How the Lambs Feed

How the Lambs Feed

(No. 3199)

A SERMON PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1910.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Then shall the lambs feed in their pasture." Isaiah 5:17.

THE sense of this passage may be that Judea would be so desolated that
it would become rather a wild wilderness pasture for flocks than an
inhabited country. But that is not the meaning which the old readers of
the Bible were accustomed to give to it. The Hebrew commentators
considered "the lambs" to mean the house of Israel and regarded this as
a promise that in all times of distress and affliction, God's flock
would still be fed–there would still be a people kept alive and these
should still meet with suitable support. Whether that is the correct
sense or not, I shall use the words as having some such meaning.

Our text deals with the lambs, and to the lambs we intend to speak–may
the Good Shepherd speak to them also! Young converts, newborn souls,
these words are for you–you shall feed in your pasture.

I. Our first observation is that GOD WOULD HAVE ALL HIS CHURCH FED–a
simple enough observation, certainly, and clearly to be inferred from
the common course of nature, for no sooner is any living thing created
than there are appliances for its feeding. No sooner is a seed cast
into the ground and vitalized than it gathers to itself the particles
upon which it feeds. And no sooner is an animal born than it receives
food. Surely the Lord does not create life in the regenerated soul
without providing stores upon which it may be nourished! Where He gives
life, He gives food.

Simple as this statement is, it has often been forgotten by those who
should best have borne it in mind. It strikes me that it has been
forgotten by some ministers. They have exhorted, threatened and
thundered, but they have never fed those to whom they have preached!
They have cried, "Believe! Believe!" but seldom explained what was to
be believed, or, when they have mentioned the simple elements of the
faith, they have gone no further, but have continued to speak the first
principles of the Gospel and no more. These Brothers have their proper
sphere, but they should not be pastors unless they can feed the flock
of God! The wanderers must be gathered first, but afterwards they must
be fed. For lack of this, many have remained in weakness and
bondage–and have made no advance in the Divine Life. The necessity for
spiritual food has been forgotten by some ministers who have
continually harped upon the sublime Doctrines of the Gospel, but have
not preached the elementary Truths of God. Surely they have not carried
out their Lord's command, "Feed My lambs." They have been content to
feed the older people, who by reason of use have had their senses
exercised, forgetting that the same necessities befall all the flock
and that the lambs need to be fed as well as the sheep.

If the teachers have forgotten this, the taught have also failed to
remember it. I have been very anxious, Beloved, that you should be
diligent in the service of God and I have continually stirred you up,
not to be sitting listening to sermons when you ought to be doing
good–and the consequence has been that some have gone forth to attempt
to do good whom I should not have exhorted to do so–for them it would
have been better if they had waited a while, till they had learned
somewhat more, both of Doctrine and experience. Young Brothers, there
is a time for feeding as well as a time for working. There is work for
strong men and there is nurture for babes. To little children we do not
allot the labors of husbandry–some little service in the house is
suitable for them and will do them good–but we do not exact much labor
from them, for we know that youth is a time in which they must be
learning and growing. Therefore let me say to some of you who know
little or nothing of your Bibles, or of your own hearts–Wait a little,
and run not before you are sent. Sit, young Brother, a while at Jesus'
feet and learn what He has to say to you. Then, when you run as a
messenger, you will have a message, whereas, perhaps, you now have more
foot than heart, more tongue than brain, and this is dangerous!

