The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1898-04-20
SERMONS BY EMINENT D|V|NES.
GOSPEL MESSAGES.


Text: "The Lord is my shepherd
Psalms kill, 1.
What with post and rail fences and our
pride in Southdown, Astrakhan and Flem-
ish varieties Of sheep, there is no use now
OF the old-time shepherd. Such one had
abundance Of opportunity of becoming
o poet, being out OF doors twelve hours u
day, and ofttimes waking up In the night
on the hills. II the sturs orthe torrents or
the sun or the flowers had ANYTHING to
say, he was very apt to hear II. The Et-
trick Shepherd of Scotland, who afterward
took his seat in the brilliant circle OF VIII
son and Lockhart, got his wonderful poetic
inspiration in the ten years in which he
was watching the fiocks OF Mr.. Laidlaw.
There is often a sweet po etry 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, 80 Lord, 1t 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 IL, and how / shall climb up the
hill OF sorrow and auld age without II Thou
mayst ken, but dinnal'
David, the shepherd boy, Is watching his
fathers sheep. They are pasturing on the
very hills where afterward n 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.
wns beautiful, brave, musical and poetic.
i think he often forgot the sheep I'm his
reveries. There In the solitude he struck
the harp string that is thrilling through ali
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 saplngs. and he
had noticed the exuding OF the Juice OF the
tree, and when he became man he said
1.-THE trees of the Lord are full OF sap.d
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 man he said, "As for the stork,
the flr trees nre her house." In boyhood
he had heard the terrific Thunderstorm
that frightened the red deer into prema-
ture sickness, and when he became man
he said, "The voice OF the Lord maketh
the kinds to calve." David the boy had
lain upon his back looking up ut tho stars
and examining the sky, and to his boyish
imagination the sky seemed like piece of
divine embroidery, the divine fingers work.
ing In the threads Of light and the beads of
stars, and he became o man and wrote,
"When I consider thy heavens, tho work
OF thy fingers" When he became IN 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 hills, and he cries out In the text,
"The Lord is my shepherd"
III God Will help me, will talk to you OF
the shepherds plaid, theshepherd's crook,
the shepherds dogs, the shepherds past
ure grounds and the shepherds 1ocks.
And iirst 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 shep-
herd does not wear asplendid robe in which
to go out amid the storms and the rocks
parel 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 1t. know
the old painters represent halo around
the babe Jesus, but 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 Jud@a. Be-
coming man, he wore seamless Qarm ent
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 tho arms. Although the
gamblers qunrreled over It that Ia no owl
dence OF its value. have seen two rag
pickers quarrel over the refuse of an ash
barrel. No, In the wardrobe of heaven he
left the sandals OF light, the girdles of
beauty, the robes Of power and put on the
besoiled and tattered raiment Of our hu-
manity. Sometimes he did not even wear
the seamless robe. What Is that hanging
about the waist OF Christi Is it.a badge OF
authority? Is It royal coat OF armsp No.
It Is q towel. The disciples feet arc llthy
from the walk on the long way and are not
ut to be put upon the sofas on which they
are fo'recline at the meal, md so Jesus
washes their feet and gathers them up In
the towel to dry them. The work Of saving
tnis world was rough work, rugged work,
nard work, and Jesus put on tho raiment.
the plain raiment. Of our Gosh.
Next l mention the shepherds crook,
This was rod with curve at the end,
which. when sheep was going nstray. was
thrown over its meek, and In that way II
was pulled back. When tho sheep were not
going astray the shepherd would often use
II as o sort OF crutch, leaning on It, but
when the sheep were out OF the way the
crook was always busy pulling them back.
Al We like sheep, have gone astray. and
had 1t not been for the Shepherds crook
we would have fallen long ago over the
precipices.
Here is man who Is making too much
money. He is getting very vain. He saws:
After awhile shall be Independent of ali
the world; oh, my soul. eat, drink and be
merryp' Business disaster comes to him.
What is God going to do with him? Has
God any grudge against him? Oh, no. God
is throwing over him the shepherds crook
and pulling him back into better pastures.
Here Is man who has always been well,
He has never had any sympathy for in.
yalids. He calls them coughing, wheeling
nuisances. After awhile sickness comes to
him. He does not understand what God is
going to do with him. He says, .'Is the
Lord angry with me2" Oh, no. With the
shepherds crook he has been pulled back
into better pastures. Hero Is O happy
household circle. The parent does not
realize the truth that these children are
only loaned to him, and he forgets from
what source came his domestic blessings.
Sickness drops upon those children and
death swoops upon little one. He says,
"Is God angry with me?" No. His shep-
herds crook pulls him back into better
pastures. do not know what would have
become OF US II It had not been for the
shepherds crook. Oh, the mercies OF our
troublesl You take up apples and plums
from under the shade OF the trees, and the
very best fruits OF Christian character we
find In the deep shade OF trouble.
When was ON the steamer coming across
the OCEAN. got a cinder In my eye, and
several persons tried TO get It out very
gently. but It could not be taken out In
that way. ! was told that the engineer
had facility In such cases. I went to
l. L. -