DISCOURSE VI.

A Meditation on the Twenty-third Psalm.

The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

WHY art thou cast down then, O my soul? What if the fig-tree do not blossom, if the labour of the olive fail, or if the favourite gourd be withered, and poverty and distress make large and hasty advances toward thee; still, why art thou disquieted within me? The Lord is my shepherd; the Lord Jehovah, the Creator of all things, who does what he pleases in heaven above, and on earth beneath, who can open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of valleys, and can make all things work together for my comfort and advantage; the Lord Jesus, my Saviour, my Friend, my elder Brother, who is touched with the feeling of my infirmities, knows what I need; and will not suffer me to be tried above what he will give me grace to endure. The Lord is my Shepherd.

Blessed Jesus! thou art called by various names, all of which imply great condescension and goodness; but of all the characters which thou hast assumed, none is expressive of more tender affection, and watchful care, than this of a shepherd; and none of them all hast thoù more constantly and graciously

fulfilled. O, how infinitely hast thou outdone the best shepherd that ever existed! Many have been remarkable for looking diligently to the state of their flocks, providing for them suitable pasture, taking care that none of them go astray, and defending them against the beasts of prey to which they were exposed; but when did any one lay down his life for his sheep? Yet this has been done by my compassionate Shepherd.

I shall not want.

I cannot want, if he undertake for my supply. I may be deprived, indeed, of health and wealth, and friends, and a thousand things which others, or which I myself, may suppose to be necessary to my happiness. But my infinitely wise and faithful Shepherd best knows what I need. He may judge a change of pasture, though apparently from good to bad, to be advantageous. He may see that a medicine will be useful, when I am wishing for a cordial; or humbling dispensations, when I may imagine that I need consolation. But I will comfort myself with this, that what I really want, I shall assuredly have. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

And are not present mercies, O my soul, a sufficient pledge of future supplies? I have all things richly to enjoy ; and it is the glorious peculiarity of the blessings of the gospel, that they perish not in the using, like earthly enjoyments. The waters of the sanctuary flow for ever; the river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, depends not on any created source for supply; it rises in heaven, springs immediately from the throne of God, and is con

stantly fed by the inexhaustible fountain of grace and glory.

He restoreth my soul.

Thanks to my ever faithful guide and guardian, "He orders my steps, and ponders my goings;" and by the most endearing cords of love, has bound me fast to the horns of his altar. How frequently, and how solemnly, have I renewed those bonds, and entered into fresh engagements, that, though all men should forsake him, yet would not I! When I have been enjoying his loving-kindness, which is better than life, and beholding the glory of this only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, I have thought it absolutely impossible that I should ever lose the sight or remembrance of him who appeared the chief of ten thousand, and altogether lovely. I then thought, and resolved, that my eyes should be ever towards the Lord; and that I would forsake houses, and lands, and friends, and riches, and pleasures, and every thing that would interpose between my soul and my Saviour. But how am I ashamed and· grieved at the remembrance of my sad declensions! Alas! if I were to reckon up all the times when I have turned away from the Lord, where should I begin, and where should I end? It would be only a shameful, painful recital of the greater part of my life. It were much easier to enumerate the days when I walked humbly with my God, than those in which my unbelieving heart has departed from him. But still, the Lord is my shepherd! Though his eyes run to and fro through the earth, and discern the rovings of my imagination from him, yet he has compassion on the ignorant and on them who are out of the way.

He restoreth my soul.

Sometimes he draws me back by encouragement; sometimes he drives me back with his rod. Sometimes he tenderly looks me into penitence and tears; and sometimes he chastens me into thoughtfulness and obedience.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.

If it were not for that, I should perish. If he were only to put me in the right path, and barely tell me, "This is the way, walk in it," I should soon mistake again and turn aside, either to the right hand or to the left; for my heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. I do not know it, and I dare not trust it. It is bent to backslide; easily imposed upon by the slightest temptation, and the cunning craftiness of him that lies in wait to deceive. But I will set the Lord always before me: and because he is on my right hand, I shall not be moved. He knows my weakness, and pities it; and he has therefore kindly offered to be my guide; and he leads me, by the skilfulness of his hands, through all the dangers of this intricate wilderness. Many a time, if I had been left to follow the impulse of my own imagination, or the persuasion or example of most around me, I should certainly have wandered out of my path. This way seemed pleasantest, that seemed straightest, or the other seemed broadest. I should have taken any one of them sooner than the narrow, steep, rugged path of righteousness; if he had not hedged it up with thorns, and, going before, had not left me an example that I should follow his steps.

For his Name's sake.

Blessed Lord, what has thy name to do with any conduct of mine? What effect could the errors, or the uprightness, of such a worthless wretch have upon thee? What is man, that thou takest such knowledge of him? My soul shall magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoice in God my Saviour; whose name is engaged for my security and supply. My perseverance in the paths of righteousness, depends not on my purposes and resolutions, but on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever. He has undertaken and promised for me; and for his name sake he will not suffer me to draw back to perdition. He will keep me, therefore, from falling, or restore me when I do fall; and preserve me, by his mighty power, through faith to salvation.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.

Though I were called to such a sight as Ezekiel's vision, a valley full of dead men's bones; though the king of terrors should ride in awful pomp through the streets, slaying heaps upon heaps, and thousands shall fall at my side, and ten thousands at my right hand, I will fear no evil. Though he should level his fatal arrows at the little circle of my associates, and put lover and friend far from me, and mine acquaintancé into darkness, I will fear no evil. Yea, though I myself should feel his arrow sticking fast in me, the poison of it drinking up my spirits; though I should in consequence of that fatal seizure, sicken and languish, and have all the symptoms of approaching dissolution, still I will fear no evil. Nature, indeed, may start back and tremble; but I trust, that he who