Let us not forget that our souls need to be fdand this I say to some of
you who do but little for the Lord Jesus, and may be said neither to
work nor to eat. Look at the mass of our Christian people, what do they
do? Monday morning early at business and on till Saturday evening late
at business! What is their reading? The daily paper! I condemn it not,
but of what use is this to their souls What, then, do they read to
nourish the inner life? Ah, what? A magazine with a religious tale in
it! A tale which will probably be spun out to two or three volumes! If
the religion were taken out of it, it would probably be improved–and
if the rest of the book were burned, some light might come of it–but
none comes by reading it! I will not judge severely, but what is the
reading of many Christians? Is it food for their souls? And beyond
reading, what else are they doing that their spirits may be nourished?
Our fathers would go into their chamber three times a day and take a
quarter of an hour for meditation–how many of us maintain such a
habit? Is it done once a day? It was once my privilege to live in a
house where, at eight o'clock, every person, from the servant to the
master, would have been found for half an hour in prayer and meditation
in his or her chamber. As regularly as the time came round, that was
done, just as we partook of our meals at appointed hours. If that were
done in all households, it would be a grand thing for us! In the old
Puritan times, a servant would as often answer, "Sir, my master is at
prayers," as he would nowadays answer, my master is engaged." It was
still looked upon as a recognized fact that Christians did meditate,
did study the Word, and did pray–and society respected the interval.
It is said that if in the days of Cromwell, you had walked down
Cheapside in the morning, you would have seen the blinds down at every
house at a certain hour. Alas, where will you find such streets
nowadays? I fear that what was once the rule is now the exception! When
will God's people perceive that it is not enough to be born-again, but
that the life then received must be nourished daily with the Bread of
Heaven? It is not enough to be spiritually alive–our life, to be
vigorous–must be familiar with its Source! Every Christian should know
that he needs times for supplying his soul with the food which endures
unto life eternal. As the body needs its mealtimes, so must you sit
down to your heavenly Father's table until He has satisfied your mouth
with good things and renewed your strength like the eagle's. The more
intensely earnest we are in feeding upon the Word of God, the better!

My young Friends, you require to be fed with knowledge and
understanding and, therefore, you should search the Scriptures daily to
know what are the Doctrines of the Gospel, and what are the glories of
Christ. You will do well to read the "Confession of Faith," and study
the proof texts, or to learn the "Assembly's Catechism," which is a
grand condensation of Holy Scripture. I would say, even to many aged
Christians, that they could not spend their time better than in going
over the Shorter Catechism again and comparing it with the Book of God
from which it is derived. Truly, in these days, when men are so readily
decoyed to Popery, we had need know what it is that we believe!
Protestantism grew in this land when there was much simple, plain,
orthodox teaching of the Doctrines which are assuredly believed among
us. Catechism was the very bulwark of Protestantism. But now we have
much earnest preaching and yet people do not know what the doctrines of
the Gospel are–be you not ignorant, but be you nourished up in the
Truth of God!

My young Friends, may you obtain a spiritual understanding of God's
Word which is more than knowledge! May you discern the inward sense,
compare spiritual things with spiritual, and see the relation between
this Truth and the other, and the relation of all Truths of God to
yourselves and to your standing before God! May the Holy Spirit feed
you so! May you also be fed by mingling with the saints of God and
learning from their experience! Many a young Christian gathers from
advanced saints what he would never discover elsewhere. As they tell of
what they have felt, and known, and suffered, and enjoyed, the lambs of
the flock are strengthened and consoled. Seek for your companions those
who can instruct you! It is a dreary thing for a young man to have
association with those only who are below himself in experience and not
to know those from whose lips drop pearls because they have been in
those deeps where pearls are found. Be much with experienced Christians
who have been with Jesus, and you will be fed by them!

Young Friend, much feeding will come to you by meditation on the Truth
that you hear. As the cattle lie down and chew their cud, so does
meditation turn over the Truth of God, and get the very essence and
nutriment out of it. To hear, and hear, and hear, and hear, as some do,
is utterly useless because when they have heard, it is all over with
them–it has gone in one ear and out the other–and has left nothing
upon the mind. Press the Truth of God as men tread the grapes in the
wine vat, filing the red clusters into the press of memory, and trample
on them with the feet of meditation–then shall the rich juice flow
forth to cheer your heart and make your spirit strong within you!
Meditate, young man and maiden! This is the thing you need if you would
be fed.

And, higher still, there is a Divine nourishment in Communion when the
soul ascends to Jesus Christ and feeds on the Lord, Himself–when the
Incarnate God becomes the soul's Bread and the bleeding Savior in His
substitutionary Sacrifice, becomes the heart's wine. Feed on Him, O
Beloved, you who have lately come to Him! Eat, yes, drink abundantly, O
Beloved! May the Lord give you a mighty hunger after His Word, after
Himself and then lead you by the still waters, and make you to lie down
in green pastures!

Thus much on the first simple fact–that God will have all His sheep
and His lambs fed.

II. Secondly, the text says that the lambs shall feed "in their
pasture," and that leads us to observe that YOUNG BELIEVERS HAVE THEIR
OWN WAY OF FEEDING.

