VII. YEA, THOUGH I WALK IN THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, I WILL FEAR NO EVIL, FOR THOU ART WITH ME.
Besides the paths and dangerous walks in the shepherd country that would lead the sheep to destruction and death, there are other paths all encompa.s.sed with evils through which, nevertheless, they are at times obliged to make their way. Safety from all harm there cannot be for the shepherd"s flock. They must in their journeys encounter many perils, even while pursuing the proper paths. There are deep and darksome valleys, walled round on all sides by towering rocky hills, which at times the shepherd cannot easily escape. And within these shadowy valleys and somber ravines there dwell not infrequently wild and ferocious animals that will, if aroused, attack and kill the tender sheep. The utmost care and caution of the shepherd are called into service safely to conduct his dependent flock through these places of deepest peril. But in spite of all his watchfulness it sometimes happens that a wolf will get into the very midst of the sheep. The timid, terrified animals become wild with fright, and are scattered, running this way and that, until the shepherd calls and bids them collect together. No sooner do they hear his voice, than they all rush swiftly together in a solid ma.s.s, and either drive the enemy from their midst or cripple and crush him to death.
Thus in times of greatest peril the shepherd protects his sheep, and wrests them from the jaws of harm. The sheep know this, and they fear no evils; they know that their master is with them. Yea, though they walk in the shadow of perils and dwell in the midst of the valley of death, they faint not, neither do they fear, for they know that the shepherd is near.
The case of the sheep in the valley of perils is not unlike our own in the midst of the evils of the world; and the peace and safety which we enjoy should be similar also to theirs. We are a.s.sured, first of all, by an unflinching faith in G.o.d and our Redeemer that, if we trust our Master and obey Him, we shall be led aright throughout our lives, even to the kingdom of Heaven. We shall be led in the paths of justice and love, and crowned at length with the crown of glory, if we but follow the voice of our Shepherd-King, and avoid the walks of disaster and ruin. And to hear His voice and to know it we have but to listen to the teachings of His Church, which will hush to silence our troubled hearts, and direct our wayward feet into the paths of heavenly peace.
But, like the shepherd"s flock, we have to avoid in our journey through life, as perils to our safety and spiritual welfare, not only the false shepherds and teachers and doctrines that surround us on all sides; but we must also, to pa.s.s to our reward, actually encounter inevitable evils and fight many necessary battles. Many of the paths of life through which we must of necessity pa.s.s are hard and difficult, and full of deadly perils.
We must remember that sin has ruined the primeval beauty of our earthly habitation and made our life here below a labor and a toil to the end.
We not only come into the world with sin on our souls, and are thereby exiles from the city of G.o.d, but even when our sin is forgiven us the remains of the malady continue as wounds in our nature as long as we live on earth. The deadly guilt is wiped away, but the effects of the evil remain. And it is chiefly these wounds of our nature, in ourselves and in others, that render life"s journey, even when pursued in accordance with the law of G.o.d, at times truly difficult and perilous. Fidelity to G.o.d and to His law is not always a safeguard against the wickedness of the world and of men; at times, in fact, it is just the contrary. Indeed, is it not a truth that many, perhaps the majority, of those who endeavor sincerely to please and to serve G.o.d must often suffer severely for their very goodness and faithfulness? Are they not misunderstood, and criticised, and censured? Are they not frequently accused of all manner of wrong, their work disparaged, and their motives impugned? Are not persecution, and even martyrdom, often their portion? Now all this is the result of sin. Those who call into question the deeds and motives of G.o.d"s saints; those who upbraid, and criticise, and impute evil to the sincere, faithful servants of G.o.d, inflicting upon them dire evils, are but showing the effects of sin in themselves, are but giving exercise to the evil that rules within them. Their particular acts and words may be without present malice, they may be inwardly persuaded that in reviling and condemning their neighbor and doing him harm, they are rendering a service to G.o.d Himself; but in so doing they but manifest the effects of earlier sin, personal, perhaps, and original, which has darkened their understanding and made perverse their moral vision, so that, having eyes, they see not, having ears, they hear not, neither do they understand.(35) Following the corruption of their own nature, bleeding from the wounds of original sin, they are p.r.o.ne to blaspheme whatsoever they fail to comprehend;(36) and thus it is that they often make life and the world for the servant of G.o.d a truly perilous sojourn, a veritable valley of death.
