"THOU! Whom my soul admires above All earthly joy and earthly love, Tell me, dear Shepherd! let me know, Where do Thy sweetest pastures grow? "Where is the shadow of that rock, That from the sun defends Thy flock? Fain would I feed among Thy sheep, Among them rest, among them sleep." V A SHEPHERD. "I am the good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine."-JOHN X. 14. "Our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep.” — HEB. xiii. 20. "When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory."—I PET. v. 4. JESUS called Himself a Shepherd; He never called Himself a Lamb. The Church is called a fold; believers are the sheep; children are the lambs. A flock implies a shepherd. The pastoral life of the patriarchs seems to have brought this figure of the shepherd and his sheep into frequent use. One of our sweetest Psalms begins with the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd." Prophecy said of Christ," He shall feed His flock like a shepherd." We could hardly part with this figure, it is so inwrought into the fabric of the Scriptures, is so fit and significant, and is so dear to those who compose the Church. We love to think of our selves as members of a common flock watched and tended by the same great and good Shepherd. I. It is to be said, first, of our Shepherd, that He feeds us. "The Lord my pasture shall prepare, And feed me with a shepherd's care." The first duty of a shepherd is to feed the flock. No other service or attention can take the place of this. Jesus' charge to Peter was, "Feed my sheep; " "Feed my lambs." Peter, remembering this charge, repeated it to the elders: "Feed the flock of God which is among you." And Paul said, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God." The ancient shepherds were neglectful, and fed themselves; hence the woe: "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool; ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock." On the contrary, the great Shepherd says: "I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down." "I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall Our they feed upon the mountains of Israel." Shepherd has infinite resources; His pastures never wither; the supply is rich, and it never fails. It is a natural inference, if the Lord is our Shepherd, we shall not want. He will supply the needs of the body. One who had experience said that "he had not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." If necessary, the ravens will bring bread or the heavens rain manna. But it is the soul especially that the great Shepherd feeds. In a spiritual sense He manifests Himself; He comes in and sups with us; He sends His Spirit to witness with our spirit, and to impart the knowledge of things spiritually discerned. We speak of His entertainments as blessed; we enjoy the delicious fare; we feed on angels' food. The various means of grace-prayer, song, worship, the sacraments, personal efforts, and the endurance of trials are methods by which spiritual strength and stature are attained. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled." Nor is this fulness confined to earth. Of the glorified it is written: "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed |