The Tupelo journal., 1908-11-13
THE LORD
OUR SHEPHERD

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LESSON TExT.-Psalm %: read also
John 1o:1-1s. Commit entire Psalm.
GOLDEN TEXT.-"The Lord is my
Shepherd. 1 shall not w~ant."-Psalm 23:1.
AUTHOR.-David.
TIME.-Either In his youth. or later in
a review of his life. Barton places II
2 Sam. 17:2E-29.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Good Shepherd Shepherding
His Sheep.-Vs. 1-3. "On such a will.
derness of mirage, Elusive paths, Turk.
Ing terrors, and %infrequent spots OF
heritage, it is evident that the person
and character of the shepherd must
mean q great deal more to the sheep
than they can possibly mean with us.
With us, sheep left to themselves may
be seen any day-in a field or on a
hillside with a travelling wire fence
to keep them from straying. But l
DO not remember ever to have seen in
the east a flock of sheep without q
shepherd. On such a landscape as I
have described he is obviously indis-
%pensable."
The sheep in modern times under
civilized governments are az really
protected by the shepherd as are those
in the open fields Of the orient; only
In q different way. The laws take
the place of clubs and crooks. Fences
and police guards are but another
mode of protecting the sheep from
~labyrinthine paths and desert dangers,
and of guiding them to the green pas
lures and waters of rest.
This is equally true of life. BY a
fuller knowledge of natural and divine
law, by the protection, which Christian
civilization bestows, and the guidance
OF Gods word, many things are done
for us which needed once more visible
guidance. But it Is the same shep-
herding as was given of old.
The Good Shepherd loves his sheep
with an everlasting love. He gives his
life for the sheep.
He left heaven, his home, and be-
came man; taught, suffered, died, that
he might find his lost ones
The shepherdhood Of Christ and
the f%atherhood Of God are the two
most comforting assurances of Scrip.
ture."-Hugh Black.
The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep
by Name. TT is a remarkable fact in
orienta husbandry, that in a flock O.
hundreds of thousands each individual
sheep has its name, knows it. and Is
known by It," This implies: I. That
the shepherd takes a living, personal
interest in each individual. 2. That
he knows each individuals peculiar
circumstances, SO that he ministers
to each one what he specially needs
and requires. 8. That he assigns to
each n the work for which he is best
fitted. 4. That he can accept the love
and loyalty of each individual. Jesus.
the Good Shepherd, does all this and
more for his flock.
Every life needs shepherding; and
a shepherd knows his sheep by their
weakness and faults, and measures his
care of them thereby; and when the
Good Shepherd calls his own sheep.
he calls them by the name which Jug
gests at once their failing and his help.
and his call thus becomes a tender
appeal, for it is both a remembrance
and a promise Hugh Black.
The Good Shepherd is Our Guide
Through Life. He leadeth me-"
"Guideth me on a journey from which
i is easy to stray from the right
path" I'm the paths Of righteousness"
In the right tracks, those that lead
directly and safely to the place Of des-
tination."-Prof. c. A. Briggs. often
have l roamed through the shepherd
country in my youth and watched how
hard ait is to choose the right path
for the sheep; one leads to a precipice.
another to a place where the sheep
cannot find the way back; and the
shepherd was always going ahead.
leading them in the right paths.
proud of his good name as a shep-
herd."-Song of the Syrian Shepherd.
"Thy rod and thy STAFF ARE not
synonymous, for even the shepherd of
today, though often armed with a gun.
carries two instruments of wood. his
great oak club, thick enough to brain
a wild beast, and his staff to lean upon
or to touch his sheep with, while the
ancient shepherd without firearms
would surely still more require both"
George Adam Smith.
The staff is the common Shepherds
crook, by which he can draw a wan
dering sheep toward him or pull him
out Of some crevice or away from
some poisonous herb.
"They comfort me-" 1--WE must not
miss the force of the good old word
comfort icon, together; forts,
strong). 1t NEAR far more than SIM
ply to console. 1t signifies to tone up
the whole nature, to strengthen a man
so that all his energies can be brought
to bear.'-M. r. Vincent.
Goodness and mercy" (the quail
ties Of Cod shall follow me-" pursue
me, hunt me.
One need not seek anxiously for
them as an Elusive blessing, as the
child seeks in vain for the rainbow:
but they will pursue him and over
take him, if only he is a true sheep
of the Good Shepherd. God loves to