Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1898-03-04
HERDING THE SHEEP.
A SPRING PASTORAL FROM THE REV
DR.. TALMAGE.
He Prays That His Flock May Listen to
the Piping of the Good Shepherd, Bid.
ding Them to Renounce Sin and Accept
His Pardon-A Refreshing Sermon.

His Pardon-A Refreshing Sermon.
! Copyright. 1898, by American Press Asso-
ciation.l
WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.-In this win
try season DR.. Talmage refreshes us
with this glowing pastoral until we can
almost hear the bleating of the tiocks in
green pastures. The text is Psalms
xiii, l, 1.-THE Lord is my shepherd.
What with post and rail fences and
our pride in Southdown, Astrakhan and
Flemish varieties of sheep, there is no
use now of the old time shepherd. Such
one had abundance of opportunity of
becoming a poet, being out Of doors IL
hours the day and ofttimes waking up
in the night on the hills. If the stars or
the torrents or the sun or the flowers
had anything to say, he was very apt to
hear it, The Ettrick Shepherd Of Scot
land, who afterward took his seat in
the brilliant circle of Wilson and Lock
hart, got his wonderful poetic inspira-
tion in the ten years in which he was
watching the fiocks of Mr.. Laidlaw.
There is often a sweet poetry III the
rugged prose Of the Scotch shepherd.
One Of these Scotch shepherds lost his
only son, and he knelt down in prayer
and was overheard to say, 80 Lord, it
has seemed good in thy providence 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 dnnap
David, the shepherd boy, is watching
his fathers sheep. They are pasturing
on the very hills where afterward a
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 aud poetic. l 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 became a man
he said, "As for the stork, the fir trees
are her house" In boyhood he had
heard the terrific thunderstorm that
frightened the red deer into premature
sickness, and when he became a man he
said, 1.-THE voice Of the Lord maketh
the binds to calye" 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
a piece of divine embroidery, the divine
fingers working in the threads Of light
and the beads of stars, and he became
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 Beth
lehem bills, and he cries out in the text,
"The Lord is my shepherd.
If God will help me, will talk to
you of the shepherds plaid, the shep-
herds crook, the shepherds dogs, the
Shepherds pasture grounds and the
shepherds s locks.
The Shepherds Plaid.
And first the shepherds plaid. 1t
would be preposterous for 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
splendid robe in which to 60 out
amid the storms and the rocks and the
nettles; he puts on the rough apparel
appropriate 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 IL.
/ know the old painters represent halo
around the babe Jesus, but do not sup
pose that there was any more halo about
that child than about the head of any
other babe that was born that Christ
mas eve in Judaa. Becoming a man, he
wore a seamless garment The scissors
and needle had done nothing to make 1t
graceful. / take it to have been sack
with three holes in it-One for the neck
and two for the arms. Although the
gamblers quarreled over 1t that ls no
evidence Of its value. have seen two
ragpickers quarrel over the refuse OF an
ash barrel. No, in the wardrobe OF heav'
en- he left the sandals of light, the gir-
dies of beauty, the robes Of power and
put on the besoiled and tattered raiment
of our humanity. Sometimes he did not
even wear the seamless robe. What Is
that hanging about the waist of Christ!
Is it a badge of authority Is it royal
coat of arms? No, it is towel. Inc
disciples feet are filthy from the walk
on the long way and are not fit to be put
upon the sofas ON which they are to re-
cline at the meal, and so Jesus washes
their feet and gathers them up IN the
towel to dry them. The work OF saving
this world vas rough work, rugged
work, had work, and Jesus put ON the
raiment, the plain raiment, of our flesh.
The storms were to beat him, the crowds
were to jostle aim, the Dust was to
sprinkle him, the mobs were to pursue
him. o Shepherd of Israel, leave at
home thy bright array For thee what
streams to ford, what nights all unshel-
tered. He puts upon him the plain raj
ment of our humanity, wears our woes.
and while earth and heaven and hell
stand amazed at the abnegation wraps
around him the shepherds plaid:
Cold mountains and the midnight air
witnessed the fervor u his prayer
Next mention the shepherds crook.
This was a rod with curve at the end
which, when a sheep was going astray,
was thrown over its neck, and in thai
,,av IL WAS nulled back. When the