Homilist Psalm 23:1-6 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.… He appears as a Shepherd to the good. Those who follow this Shepherd are truly blest. 1. They are blest with deliverance from the fear of want. "I shall not want," or as some render it, "I do not want." The fear of "want" is one of the most disturbing fiends of the human soul. Men are everywhere fearing that they shall lack a something which they regard as vital to their interests, Godliness expels this fear from the human heart by inspiring unbounded confidence in the bountihood of heaven. 2. They are blest with the enjoyment of satisfying good. "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures." He has allayed my appetite, dispelled my anxieties, satisfied my nature, and caused me to "lie down" amidst the affluence of His love. 3. They are blest in being calmly led along the river of life. He leadeth me beside the still waters. 4. They are blest with the reinvigoration of soul. "He restoreth my soul." There is a wear and tear of soul as well as of body. The holiest and the strongest angel would soon get exhausted were it left to depend upon itself. God is the strength of all finite intelligences, however pure and strong. 5. They are blest with being divinely conducted into the paths of rectitude. "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness." There are as many paths of life as there are men. As every star has its own orbit, so every man has his own particular path. No two men can walk in exactly the same way, from the diversity of their faculty and their training. All human paths are of two descriptions, the morally right and the morally wrong; The good man's path, whether it be that of a labourer, mechanic, artist, poet, philosopher, statesman, king, or preacher, is "a path of righteousness." 6. They are blest with the moral heroism in their march to eternity. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil." (Homilist.) Parallel Verses KJV: {A Psalm of David.} The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. |
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