A STUDY IN THE PSALMS by William P. Pearce

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 13, 1900

A STUDY IN THE PSALMS.

By William P. Pearce

Psalm 23.

WILLIAM P. PEARCE.

(Goshen, Ind.)

With sweet strains, pure sentiments, choice rhetoric and logic, no poem can surpass, and no ode can be compared to, this twenty-third psalm.

It is the testimony of experience, the personal pronoun being used seventeen times,—“I” four times, “my” four times, and “me” seven times. The psalm is an evidence of divine intimacy, and is a beautiful commentary on the immanence of God in his dealings with his people.

Beecher calls this psalm “the nightingale of the psalter,” in that it sings to cheer the faint-hearted, gladdens the homes of destitution and discomfort, and transforms the tear of sorrow into a smile of joy. It is also called “the psalm of faith;” for its spirit is that of a childlike trust, undisturbed by a single doubt. But best of all, it is the “shepherd’s psalm,” in which the protecting, guiding, and providing mercy of the dear Lord is seen.

Is it any wonder that Edward Irving, on his death-bed, chanted this psalm in the Hebrew language; or that the negro boy of whom Dr. Chambers makes mention, on hearing this chapter read, exclaimed, “How sweet! Oh, read that again;” or that Daniel Webster and James Carver repeated, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me;” or that John Walsh and his companions, when banished from Scotland for their faith, before going on board the ship sang, at two o’clock in the morning, the Scottish version of these words? For there is more sweet and soothing melody, more irresistible charm and abiding comfort, more luminosity cast upon life’s highway, more luxuries spread on its table, more flowers and fragrance strewed around the cot of death, than can be found in any other chapter of its size in the Bible.

“My Shepherd.” Very few titles are as old and as comprehensive as this one. Long before David’s time, Jacob represented God in the same sense; for in blessing Joseph he mentioned “the God which fed me all my life.” Gen. 48 : 15. The word “shepherd” is made still more significant by the words which modify it. John speaks of him as the “Good Shepherd” (John 10 : 14) because of affection; Paul entitles him the “Great Shepherd” (Heb. 13 : 20) because of his power to protect his sheep; Peter mentions him as the “chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5 : 4); but best of all in my estimation, is David’s “My Shepherd.” How big that word “my” looks in this connection, and how much it means to every child of God.

“Shall not want.” How emphatic and binding. Here is a simple yet firm faith grasping the future as it looks back on the gracious providences of the past. It is supply substituted for every want; assurances of love soaring above every cloud of opposition.

A little orphan child, who was taken into a strange family, when being put to bed the first night, knelt down to say her evening prayer, and repeated the words her mother had taught her. Then she added a prayer of her own: “O God, make these people just as good to me as my dear papa and mamma were. Please do it, Jesus.” And then, after a moment’s pause, she exclaimed, “Of course you will, Jesus.” That’s it. A simple trust! And where can such a trust be found more than in this “shepherd’s psalm”?

Two reasons are here suggested for such a confidence: First, because all things are God’s; and if all things are God’s, all things are ours. Read 1 Cor. 3 : 21–23. Second, because Christ has promised to supply all our needs. Read Phil. 4 : 19.

Ten distinct things are here mentioned, in which all the necessities for a prosperous life are summed up. We shall not want repose; or drink; or restoration; or guidance; or companionship; or comfort; or food; or honor; or joy, or success. Verses 2–6.

“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” “That the path to hell is paved with good resolutions,” is an assertion beyond warrant; for the peculiar nature of a good resolution is to lift up. It is the little speedy run to a big jump; the inspiration to the aspiration. True, however, many resolutions which are produced by sudden pangs of conviction, come to naught. Yet to be irresolute is to be without a fixed purpose in life. Feltham compares such a condition to an ague, which shakes not this or that limb, but convulses the whole body. The steward whom Jesus mentions (Luke 16:4) said: “I am resolved what to do;” and David tells us what he will do—“dwell in the house of the Lord forever”—dwell in that house where every sound is music, and every voice praise, and every breath fragrance, and every worshiper a saint, and where every look of Jesus will be a benediction! There, in that “house not made with hands,” may we all be, to sing—

“Worthy the Lamb our lips reply, For he was slain for us.”