I believe every single Christian has his own idiosyncrasy in that
matter. Beloved, there are some of you who could not constantly hear me
to profit and yet this is neither my fault nor yours, but a wise
arrangement, for you can hear some other Brother and thus there is work
for him as well as for me. If all could be fed by me, and by no one
else, where would I put my congregation, and where would others get
theirs? Certain persons can receive the Truth of God from one man
better than they can from another, not because that man is any better,
or the other any worse, but because there is a way of putting it, or
there is a kind of congruity of nature between the hearer and the
preacher. I am glad to think that God has not cast all His people in
one mold and made them all desirous to listen to one voice in order to
be spiritually fed!

It may happen, moreover, that in our Church there are people who cannot
be instructed in one of our classes. Well, if it is so, do not quarrel
with the Brother who conducts it–go to another teacher and try him! Or
perhaps you are not edified by the teaching of some Christian with whom
you associate. Well, the world is wide–try another. "Then shall the
lambs feed in their pasture." Each Christian has his own way of feeding
on the Word. Let him have it in his own way, and do not judge him!
There may be something of self in his peculiarity, but perhaps there is
also something of God's purpose in it. Do not pass an Act of
Uniformity, but rejoice in the diversities of operations–provided you
see the same

Lord!

There are several things certain about the manner of feeding of all
lambs. The first is, that if they feed in their pasture, they feed on
tender grass. Young Christians love the simple Truths of the Gospel
and, therefore, these ought to be often preached. And we ought not to
be angry with newborn Believers if they cannot understand the higher
Doctrines. I hope we shall never, as a Church, exact from young
converts the wisdom of age. I trust we shall never say, "There, you
must go back. You won't do for us, you are not up to our mark, for you
cannot expound the deep things of God." God forbid! If we shut out the
lambs, where shall we get our sheep? If the Lord has received them, let
us receive them! No father excludes a child from his table when he is
three or four years old because he is not yet able to speak Latin. If
the little ones know their A B C, it is a good beginning. We think a
great deal of the first little verse our babes repeat–they say it in
such a strange way that nobody thinks it is language at all except
father and mother, but they are charmed with the simplest form of
speech which infant lips can try! So, to see a little spiritual
knowledge in new converts should gratify us and cause us to love them.
Leave the lambs to feed on tender grass and you older ones may take as
much of the tougher herbage as you like.

Again, lambs like to feed little and often. They are not able to take
in much at a time, but they like to be often at it. I love to see our
young people coming to the Prayer Meetings and week-day services so
continually. You will grow in Grace if you are often engaged in the
means of Grace–but it is possible to make such things a weariness to
the flesh if they become protracted. Strong saints can bear whole days
of devotion and delight in them. Yes, a whole week spent alone in a
sacred retreat might be a glorious holiday–a holy day–rather, an
anticipation of Heaven! But for young Believers, let them have here a
little and there a little–a text and a text, line upon line, precept
upon precept–but let them have it often. "Then shall the lambs feed in
their pasture."

The lambs, if they feed well, feed quietly in their pasture. If there
is a dog in the field, they will not feed. If they are driven about
here and there and not allowed to rest, they cannot feed. I pity young
Christians who get into churches where there are disturbances and
troubles. Oh, may we always be kept at peace! I bless God for the love
that has reigned among us. May it continue and may it deepen! Beloved
Friends, when we fall out with one another, we shall find that the
Spirit of God has fallen out with us! We cannot expect to see young
converts among us at all, much less can we hope to see them advance in
Divine Grace if we indulge a party spirit, or a controversial spirit
within the fold. All Believers should endeavor to maintain a sacred
quiet within the Church for the sake of the little ones. Have you never
heard of the child who was greatly impressed under a sermon and had
resolved to pray on reaching home, but he heard his father and mother
on the road home discussing the discourse and finding such fault with
it, that the happy season of tenderness passed away from that child
and, in later years, he was accustomed to say that his becoming an
infidel was due to that conversation? Let the lambs feed in quiet. If a
little bit of the sermon suits my boy, though it seems childish to me,
let me be glad that there is something for him! If the preacher stated
the Truth in a way which I do not like, I daresay the preacher's Master
knows how to guide him far better than I do! And perhaps my neighbor
who sat next to me has profited by precisely that which I have
criticized. Let the lambs feed quietly. I would say to young
Christians–Never mix up in the controversies of these days. There are
people about who seem to be cut on the cross and the only use they are
in this world seems to be to raise irritating questions. They and the
mosquitoes were created by Infinite Wisdom, but I have never been able
to discover the particular blessing which either of them confer upon
us! Those persons who discuss and discuss, and do nothing else, had
better be left alone. If there is a way to live peaceably with all men,
I should say to the young Christian, "Follow it." The lambs feed best
when they are not worried, but dwell in peace with all.

