St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-04-02
THELORD OUR RSHEPHERD
A Pastoral Sermon In Time OF
Public Excitement.

a 106IOIoA 00IuO4 LII 4uA0 ~
Public Excitement.
ers' Towards Thoughts or Peaceful
Scenes In the Fold of the
Heavenly Shepherd. .
In the following sermon Rev. T. De
Witt Talmage draws a picture Of tn,
earthly and the Heavenly shepherd
The text is:
The Lord is my shepherd. xiii. l.
What with post and rail fences, ant
our pride in Southdown, Astrakhar
and Flemish varieties Of sheep, ther,
is no use now of the old-time shepherd
Such an one had abundance of oppor
tunity of becoming poet, being out O
doors II hours the day and oft-time.
waking up in the night on the hills
If the stars, or the torrents, or the sun
or the flowers had anything to say, ht
was very apt to hear it. The Ettricl
shepherd of Scotland, who afterward.
took his seat in the brilliant circle o.
Wilson and Lockhart, got his wonder
full poetic inspiration in the ten year:
in which he was watching the 1ocks oi
Mr.. Laidlaw. There is often sweet
poetry in the rugged prose of the
Scotch shepherd. One of these Scotch
shepherds lost his only son, and he
knelt down in prayer. and was over
heard to say: s'Oh, Lord, it has seemed
good in Thy province to take from me
the staff of my right hand at the time
when to us sand blind mortals seemed
to be most in need of it; and how
shall climb up the hill of sorrow and
auld age without it, Thou mayst ken,
but dinna.
David, the shepherd boy, is watch
ing his fathers sheep. They are past
uring on the very hills where after
ward Lamb was born of which you
have heard much: THE Lamb Of God,
which taketh away the sin of the
world David, the shepherd boy. was
beautiful, brave, musical and poetic. !
think he often forgot the sheep in his
reveries. There in the solitude he
struck the harp string that is thrilling
through all ages. David, the boy, was
gathering the material for David the
poet and David the man. Like other
boys, David was fond Of using his
knife among the saplings, and he had
noticed the exuding of the juice of the
tree; and when he became a man he
said: 1.-The trees of the Lord are full
of sap" David, the boy, like other
boys, had been fond of hunting the
birds nests, and he had driven the old
stork off the nest to find how many
eggs were under her; and when he
beca me man he said: las for the
stork, the fir trees are her house" ;"
In his boyhood he had heard the
terrific thunder storm that frightened
the red deer into premature sickness;
and when he became a man he said:
1.-The voice of the Lord maketh the
kinds to calve., David, the boy, had
lain upon his back looking up at the
stars and examining the sky, and to
his boyish Imagination the sky seemed
like piece of divine embroidery, the
divine fingers working in the threads
of light and the beads of stars; and he
became a man and wrote: when /
consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy
fingers" When he became an old man,
thinking of the goodness OF God. he
seemed to hear the bleating of his
fathers sheep across many years, and
to think Of the time when he tended
them on the Bethlehem hills, and he
cries out in the text: The Lord is my
shepherd
If God will help me. I will talk to
you of the shepherds plaid, the shep-
herds crook, the shepherds dogs. the
shepherds pasture grounds, and the
shepherds flocks.
And first: The shepherds plaid: 1t
would be preposterous for a man going
out to rough and besoiling work to put
on splendid apparel. The potter does
not work in velvet; the serving maid
does not put on satin while toiling at
her duties; the shepherd does not wear
a splendid robe in which to GO out
amidst the storms. and the rocks, and
the nettles; he puts on rough apparel
to his exposed work. The
Lord our shepherd, coming out to hunt
the lost sheep, puts on no regal apparel,
but the plain garment of our humanity.
There was nothing. pretentious about
it. know the old painters represent
q halo around the babe Jesus; but l do
not suppose that there was any more
halo about that child than about the
head of any other babe that was born
that Christmas eve in Judea. Becoming
. man. He wore q seamless garment,
The scissors and needle have done
nothing to make it graceful. take
it to have been a sack with three holes
IN it; one for the neck and two for the
arms. Although the gamblers quar-
relied over it, that is no evidence of its
value. / have seen two rag pickers
quarrel over the refuse Of an ash bar
rel No; in the wardrobe of Heaven
He left the sandals of light. the gir-
lies of beauty, the robes of power, and |
put on the besoiled and tattered raj |
nent of our humanity. Sometimes He
lid not even wear the seamless robe. |
What is that hanging about the waist |
If Christ? Is it badge of authority?
Is it royal coat of arms? No, it is = |
.owel. The disciples feet are filthy |
rom the walk on the long way, and |
ire not it to be put upon the sofas on
which they are to recline at the meal.
md so Jesus washes their feet and |
FATHERS them up in the towel to
iry them. The. work of saving
his world was rough work, rug
red work, hard work. and Jesus pu t
in the raiment, the plain raiment, of
,nr flesh. The storms were to beat |
Him, the crowds were to jostle Him.
he dust was to sprinkle Him. the mobs |
we're to pursue Him. Oh! shepherd
# Israel! leave At home Thy bright
nray. For Thee, what streams to |
ord! He puts upon Him the plain |
'aiment of our humanity; wears our
woes; and while earth and Heaven |
md hell stand amazed ut the abnega-
ion, wrapsaround Him the Shepherds |
,laid:
Cold mountains and the midnight air,
Witnessed the fervor OF His prayer
Next ! mention the shepherds crook
This was rod with curve ut the |
md, which, when sheep was going