This failure to be understood, this misjudgment of actions, motives, deeds, are doubtless common evils from which, in a measure, we all must suffer. But it is also true that the more elevated the life, the higher its aims, the loftier the spiritual level on which it proceeds, the greater the difficulty of its being understood and appreciated by the majority, who always tread the common paths of mediocrity. A saint is nearly always a disturbance to his immediate surroundings, he is frequently an annoyance and an irritation to the little circle in which his external life is cast, simply because he really lives and moves in a sphere which the ordinary life cannot grasp. Like a brilliant, dazzling light that obscures the lesser luminaries, and is therefore odious to them, the man of G.o.d is frequently a disturber to the worldly peace of common men, his life and works are a living reproach to their life and works; and hence, without willing it, he becomes a menace to their society and is not welcome in their company. Worldly, plotting minds cannot understand the spiritual and the holy; sinful souls are out of harmony with the virtuous; the children of darkness cannot find peace with the children of light. And not only is there a lack of sympathy in the worldly-minded for the men and women who are led of G.o.d, but there is often positive hatred for them-a hatred which spends itself in actual, persistent persecution. To be devout, to refrain from sinful words and sinful deeds, to shun the vain and dangerous amus.e.m.e.nts of worldlings, to attend much to prayer and recollection, to love the house and worship of G.o.d, to be seen often approaching the sacraments and partaking of the bread of life at the communion rail-even these holy acts are sufficient frequently to draw down on the servants of G.o.d the curse and persecution of a world which knows not what it does.
And that which happens individually to the faithful children of G.o.d takes place on a larger scale with respect to G.o.d"s Church. The children of this world, those who have set their heart on temporal things, or who, through wilful error have deviated from the right path to things eternal, never cease from pursuing and persecuting the Church of G.o.d. They hate the Church and attack it unceasingly. Like the perverse and blinded Jews of old who reviled the Saviour and His words and deeds, who pursued Him and put Him to death, these ever-living and ever-active enemies of light and truth never abate in their fury against the chosen friends of Christ, and against His holy Church. But need we be surprised at this? Was it not foretold? Did not our blessed Shepherd, speaking in the beginning to His little flock, warn them that men would deliver them up in councils and scourge them? Did He not say to them plainly, "And you shall be hated by all men for my name"s sake; but he that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. And when they persecute you in this city, flee into another.... The disciple is not above the master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the good man of the house Beelzebub, how much more them of his household."(37)
It happens, therefore, that fidelity to G.o.d, and careful adherence to the paths of justice and holiness, can frequently be the occasion of perils and sufferings for us individually, as they also are the excuse for a vaster persecution of the Church in general. All holy persons and holy things are signs of contradiction. They are not of the world, they do not fit in with it; and between them and the world there will be strife and contention until the renovation comes.
But the enemies that lie along the ways of life, that beset and threaten even the most righteous paths of our pilgrimage, are not all from without-the most numerous and menacing are perhaps from within. "The enemies of a man," says the inspired writer, "are those of his own household."(38) That is to say, the most potent evils which we suffer, the chiefest foes to our present and future welfare are from ourselves-our own waywardness, our tendencies to evil, our wilfulness, our self-love and self-seeking, our own sins. It is from these and like causes that we suffer most. Hard and trying it surely is to bear persecutions and contradictions from others; severe is the strain to nature when, in the face of our n.o.blest efforts, proceeding from n.o.blest motives, we meet with misunderstanding and even condemnation; but to the upright, religious heart that is sincerely and truly seeking G.o.d amid the shadows and pitfalls of life, the sorest of all trials and the fiercest of all enemies are one"s own temptations and pa.s.sions and inclinations to evil. Easier it were to conquer the whole external world of foes, than to reign supreme over the little world within. Of Alexander the Great it is said, that while he actually subdued the whole known world of his time, he nevertheless yielded in defeat before his own pa.s.sions. He could overcome his external enemies, but surrendered miserably in the battle with self.