Then, next, when lambs feed in their pasture, they feed in pleasure. A
very disorderly lot the lambs are! If you look over the gate at them,
they are never proper and solemn. An artist could scarcely sketch them
in their frisking and frolicking about! Young Christians ought not to
be told to cease their holy mirth–they ought not to be expected as yet
to groan with those that groan–but let them rejoice with those that
rejoice! Their days of sorrow will probably come soon enough, without
their being anticipated. Let them rejoice in the Lord, yes, let them
rejoice always! I am glad our friends do not universally call out in
the Tabernacle, "Hallelujah," and "Hosannah," and the like. But, for my
part, when I am preaching in the open air in the country and our
Methodist friends do so, it seems to stir my blood and I am glad of it.
It is much better than having a sleepy congregation!

A little excitement in the Christian Church, especially by young
converts, is by no means to be deprecated. I remember hearing dear
Doctor Fletcher say, when talking to a number of children, that he once
saw a boy standing on his head, dancing on the pavement and displaying
all sorts of antics of joy. He stopped near him and said, "Well, my
Lad, you seem to be exceedingly merry." "I think I am, and so would you
be, Sir, (or Guv'nor, I think he said,) if you had been locked up three
months and had just got out." "Well," said the venerable man, "I
thought it very reasonable, indeed, and I told him by no means to stop
his performances because of me." Now, when a poor man has felt the
burden of sin and has been shut up in the prison of the Law of God, and
Jesus comes and brings him out–and he begins to rejoice with
unspeakable joy, and full of glory–if any man living would stop him, I
would not! No, let him rejoice! Let the lambs feed "in their pasture."
And if somebody tonight should come to me, and say, "Your young
converts have been extravagant in expression and injudicious in zeal,"
I would reply, "My dear Brother, are you better than these young ones?
At any rate, there is one respect in which you are worse, for you show
a propensity to find fault with those who are serving God with all
their might. Go your way and join them! If you have not a heart to do
so, and if they seem to be enthusiastic beyond measure, only thank God
that there are yet some few left among us who can appreciate
fervor–and wish that there were a little more of it." For my own part,
I would like to see a downright fanatic. It is so long since one has
set one's eyes upon such a curiosity that I should like to see
one–just one! I have seen snow enough, pray let me see a fire-flake! I
have seen thousands of wet blankets–oh for the touch of a live coal!
Enthusiasm in excess might be a blessing in disguise. Let the lambs
feed pleasantly in their own wild, natural way.

Once more, when the lambs feed in their pasture, they feed in company.
They like to get with others if they can. Sheep thrive best in flocks.
I call upon every young Christian here to get into some part of
Christ's flock. I invite you into this portion of Christ's Church, but
if you find another where, all things considered, you think it would be
better for you to be, go there! Mind that you join yourself first to
Christ–and after that unite with His people. Do not try to go to
Heaven as a solitary individual, that is not the Christian way. Jesus
gathers His people into a Church–He does not profess to lead His
people one by one, as solitary pilgrims, but they are to go in groups
and bands. From company to company they proceed towards the New
Jerusalem. May you have much love to the visible Church and believe
that, notwithstanding all her faults, there is none like her on the
earth! That, notwithstanding all her spots, she is excellent for
beauty, and fairest among women!

III. I must close with the remark that IN THE WORST OF TIMES, GOD WILL
SEE THAT HIS LAMBS AND

THE REST OF HIS FLOCK ARE FED.

It is said, in the text, "Then shall the lambs feed in their pasture."
That is, when the vineyard was destroyed and the hedge broken down.
When thorns and briars had come up and the clouds had refused to rain.
And God had sent desolation upon Israel and the people were gone into
captivity–even then shall the lambs feed in their pasture! This is a
blessed Truth of God–come what may, God's people shall be saved and
they shall have spiritual food! There may come persecuting times. Never
mind! Never did Christ seem so glorious as when He walked with His
Church in the dungeon and up to the stake! Never were there sweeter
songs than those which rose from the Lollards' tower and Bonner's
coal-hole. Never did the Church have such marriage feasts as when her
members died at the gallows and the fire! Christ Jesus has made Himself
preeminently near and dear to a persecuted Church! Therefore fear not
if you should have your little trouble to bear in the family, or rebuke
and shame from an evil world–for you shall feed in your pasture.
Though your mother should be grieved, though your husband should be
angry, though your brother should ridicule, though your employer should
scoff–you shall be fed with spiritual food and your soul shall
surmount all these evils, triumphant in

her God!

