life. II. the Lord thy God, will
hold thy right hand. saying, Fear not, /
will help thee" lisa. xii, 49,. To die h
gain, to depart and he with Christ is far
better. Absent from the body 10 present
with the Lord I'll Cor. v, 8; Phil /, q, 23).
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 20.
and found it sunshine all the way. /
s. Thou preparest a table before me in
the presence OF mine enemies; thou anoint-
est my head with oil; my cup runneth
over" Following for a moment the king
dom line Of truth we turn to lisa, XIV, &c.
and at the very time Of the overthrow Of
Israel's enemies we read Of a great feast fol.
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, 8
for Israel and Rev. v,9 10 for the church,
in connection with Ps. OK, 4 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 un-
seen, but the soulthat has learned to feed
on Christ has q continual feast. Christ
Himself had a continual feast, even in the
presence Of his enemies, "a He delighted in
the Fathers will and made that Fits meat
and drink John Nv, "a; vi, So. Let US do
likewise and our cups shall run over:
9. 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 WI land;
they shall obtain Joy and gladness, and sor
row and signing shall fee away lisa. xxxv,
10y. The church shall dwell In the New
Jerusalem, the glory Of God will tighten it
and the Lamb be the light thereof Grey.
xxi, ~. The goodness and mercy Of the
Lord shall fiji the whole earth; we shall
see II md enjoy IL In all the yigor and fresh.