The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1898-03-19
HEAVENLY SHEPHERD.
DR.. Talmage Delivers a Glowing
Pastoral Sermon.
Plain Raiment of Humanlty-The Crook
In the Hands of Christ-In the Pas
ture Ground-The Shearing
and the New Fold.

Rev. 7. Dewitt Talmage in the fol-
lowing sermon presents glowing pas
toral scene to the minds eye. The
text is:
The Lord is my shepherd. Psalms xiii. 1.
What with post and rail fences, and
our pride in sSouthdown, Astrakhan
and Flemish varieties of sheep, there
is no use now of the old-time shepherd.
Such an one had abundance of oppor-
tunity of becoming poet, being out of
doors II hours the day and oft-times
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 Scotland, who afterwards
took his seat in the brilliant circle of
Wilson and Lockhart, got his wonder
full poetic inspiration in the ten years
in which he was watching the t1ocks OF
Mr.. Laidlaw. There is often a 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: "Oh, Lord, it has seemed
good in Thy province to take from me
the staff of my right hand at the time
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: 1.-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: 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: ''As 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 man he said:
1.-The voice of the Lord maketh the
kinds to calve." David, the boy, had
lain upon his back looking ur 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 man and wrote: "When l
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, l will talk to
you of the shepherds plaid, the shep.
herds crook, the shepherds dogs, the
shepherds pasture grounds, and the
shepherds fiocks.
And first The shepherds plaid: II
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
a splendid robe in which to go out
amidst the storms, and the rocks. anC
the nettles; he puts on rough appare
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
it, know the old painters represent
halo around the babe Jesus; but | dc
not suppose that there was any NOR.
halo about that child than about the
head of any other babe that was borr
that Christmas eve in Judea. Becoming
man, He wore seamless garment
The scissors and needle have done
nothing to make it graceful. l take
it to have been a sack with three holes
= "a. e., 10 e., l. -
arms. Although the gamblers quar-
relied over it, that is no evidence of it,
value. | have seen two rag picker'
quarrel over the refuse of an ash bar
rel. No: in the wardrobe of HEAVIER
He left the sandals of light, the CIR
dies of beauty, the robes of power, anC
put on the besoiled and tattered raj
ment of our humanity Sometimes HI
did not even wear the seamless robe
What is that hanging about the wais
of Christ? Is it badge of authority
Is it a royal coat of arms? No, it is
towel. The disciples feet are filth,
from the walk on the long way, ant
are not fit to be put upon the sofas OF
which they are to recline at the meal
and so Jesus washes their feet an,
gathers them up in the towel t
dry them. The work of savin,
this world was rough work, rug
ged work, hard work, and Jesus pu
on the raiment, the plain raiment, Q
our flesh. The storms were to bea
Him, the crowds were to jostle Him
the dust was to sprinkle Him, the mob
were to pursue Him. Oh! shepher,
of Israeli leave at home Thy brigh
array. For Thee. what streams tt
ua ,,ptS imam Him tho Mai