"But I dread," says one, "that there will come times of sickness to me.
I have premonitions of it." Yes, but you shall be fed in your pasture.
And I, for one, bear witness that sometimes periods of sickness are
times of the greatest spiritual nourishment! The Lord can furnish a
table in the wilderness! A very wilderness sickness is of itself, but
God can find us daily manna. He can make you strongest in heart when
you are weakest in body. Therefore fear not, God will feed you!

"I am afraid of poverty," says one. Are you? That has been the lot of
many of His people. For many an age has the Lord chosen the poor to be
His disciples. You need not fear that. Your Master was poor–you will
never be as poor as He was, for He had nowhere to lay His head. Fear
not, He will feed you. Can you not trust Him? "Ah, but I fear death,"
says one. "Then shall the lambs feed in their pasture." Even in the
Valley of the Shadow of Death you shall find tender grass! Have you
never seen others die? Has it not been a joyous thing to see some
saints depart? I recall to your memories, dear Brothers and Sisters,
those who have but lately ascended whom we loved. Was there anything
terrible about their deaths? Did they not smile upon us in their last
hours and make us feel that we would willingly change places with them,
and die as they died? Have I not often seen the young girl sickening
with consumption and heard from her strange things that made me think
her half a Prophetess–a Seer whose eyes had been anointed so that she
had looked within the veil and seen the Glory of the Invisible? Oh, how
texts of Scripture have been placed in golden settings by dying saints!
How sweetly have they set promises to music! Speak of monks and their
illuminated missals! Scripture illuminated by dying saints is far more
marvelous! What amazing joy they have felt! They told us that joy was
killing them–that they did not die of the disease, but of excessive
delight! It was as though the great floods of Glory had burst their
banks and they were being swept right away by them to eternal bliss! It
has visibly been blessed for the saints to die and, therefore, it is
foo-lish–perhaps wicked–for any child of God to be afraid to depart.
"Then shall the lambs feed in their pasture," feeding near the very
scythe of death and cropping choice morsels at the grave's mouth–for
the Lamb, Jesus Christ, being with them–no lamb of all the flock shall
have cause to fear!

We shall now separate and scatter, as congregations have scattered, I
might say, these hundreds of times from this House. And scattering and
going each, our own way, to his home–shall we ever meet again?
Probably by no means shall we, all of us, meet in the body, so that
these eyes shall look to other eyes and say, "I saw those eyes before."
Well, well, truth be the truth remembered that we are a flock and must
gather again in one meeting place before the Judgment Seat, on that day
of wrath, that dreadful day! Shall we meet, then, as the sheep of
Christ, or, meeting, will it be to be divided, to the right and to the
left, as the sheep of the Great King, or the goats condemned to be cast
away? We shall certainly meet there, but will it be an eternal meeting
of unending joy? God grant it may! Oh, infinite mercy of the blessed
God, let us all be united at the Throne of Christ!

But I hear you say, O angel, in answer to that prayer–I hear you speak
out of the Glory and say, "There can be no union at the Throne of God
except there first be union at the Cross." Listen to that warning and
come to Jesus! There stands the Cross, which is the center of the
Church! Lo, I see upon it the Son of God, His wounds still fountains of
cleansing blood! Will you come to the Cross? Will you trust the
Redeemer? Will you bow before Him? Will you be washed in His blood?
Will you be saved with His salvation? If so, we shall all meet in
Heaven to see the face of the Lamb in His Glory. God grant we may, for
Jesus sake! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: PSALM23,24.

Did you ever notice that the 22nd Psalm exhibits "that Great Shepherd
of the sheep" as laying down His life for the sheep? And that the 23rd
Psalm exhibits "the Good Shepherd" with all His sheep around Him happy
and restful, while the 24th Psalm represents "the Chief Shepherd" who
shall appear in due time–and when He does appear, then shall His
sheep, also, appear with Him in Glory?

