The Alaska citizen., 1916-12-25
THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM.

The Lord is my shepherd, shall not want" Ps. 23-1.
 Three thousand years seems a long time. but it is fully that length of years since the Twenty-third Psalm was written and sung. We think of the Psalms largely as a collection of poems, but they are none the less a collection of songs, for thus were they composed to be sung by the people of Israel. It seem long period of time for a song to remain so fresh and music. full. All the material relics of Da vid's day have long since returned to dust-the weapons of warfare, the harp upon which he played, the scroll upon which he wrote the char lcters, even his own body itself all. III have returned to dust, but the song itself aeems sweeter and purer
 han when it first came from the
 ps of that grand Hebrew musician.
 It is our custom to keep the things hat have been treasured by our an ,estors and gather them together. 'or they are valuable, but the Twen- y-third Psalm possesses value far beyond all of our preciou5 heir oms; in vaults of safety we lay lside stocks and bonds representing )ur life savings, and they indeed re of much worth, but more valu-
 ble than these are the words of
 he six verses that compose the ,hepherd Psalm. We cannot get o IT from home but we will recall he comforting care of mother, and he helpful advice of father, or the
 nd friendship of a brother. and ne warm sympathy of sister, yet hese may be taken away from us
 l; death and forgetfulness, but there
 scarcely a home where we can Jt find a Bible which holds just dear, just as precious thi- Psalm all comfort, and we can read it
 new.
 The morning devotions, learned hen child with father and moth r. cling to the traveller in all his
 yanderings, and as he stops to thank Tod for life and preservation he re-
 eats no part of the Sacred Book
 ith calmer joy than that which re-
 'ords the whole life of the King )f Israel. It was the duty of the Iigh Priest to enter the Holy of Iolie" once each year for the per 'ormance of his duties because of
 he sins of the people, and this psalm las grown so sacred with the years that we give it just such a place in Jur devotions. It was taught to he Hebrew child in early youth; the
 hild Jesus learned itG simple lines md often taught his disciples the
 -ruths of it's precepts.
 How grand is even the reading of he first verse: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want" The word we translate Lord was a very acred one to the Hebrew So "a red was it that he did not pronounce t, but used another word for God.
 The High Priest alone was permitted
 use the word, and then but once ach year when he entered the Holy Holies" In the revised edition of
 he Bible the translators have in
 erted the word itself. and we read
 Jehovah is my shepherd" Jehovah,
 he am, the self existing Being. All other life is derived, but Je- lovah is from everlasting. From
 verlasting to everlasting thou art Cod"
 When We think of Jehovah we .hink of the One who has created ieaven and earth, the sea, and all he creatures, but this Psalm teach s us that He Is not only our ere, ator, Governor and Preserver. but hat He can take the place of Shep herd in the life and lead us with all the simplicity, all the care. all the understanding of the shepherd that cares for the flock. God is not a Being far away in the heaven who has set the world in motion and then left it to it's fate, but He is just as present as the truest friend of our life and infinitely more dear. Then how eager should his children bow the head in adoration and lift the heart in worship! Do not repeat the words as empty, si lent phrases. but read into them the power, the grace. the sovereign ty of the Infinite God. AS well as lawgiver find Him the One who bears in the yoke who is the