The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1908-11-13
THE LORD
OUR SHEPHERD
Sunday School Lesson for Nov. IS, 1908
Specially Arranged for This Paper
Specially Arranged for This Paper


LESSON TEXT.-Psalm 2S; read also
John HOLLIS. Commit entire Psalm.
GOLDEN TEXT.-"The Lord is my
Shepherd, I shall not w~ant."-Psalm 23:1.
AUTHOR.-David.
TIME.-Either in his youth, or later in
a review of his life. Barton places IL
during Absalom's rebellion, referring to
2 sam. 17:27-29.
Comment and Suggestive Thought.
The Good Shepherd Shepherding
His Sheep.-Vs. 1-3. "On such q 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 a great deal more to the sheep
thar they a 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 I
do not remember ever to have see in
the east a flock of sheep without a
shepherd. On such a landscape as I
have described he is obviously indis-
pensable."
The sheep in modern times under
civilized governments are as really
protected by the shepherd as are those
in the open fields of the orient; only
in a 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 fatherhood of God are the two
most comforting assurances of Scrip
ture."-Hugh Black.
The Good Shepherd Knows His Sheep
by Name. at is a remarkable fact in
oriental husbandry, that in a flock of
hundreds of thousands each individual
sheep has its name, knows it, and ia
known by it." This implies: 1. 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 n what he specially needs
and requires. 8. That he assigns to
each one the work for which he is best
fitted. 4. That he can accept the love
and loyalty of each individual. Jesus
the Good Shepherd, Ices all this and
more for his flock.
Every life needs shepherding; and
q 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 sug
gests at once their failing and his help
bhu iio Soii tito SSolllSo q SiluC
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
1t is easy to stray from the RICH
path" "In the paths of righteousness
"In the right tracks, those that LEAD
1iraat1r onI cafaIu IN Tho plooo Af doc
tination."-Prof. c. A. Briggs. "Oftel
have I roamed through the shepherd
country in my youth and watched how
hard it is to choose the right patl
for the sheep; n leads to a precipice
another to a place where the sheel
cannot find the way back; and tn
shepherd was always going ahead
leading them in the right paths
proud of his good name as a sheI
herd."-Song of the Syrian Shepherd
"Thy rod and thy staff" ARE no
synonymous, for ever the shepherd i
to-day, though eften armed with a CUR
carries two instruments of wood, hi
great oak club, thick enough to brai,
q wild beast, and his staff to lean upo
or to touch his sheep with, while tn
ancient shepherd without firearm
would surely still more require both.
George Adam Smith.
The staff is the common shepherd
crook, by which he can draw a wal
dering sheep toward him or pull hir
out of some crevice or away froI
some poisonous herb.
: "They comfort me" eve must nc
miss the force of the good old wor
comfort icon, together; forth
: strong). It means far more than sin
! ply to console. 1t signifies to one u
the whole nature, to strengthen a ma
! SO that all his energies can be brougf
: to bear."-M. r. Vincent.
} Goodness and mercy" (the quail
. ties of God) shall. follow me-" pursu
me, hunt me.
p. One need not seek ~anxiously fl
! them as an Elusive blessing, as til
child seeks in vain for the rainbow
! but they will pursue him and owe
take him, if only he Is a true shee