This, then, is our greatest warfare, the struggle with ourselves; and this our greatest victory, a triumph over self. "If each year," says the Imitation, "we could uproot but one evil inclination, how soon we should be perfect men!"(39) But it is not for us to be free from enemies and perils, both from without and from within, during our earthly sojourn.
They are a part of our lot here below, they are necessarily bound up with the darkened regions through which the Shepherd must lead his flock; and hence, entire safety there shall never be before the journey"s end, until we say farewell to present woes, and hail "the happy fields, where joy forever dwells."
In our present state, therefore, it is important for us to realize our dangers and to be prepared for conflict. There is no way of escape from crosses, and perils, and dreadful battles for all those who wish to win the crown of victory. They must follow the Shepherd as he leads the way, and hence our Lord has said, "if any man will come after me, let him take up his cross daily and follow me."(40) Yes, it is the following of the Shepherd, it is his leadership, his constant presence, that give comfort to the sheep, and dispel the dread and fear of perils. And though we pa.s.s through the valley and shadow of death, we need fear no evil, for He is with us. At times, frequently perhaps, as we sail the sea of life, the waves roll over and deluge us so completely that we are all but smothered.
The clouds gather, thick and black, and overcast the sky of our souls; the sorrows of death surround us, and the pains of the pit encompa.s.s us;(41) we are overwhelmed with sadness and plunged in darkness. We think of G.o.d, we remember Him, but He seems afar off. The evil which weighs us down-the pain of body, the agony of soul, the sadness and dejection of heart and mind, "the madness that worketh in the brain," m.u.f.fle the voice and all but still the trembling pulse, and we are not able so much as to lift our drooping heads and tear-dimmed eyes to see the gentle Shepherd standing faithfully at our side. It is our failure to discern and apprehend Him that causes extreme agony. If at these times of utter desolation, when the soul is swept by the winds of sorrow, we could only raise our eyes and thoughts to Him, with faith and hope and child-like trust, the spell would be broken; and we should see the clouds lift and part and float away on the wind, only to let in G.o.d"s cheerful sun to raise the drooping spirit, and warm and soothe the troubled soul.
But it is difficult, when oppressed by sorrow and affliction, to lift the heart and mind to things above. Nature of itself tends downward, and unless it has learned to discipline itself and to engage with the enemy in st.u.r.dy battle, it is not yet prepared for life. For the world is a battlefield and life a warfare, even from a natural point of view, and only they can hope to win in life"s hard contest who have learned to brave the battle, who have prepared themselves for conflict. But who is ready for the struggle, and how shall we be able to encounter our foes? Left to ourselves and to our own resources, we shall surely go down in defeat. The opposing forces are too gigantic, too numerous. They throng from near and from afar. They swarm from within and from without; from our own nature and from others, from the world around, and from our own household; from those at home, and from them that are abroad. Frequently during life we are, of a certainty, encompa.s.sed round with perils; we hardly know where to turn or what to do, we are breathless with fright; but even then, if we have proper faith, we shall grow calm, like the shepherd"s flock in the midst of devouring animals and beasts of prey, for our Saviour and Shepherd is with us, and no evil can befall us. Even when we think Him farthest, He is often nearest; when we think Him sleeping, His heart is watching. He loves us, His weak and timid sheep; we are the objects of His heart"s affection and ever active solicitude; He will not let perish, if we trust Him, the price of His precious Blood.
