St. Tammany farmer., 1907-08-03
le formal occasion of worship.

watching for the coolest, greenest
spots for the sheep to pasture, he
thought of the Lord as his great shep
herd leading him, and caring for him.
and with the thought had come as we
have said an inexpress!ble sense OF
joy and gladness which he did not
understand himself He knew that
the nature about him spoke familiar
language to his heart and told him of
the God which Israel worshiped. He
knew that he loved his sheep and that
as he cared for them he found de-
light in thinking of Gods care for him.
He wondered now, as he walked along,
whether he was as willing to trust
God as his sheep were wiling to trust
him, and whether he was as willing to
be obedient to the Divine will as they
We're to obey his voice.
mo-" he said, suddenly rousing
himself as his watchful eye noted
that one of the young sheep had reck-
lessIy wandered far up the hillside,
the dense growth of underbrush. mo,
| am just like that straying sheep.
/ wander SO often in forbidden paths.
But, he added, cheerfully, as he hur-
ried off after the truant, "the Lord
goes out after me and brings me
back, even as must go and bring
him back"
But David had covered scarcely half
of the distance to the point where he
had seen the lamb disappear when he
| heard the most piteous bleating as
though he had fallen into some snare
| or had been seized by some wild
beast. Without thought of danger
to himself, David broke into run and
| plunged into the thick jungle-like
growth, from which came the sound
of the bleating.
In the semi-darkness of the densely
clearly, but with no other thought
than that of reaching his precious
| sheep he continued his rapid flight
towards the place from which the
/ sounds of distress came, and before
he realized it he suddenly stumbled
| and almost fell over soft-yielding
something, which turned and faced
him with a fierce, muf1ed growl.
David took in the situation at a
| glance, and with quickness which
took the beast by surprise. he dealt
/ it stunning blow between the eyes
with his heavy staff, at the same time
seizing the lamb and placing it behind
him. Then with prayer that God
would help him, he waited the attack
of the creature, which was now infu-
| rated at the loss of it's meal. AS the
creature sprang into the air at his
| throat, he bent his 1.-THE body to one
side and then with the quickness of
before it had touched the ground. For
| tunately it landed between two iut-
| ting pieces of rock in such a way as
to pinion its body so that with the
/ weight of Dayids body upon it, it was
| unable to extricate itself, and the
more desperately it struggled, the
more tightly did it become wedged
q between the edges of the unyielding
rock 1t was the work of but mo-
ment for David to unfasteH the sling
of strong thongs which he carried at
his side, and to bring it taut about
the neck of the animal beneath him.
Then with ever Tightening coils he
slowly choked the animal to death.
"The Lord, my shepherd, did help
me to save my sheep" he exclaimed,
, gratefully, as he lifted the lamb he
|, had just rescued from the ground
where it had lain in abject fear, and
examined 1t to see if it had been in.
iured. Il am glad now that did not
stay to the feast and sacrifice. II
was better that should be here. Sure
ly, I have been of more service here
than could have been there and
guess the Lord was nearer to me here
/ than he could have been had re
mained to see the prophet. But
wonder what mission he had to the
house of Jesse, my father. Perhaps,
he continued musingly, as he hurried
back to the rest Of his sheep which
he found grazing quietly, perhaps il
was to call Eliab, the eldest, to some
special work. Surely he is fine fel
low and deserving of such good for
tune" And seating himself again il
the shade of the tree he took up hi!
harp and began to play softly, while
his thoughts busted themselves will
picturing the future for his brother
! And then he got to wondering wha
he was going to do when ne got to b,
d man grown.
3 "My, would like to be great lead
3 er like Moses or joshua" he exclaim
] ed, enthusiastically, and then as hi
V eyes rested on his sheep, bringing
t him to the present responsibility, h
e added: "And / will try and do M
d best here Yes, I am always goin
to try and do my best. I am sur
God will like to have me do thai
Y whatever may be the task"
A sharp halo interrupted his ful
!, ther thought, and soon Eliab, hi
: brother, was standing before him.
d What did the prophet give you t
9 do?" he asked, eagerly.
v "For me?" Eliab repeated half su
g lenly. Nothing, but he asketh fo
y thee, and will not suffer the feast t
d continue until thou art come. I wi
e stay with the sheep. Go quickly"