Psalm 23:1. The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. [See Sermon
#3006, Volume 52–"the lord is my shepherd."] How can a sheep want, or
have needs, when it has a good and

wise shepherd able and willing to provide for it? And how can a
Believer want when he has God, Himself, the ever-gracious and
Omnipotent Lord of All, to provide his needs and to prevent him from
ever knowing what want means? David does not say, "I shall have all I
wish for because the Lord is my Shepherd," but he does say, "I shall
not want. Not only have I no need now, but I never shall need while my
Shepherd lives. Though I am only one out of His countless flock, yet He
cares for me and, therefore, 'I shall not want.'" Why should a Believer
think that he shall ever want? Let him look at his present condition.

2, 3. He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the
still waters. He restores my soul: He leads me in the path of
righteousness for His name's sake. Here are four blessed things that
the Lord does for the Believer. "He makes me to lie down." He gives me
rest, perfect rest and He gives me so much spiritual provision that I
am unable to take it all in–so I lie down and rest in it as a sheep
does in the deep pastures where it seems lost in the provender! There
are such deep Doctrines, such glorious privileges, such wondrous
Revelations of the heart of God in this blessed Book, that you and I
cannot comprehend it all, but we can lie down in it–"He makes me to
lie down in green pastures." Take a good stretch, Brothers and Sisters
in Christ! Some are afraid to lie down in the green pastures of the
Word of God. I know some of God's saints who seem to be afraid of being
too happy–they do not like to be too restful. Let no such fear ever
cross your mind. "He makes me"–and He would not make us do what was
not good for us–"He makes me to lie down in green pastures."

Then come those three sweet words, "He leads me," which in themselves
are full of music–

"He leads me. He leads me! By His own hand He leads me!" You know how
our song makes these words ring out over and over again and it is truly
charming. "He leads me." The Holy Spirit is our Guide and as the
softly-flowing river of Grace marks our journey, we sing, "He leads me
beside the still waters." You and I sometimes go wandering by the noisy
brooks that ripple over the stones and make such a noise because they
are so shallow. But when the Spirit guides us, it is beside the deep
rivers, the deep still waters that He leads us.

"He restores my soul." Is not that a blessed little sentence? When my
soul gets empty, He stores it again–re-stores it. When it goes
wandering away from Him–

"He brings my wandering spirit back When I forsake His ways."

And when I get spiritually sick, He gives me a sweet restorative and
renews my health–"He restores my soul." Blessed be the name of the
great Restorer!

"He leads me"–here comes those sweet words again–"He leads me in the
paths of righteousness." They are very pleasant paths, for nothing is
more pleasant to a Believer than to be walking in "the paths of
righteousness." God has so constituted His people that if they get out
of the right way, they get out of the way of peace. He has so re-made
us that our peace and our righteousness agree together–and as long as
we are led in the paths of righteousness, we are a happy and a restful
people! The Lord does all this for us, "for His Name's sake."

4. Yes, though I walk Yes, though I walk, not only though I shall walk,
but though I do walk now–

4. Through the valley of the shadow of death. Though long before I die,
I seem to learn what death means in the cold chill that takes hold upon
my spirit and freezes all my joy–

4. I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff
they comfort me. Some seem to think that God's people would have no
distress of mind and no trouble if they were trusting in God. But it is
not so. Even they "walk through the valley of the shadow of death," but
they "fear no evil" even there! When all is dark around you, remember

that verse, "Who is among you that fears the Lord, that obeys the voice
of His servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let Him trust
in the name of the Lord and rely upon His God." There would be no room
for faith if it were always summertime and always noontide. But
Christians are sometimes called to pass through that gloomy experience
which Mr. Bunyan has so beautifully pictured under the symbol here
used, "the valley of the shadow of death." It is a terrible journey,
yet there is no cause for fear to strike the Christian's heart even
there for, let the worst come to the worst, he can say to his Lord,
with David, "You are with me; Your rod and Your staff they comfort me"

Now look back to the 14th and 15th verses of the 22nd Psalm, and you
will see how fully Christ can sympathize with His people–because He,
also, walked through the valley of the shadow of death even as they
have to do! Hear Him crying there, "I am poured out like water and all
My bones are out ofjoint: My heart is like wax, it is melted in the
midst of My body. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and My
tongue sticks to My jaws and You have brought Me"–remember that this
is the Savior speaking here–"You have brought Me into the dust of
death." Well then, there is great comfort for the sheep in the fact
that their Shepherd has been along that gloomy way before them!

