December 15The Lord is my shepherd — Psa. 23:1.
The Lord, in calling His people His sheep, chose a very significant emblem of the character He would have manifested in them. The most noticeable characteristics of the sheep are meekness, docility and obedience to the shepherd to whose care they fully entrust themselves. … The true sheep will carefully listen for the faintest accents of the voice of the Shepherd--i.e., he will treasure up His words in his heart, he will study His providences; and he will cultivate that communion and personal fellowship with the Lord which are his privilege. Those who thus abide in Him can never go astray. "They can never, never lose their way"—Z '02, 365 (R 3116). Jehovah is our Shepherd, and certainly, as our Shepherd, is good; for He is gentle, loving, active, self-denying, intelligent, strong and constant toward us. And He renders us the service that we as His sheep need; He gives us prenatal care, accompanies us, gathers us, bears us up when weak, calls us by name, gives us food and drink, prepares our course for us, leads us in right paths, restores us to health, eases our hardships, rests our weariness, comforts us in trouble, warns us of, and protects us from, danger, watches over us, guards our surroundings, trains us, washes us from earth's defilements, seeks us when astray, restrains us from injuring our fellow sheep, separates us from the sheep of others, delivers us from hirelings, entrusts us to good shepherds, and causes us to be profitable. Yes, Jehovah, our Shepherd, is good—P '32, 197. Parallel passages: Gen. 49:24; Psa. 23:2-6; 27:1; 37:25; 56:4, 11; 118:6; Isa. 40:11; Luke 15:3-7; John 10:1-16; Heb. 13:6, 20; 1 Pet. 2:25; 5:4. Hymns: 257, 284, 286, 288, 121, 293, 294. Poems of Dawn, 277: May Heaven Sustain Thee. Tower Reading: Z '14, 198 (R 5490). Questions: Have I had special Shepherd care this week? How? How did I respond? |
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MAY HEAVEN SUSTAIN THEE
MAY Heaven sustain thee day by day,
And make thy generous heart of love
Rejoice through all the pleasant way
That God directs thy feet to move,
Inclining thee, just, generous, true,
Nobly thy Christian work to do;
Honored and loved and blessed of God,
O! sweet may be the pathway trod;
May heavenly light around thee shine,
Divinely blessing thee and thine!
MAY Heaven sustain thee day by day,
And make thy generous heart of love
Rejoice through all the pleasant way
That God directs thy feet to move,
Inclining thee, just, generous, true,
Nobly thy Christian work to do;
Honored and loved and blessed of God,
O! sweet may be the pathway trod;
May heavenly light around thee shine,
Divinely blessing thee and thine!
