THE following was written nearly six years ago It was only after much hesitation and prayer, that, at the repeated requests of some esteemed Christians, and after a careful revision, I have resolved to commit these notes to print. I confide in the well-known forbearance of my dear fellow Christians in this country, as to the imperfections of expression. The twenty-third Psalm has been so interwoven with the whole of my Christian course (of more than 26 years), and our gracious Shepherd has, from this precious portion of His Pasture, whenever I turned to it, so often blessed my soul, that I could resist no longer the desire to communicate to others what He has been pleased to give to me.
The dispensational side of our Psalm I have only occasionally touched upon, as the chief object of it is the feeding of the soul on Christ. Consequently even the great Christian principles of truth, foreshadowed and imbedded in this Psalm, are considered, only as far as they concern the flock of God ; for instance, the question of worship at the Lord's Table, where we feed upon His death, when
" We sing of the Shepherd that died,
That died for the sake of the flock."
For, however important a place the Church, as such, may occupy at that blessed Table of our Lord, and in His counsels, yet this portion of divine truth would be out of place in our Psalm. May God keep us from growing into cool and enlightened churchmen, to the neglect of the pastoring of the flock, for whom the Good Shepherd died.
Now the requisites for the spiritual health of the believer's soul, are exactly the same as those for the physical health of his outward man.
The latter are, as we all know:
1. Good and suitable food. 2. Regular exercise of body and mind. And last, though not least, 3. A pure and congenial atmosphere. We shall find all these three requisites spiritually supplied in our Psalm. The first two verses deal with the question of true feeding ; in the third we find the exercise for conscience and heart, in v. 4, faith, in v. 5, the Lord's Table, and in v. 6, His and our home, the pure heavenly atmosphere of the worshipper. But I need hardly repeat that, according to the nature of our Psalm, food (i.e. He Who alone supplies, and is this food, Himself) is the prominent subject; it is indeed the first and chief question of a man's life and health, though of course combined with the other two.
If ever there was a time, when the deep need of solid food for the flock of God at large, from His own Word, was felt by those who have the growth and welfare of that precious flock at heart, (and how can we think of the Shepherd, without thinking of His flock, for whom He died ?), it is in these last evil days.
And now I commend these pages to Him, Who alone can bless them, and those who may read them, to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build us up, and to give us an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. Unto Him, be all glory, and wisdom, and honor, and blessing. Amen.
Southsea, December, 1874.