5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. See
what cool, calm courage David here displays. Usually, when a warrior is
in the presence of his enemies, he just eats a bit of bread, or
something that he can swallow while getting ready for the fight that is
impending. But David took matters much more quietly than that. Though
his enemies were all around him, there was a table prepared for
him–that is to say, there was everything ready for a feast just as if
it had been a holiday instead of the day of battle! "You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies." You may grin or howl,
you devils! You may do what you like, but the true Believer takes no
notice of you! His table is being prepared by his God while you, armed
to the teeth, are seeking to slay him! What a contrast there is between
the rage of the Believer's enemies and the quiet, calm confidence of
the man himself!

5. You anoint my head with oil A sweet savor shall be upon the man who
is thus anointed by his God.

5. My cup runs over. [See Sermons #874, Volume 15–THE OVERFLOWING CUP
and #1222, Volume 21–THE OVERFLOWING CUP.] "I have more than I
expected–more than I ever asked for–more than I desired–more than I
am capable of holding!" "My cup runs over." If ever your cup does thus
run over, be sure to call your poor neighbors in to catch the
overflowing mercy! If ever you have more blessing than you can hold,
ask some other Christian to share it with you. Recollect what Peter and
his companions did when, at Christ's command, they let down the net and
caught more fish than their net could hold without breaking–they
beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they
should come and help them. "What? Come and help them fish?" Oh,
no–come and help them share the fish! Many persons say, "You are
kindly invited to come to such-and-such a meeting," because they want
to get something out of you–but it is a better kind of invitation when
you are asked because there is something to be given away–and those
who have an overflowing cup want you to share the blessing with them.

6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.I
shall never be able to outrun the goodness and mercy of my God! I shall
always have closely attendant upon me His goodness to supply my needs
and His mercy to forgive my sins.

6. And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forevei.

Psalm 24:1. The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof And
therefore it is also the Believer's! The real fullness of the earth
belongs to the Christian. "The meek shall inherit the earth."

1, 2. The world, and they that dwell therein. For He has foundedit upon
the seas, and established it upon the floods. So, child of God, you are
in your Father's house even while you are down here on earth! Still,
that question in the next verse is very suggestive. Albeit that the
earth is the Lord's, yet we do not want to stay in it forever.

3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? [See Sermon #396, Volume
7–CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN.] Or who shall stand in His holy place? This
is the portion of the Lord's people–to ascend the hill of the Zion
that is above, to enter the New Jerusalem and to stand in the immediate
Presence of God. But who shall ever be able to do that?

4, 5. He that has clean hands, andapure heart; who has not lifted up
his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully; he shall receive the
blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his
salvation. The man who will go to Heaven is the clean man, the man who
has been washed from his sins in the blood of the Lamb. And he is clean
just where he was most likely to be foul–he has "clean hands." Grace
has enabled him to touch the things of the world without receiving a

stain from them, and to touch holy things without defiling them. This
expression–"clean hands"–refers to his outward life, but he is also
clean inside, for he has "a pure heart." If a man were clean as to his
actions, but not clean as to his motives, he would not be fit to enter
Heaven. But the man described here is a true man. He has not followed
after vanity, neither has he uttered a lie, but he has followed the
Truth of God and he has spoken the Truth. He is the man whom God will
bless, but he has no righteousness of his own, so we read that, "he
shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the
God of his salvation." So he needs to be saved and he needs a
righteousness better than his own, and this God will give him!

6. This is the generation Jacob, of them that seek Him, who seek Your
face. Selah. It is a wonderful thing that Jesus Christ should take His
people's name but He does. He gives His Church His own name in that
remarkable passage in Jeremiah 33:16–"This is the name wherewith she
shall be called, The Lord Our Righteousness." And now, to make the
union complete, He takes her name as His own–Christ is here called
"Jacob."

7-10. Lift up your heads, O you gates; and be you lift up, you
everlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this
King of Glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O you gates, even lift them up, you everlasting
doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of Hosts, He is the King of Glory. Selah. Now, if Christ is
our Shepherd in the meadows down here where He makes us to lie down in
the green pastures of His Grace, He will also be our Shepherd in the
heavenly pastures up there on the hilltops of Glory where the Lamb
which is in the midst of the Throne shall feed us and shall lead us
unto living fountains of waters! And we shall delight forever to
"follow the Lamb wherever He goes."