THE PASTURES AND THE PATHS

Evening Star, Issue 20980, 19 December 1931, Page 20

THE PASTURES AND THE PATHS

Sermon preached in the United Congregational Church, Albany street, by Rev. James M. Smeeth, “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.’’—Psalm xxiii., 3. The Psalmist tells us God made him lie down in “ green pastures ” by “ still waters”; or, according to the alternative marginal rendering the “ waters of rest.”- God does that with tired men. Just as the watchful shepherd causes the exhausted sheep to rest, leading them into quiet, fruitful pastures; so Ho, watching over His children, leads them into spiritual resting places and feeding grounds of the soul. And you see what comes of it—restoration ; without concluding his sentence the writer proceeds to show what happens when tho ministry of the pastures and the still waters has done its work—“ He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness.” So God leads men from tho pastures to tho paths of life again, when' they are able to follow. On this hallowed day of His He leads men to tho feeding grounds of their souls, the resting places of their spirits; into church and school, mission hall and temple, meetii:,; house or cathedral, into quiet sanctuaries for worship, into rooms for meditation and prayer, into the secret place of the Most High and under tho shadow of the Almighty; to His own table, to the riches of His word, to psalm and hymn and spiritual song, to the sound of His voice and the strength of His arm. Following our Good Shepherd we find ourselves to-day in the rich meadow lands of spiritual blessing and refreshment, and here worn, tired, exhausted souls may be restored with the strength of eternal life and grace. Now, as this man receives and enjoys this gracious ministry of God to His soul there is gradually born within him a sense of (1) God’s present leadership of his life. Slowly but surely there arises in his conscious mind the thought “ He leadeth me.” Ho had lost it, but it now comes back to him; a new buoyancy of spirit. “I am not left to myself; lam not drifting; not astray from Heaven’s guidance and protection; not out of my course. I am being lead : and God is leading me.” Now, that is a great gain. When men and women are oppressed and burdenod with cares and anxieties they sometimes lose, for tho time being, that sense of divine leadership; and it spells disaster for them. They become the prey of fear, temptation, doubt, and distrust, anarchy of soul; they are like panic-stricken sheep. It is then that they go under, that happen—when they turn their bai s instead of their faces toward the light of God. It is a moment of supreme peril of soul, when evil can do with them whatever it suggests. It is the last extremity for a man who feels God has left him to himself. It does come to men sometimes. It came to Jesus. It was the only experience that wrung a cry from His heart. Said he; “My God! My God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?” But it comes back again, this sense of divin> leadership, by the waters of rest. The blessed assurance is given like a soul tonic. The mind is renewed, and in power and grace the restored soul can say; “He leadeth me.” It is a present leadership. He has never forsaken mo. He has brought me here today. I did not come by chance, at the bidding of some unexplainable impulse. He led me into this church, and in tho strength of such a thought 1 can shake off all fetters, face anything and everything.” That is the language of tho restored soul, conscious once again of divine leadership. No life is doomed to littleness or futurity that can reveal the new spirit in action. With the assurance of power from Heaven the pulses of the new lilo not only start, but keep going. But; secondly, it is a leadership for to-morrow, as well as to-day. Wo go from the pastures to the paths. The rest is only temporary; we cannot remain by the still waters for ever. Duty calls; life calls; work, struggle, and endeavour claim us; and, thus restored, we are ready for the paths again. That often means a return to the old paths; the places where our feet bled, where wo fell; tho ways of ordinary, commonplace, humdrum affairs; tho hard, stony, impossible paths that exhaust all our patience and have not a scrap of romance about them. But listen: we go back with a renewed' sense of being divinely _ led; to see Jesus . . . there, going before us

