The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-03-09

Dog., sa"pa,rd's Pasture Grounds ~eG
Satpaerd's Flock
IN this wintrv season Or Tain ye
refreshes Us eith this glowing aa>io~ai
until We can almost near sHe b aDng
of the hocss IN green psg.u7e$ re
text is Psalms XIII, /. 'I2e = 70 Is
nv shepherd W"at w,ls pcsE {.
rail fences -. d cur Qride !c SUN
down, Astrsksau &Lc Fle1iS1 v&rle
ties Of sheep. there Is 10 0,e no" o.
the olG t;uae she0aerd. such y one
nad abuuda, CO Of opportunity Of be
coming : pet, he;as oas Of Goars y
hours the c~y a&d o:!im2s wa6iog up
in The night on the hills. Il The Stars
or the tor1eG.s or :ae sur G. Ire H2@
ers had sr7th!ne TO say, ne was Very
aptto hear it The EItrick Shepherd
of Sc ltland. who afterward lork his
ssat in the brilliant circle of Wllsca
and Lockbart, get MS wonderful 20
etic INSPIRATION IL tea years n which
he Was Watching sae f cks 1r.
L4idla@. There is oftea y s-o-t Pc
etry in the rnsgs6 ptose Of he Sec ca
shepherd. One OF these Scc,ch she2
herds lost his only son, and Ee SLe!.
down in PRAYER aud was overheard o
say, 20 L ord, It 1as seemed good Il
thy providence t. take from ne the
s.aS OF my right hand at the ila.e
when to US .and blind mortals | seem
ed to be most in nsed Of it, aod ho7 l
shall climo up the hill Of sorrow ard
auld age wilhou. it thou maycst Ken,
but dinns."
David, the shepherd boy, IS watch
ing his fathers sheep. They are pas
turing on the very hills where after
ward q Lsmo was corn Of which you
have hesrd much, the L4mo OF Goo;
which taketh away toe sin OF the
world" David, the shepherd boy, was
beautiful, brave, musical and poetic.
7 think he oft-n forgot the sh. eo IN
his verieS. Tners IN the sol!1u :e he
struck the harp string that IS thrilling
through ali ages. David the boy was
gathering the material for David the
man.
Lain upon his back looking up at
the stars and examining the SKY, and
to his boyish Imagination the sSv
seemed like piece o; divine emorold
cry, the divine 6ngerS working 10 the
threads OF light and the beads OF stars,
and he became a man and wrote,
'When I consider thy heavens, the
work Of thy fingers" Waea ne be
came az old nau, thinking OF the
goodness of G1d. ne seemed TO hear
the blea.ing of his fathers sheep
across many years aed to think OF the
time when he tended them on the
Bethlehem hills, and ne cries cut in
the text, Tine Lord is my shepherd ="
First meant to talk about the shep
herds plaid. It would bs preposter
Gus for man going out TO rough and
besoiling work to put on splendid ap-
psreL The potter 6oss not work II
velvet. The servant maid does not
put on satin while toiling st her du
ties. The shepherd does not wear q
splendid robs IN which to go out amid
the storms, and the rocks and the net
ties; he puts on the rough appatel 40
propriste TO q exposed work. fne
Lord cur Shsphsrd, coming out to
hunt the lost sheep, puts On no regal
sppsrel, b0ttbe plain garment OF our
humanity. There was notti2g pre-
tentious about it. I know the old
paiu tiers represent halo around toe
babe Jesus, out do not suppose that
there was any more halo about that
child than about the head ofany other
babe that was born that CHRISTMAS
eve in Judea Becoming a man, ne
wore seamless garment. The scls.
sors and needle had done nothing 70
make it graceful. I take it to have
been sack with three holes IN It, one
for the neck and two for the arms.
Although the gamblers quarre}ed over
It, that is no evidence Of lis value. l
have seen two ragpickers quarrel over
the refuse OF an ash barrel. No; IN
the wardrobe Of heaven he LETT the
sandals Of light, the girdles Of bescty,
the robes OF power, and put on the
besoiled and t&ttered raiment OF our
humanity. Sometimes he did not
even wear the seamless robe. Wnat
is that hanging about the waist OF
Chris,s Is it badge OF authoritys Is
It 8 royal coat of arms2 Nc; i IS g
towel. The disciples feet sra filthy
from the walk on the long way and
are not 6t to be put upon the sofas on
which they are tc recline a. the meal,
and so Jesus washes their feat and
gathers them up in the towel to ory
them. The work Of saving this world
was rous D work, rugged work, hard
work, and Jesus put on the ralmenE,
the plain raiment OF our tssh. Ihe
storms were to beat him, the crowds
were to josie hin, the dust was to
sprin kle him, the mobs were to pur
sue him. OShepherd Of Israel, leave
at home thy bright array! For thee,
what streams to ford, what nights alI
unsheltered, He puts upon him the
plain raiment of our humanity, wears
our woes. and while earth and heaven
and hell stand amszad at the aoneea
ton wraps around him the shepherd S
plaid
Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor Of his prayer.
Next I mention the 81, pleEd's
crook. This was rod with curve
at the end, which when s sheep was
going astray was thrown over It's neck
and in that way it was pulled back.
When thesheep were not going aStray,
the shepherd would often use II as q
sort of crutch, leaning on It, but
when tie sheep were out Of the way
the crook was always busy pulling
them back. All we, like sheep, bave
gone asray, and hai it not been fer
the Shepherds crook ne would have
fallen long ago over the preciPic
Here is man who is making too
mach money. He IS eeLEing very
vain. H says: After awhile !
shall be independent of al the world
Omy soul, eat, drink and De merry :"
Business disaster comes ID him. What
is God going to co with him2 Has
O. ID any pru6ge against him.