along the paths we imagined in our folly and pessimism Ho never trod, and we see new glories in the old paths, find a new yield from old resources. Wo find God walking ahead of us in the plainest, hardest duties, and every common bush along the paths afire with God’s glory. How happily wo bang the office door on a Saturday, and hurry away. What a relief to put away the vacuum cleaner and the electric iron and the clothes basket “for Sunday,” and how splendid to have “ the family ” at home over the week-end, and a hit of help with the cooking and the dishes 1 How hard to have to go back to it on Mondays! But no! Mon and women return to the old paths, after a wellspent Sabbath, to find themselves singing over the tasks they laid down with disgust on the Saturday. It is a great gain to possess a sense of Jesus as a leader on the old paths, and discover they are, after all, the sunlit ways of righteousness. I assume, of course, that we realise divine leadership is promised in tho paths of righteousness—not in other paths. If we choose some other paths wo go alone. If, like the soldiers in the story, we shut up tho commander in a tower and fight the battle ourselves, that is our folly, and wo must stand the consequences. Some paths are guarded by an angel with a flaming sword; to essay those paths is to meet disaster. There are paths that lead to some forbidden tree in life’s garden. Let us not try those if we value our souls. There are paths that lead into the jungle, and we lose them altogether. God does not lead us along those paths. If they are “ old ” paths for us they must he forsaken for the sweeter, surer paths of righteousness. God sometimes closes up tho paths wo may not tread. Hosea tells us He sought to bring back His wandering people by doing that. “ I will hedge up her way with thorns, and I will make a fence against her that she may nob find her path.” But in doing so Ho opens up a new and living way, and is the Guide for to-morrow.

This also is given to ns as wo rest hy the still waters on this day of God. Into our tired souls there comes a new trust, a now hope and confidence for to-morrow. However difficult they may bo, however profitless in prospect when wo forsook them a. few hours ago, tho ministry of our Father’s counsel and blessing transfigures them. Wo shall bo back at tho desk, tho shop, tho bench, the housework to-morrow iiko giants refreshed. A nd notice, thirdly, it is a leadership for many to-morrows. That means a leadership, as we have just_ boon singing, “through each perplexing path of life,” and along the entire length of

tho paths. It moans that, however far they stretch, however long the journey, and whatever be their character, the leadership of God will never fail those who put their trust in Him. That, too, comes to us with renewed power and assurance as we rest awhile in the pastures by the still waters. People like to feel “right for life,” to possess a sense of security to the end of their days, however well they may feel now, and however well things may bo going with them to-day. And God will give them the highest assurance of it. if you doubt that, read to the end of the Psalm, and you will see how bold and confident the writer has become. “ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord for over.” He saw the end of the journey, and the Good Shepherd leading all the way. Of course, that means travel, movement, action. We are not allowed to “ settle down ” for long. It is not good for us. Wo must be up and doing. We must got back to the paths again. Progress is the order of things in the Christian life, and it is only accomplished by travel. Not always travel in the physical sense, though sometimes that, but mental and spiritual effort, work, ongoing. We see this illustrated in the life of Paul. If the cities of Asia and Europe had proved rich pasture lands ho might never have been the force he was. He would have rested and lingered when ho should have been following his Lord far and wide. Closing doors and stern opposition shaped Ins course. In the terms of this Psalm, the pastures dried up, and he had to move forward or perish. 'When doors closed here and there Paul saw the meaning of it, saw the unseen finger of his divino leader placing the barriers in order that His servant might the better see the open ways. And events proved ho was not mistaken. He was wonderfully guided. Someone was his leader. It was the Good Shepherd. He had a plan for the world, and for Paul, and He knew the way. It was a long way, and a hard way; a way of adventure, difficulty, disappointment, lashes, imprisonment. But it was a through way, not a cul do sac. It embraced many “to-morrows” in the life of this dauntless missionary of the Cross. And all our to-morrows aro provided for, in the mercy of God, if we are faithful in following Him along those “paths of righteousness” which seem so forbidding to many, because they have not tried them, but aro so filled with' what is good for those who tread them. “ Winding-or straight,” they “lead, right onward to Thy rest..”