And the training we are to receive, and the preparation we are to make, in order worthily and victoriously to engage in the battle of life are nothing, therefore, but lessons of love and trust in the constant goodness and faithfulness of our divine Saviour. Unless we viciously drive Him away by deliberate, grievous sin, He is really never absent from us, and least of all when we need Him most. It is our fault, if we do not by faith discern Him, if we do not feel His ever-gracious presence. We need to discipline ourselves in acts and deeds of faith and love, and then we shall realize that He is always near us, even in the darkness of the shadow of death.
We must try to know our Shepherd, first of all; we must endeavor intimately to understand Him. For to have faith in Him, to trust Him, to believe in His power and goodness, in His overruling care for us and our interests, presuppose a knowledge of Him, just as faith and confidence in an earthly friend follow upon an intimate acquaintance with that friend.
But this close knowledge of our Master, so necessary to our present peace and future happiness, will never be ours unless we make Him our confidant, unless we accustom ourselves to live in His presence, to look to Him, to speak to Him often, to listen to His gracious direction. And this intimate relationship with our Saviour, this habitual communion with Him, will enkindle in our souls the fire of love. Once we know Him, we will trust Him, and having faith and confidence in Him, we will link our poor lives to His divine life by the strong cords of heavenly charity. Fear and uncertainty will then be impossible, even in the darkest hours.
It is love, above all, that directs our life-love, indeed, which is born of knowledge. We do not, it is true, love anything before we have some knowledge of it; this would be an impossibility; but once the soul has caught the vision, it is love that drives the life and stimulates and enriches the knowledge. The objects of our affections are the interpreters of our life and actions. If we love the world, we are led by the world; if we love G.o.d, it is G.o.d that leads and directs us. Where the treasure is, there will the heart be also;(42) and where the heart is, thither will the life make its way. But if G.o.d is the object of our love, we shall fear no evil; for "G.o.d is charity," says St. John, "and he that abideth in charity, abideth in G.o.d, and G.o.d in him ... Fear is not in charity; but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath pain."(43)
It is only the love of G.o.d, therefore, that will steady our lives, and bear us up in the thick of tribulations. It is the confident a.s.surance that we, although so unworthy, are the objects of divine complacency that awakens in our hearts a return of burning charity, and enables us to say, with the Psalmist, when the day is darkest "The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"(44) We are not to fear men, said our Lord, who, when they have destroyed the body, can do no more;(45) neither shall we be in dread of our Master, if armed with the gift of His love, "for fear hath pain, but love casteth out fear." Rather shall we, like the martyrs of old, mindful of the gift of G.o.d, go bravely forth to the battle of life, or to the slaughter, calmly, hopefully, cheerfully. While humbly, but steadfastly trustful of the Shepherd that leads us, we shall not be disturbed or troubled; the present shall be shorn of its terrors, the future of its forebodings. This truly is the triumph of life, when love, not fear, has come to rule us. This is the broader, larger life-the forerunner of life eternal in which our days are pa.s.sed in calm serenity-in which we press on with undaunted tread, alike under frowning clouds, or under a star-lit sky; alike with the joys of friendship around us, or alone amidst the graves of the dead.
We must not infer from this that the love of G.o.d which is our strength, the source of our courage, will blunt our feelings or harden our lives. It does not seal up the fountain of tears, or make us insensible to the pains and sorrows of life, which belong to the lot of all. In a certain sense it is likely true that those suffer most in life who are most united to G.o.d; for they feel most the coldness of the world and its desolation, its want of love and sympathy, its degradation and its misery. Hence it would be a mistake to think that the friends of G.o.d in this life are either exempted from pain and sorrow, or made insensible to them, either in themselves or in others. Of these and other evils they are truly more keenly aware than worldly men, if for no other reason than because of the superior refinement of their nature and the spiritual outlook of their vision. It is sin, after all, that hardens while it weakens. Sin closes the heart to love, it renders its victims cold, unsympathetic and selfish; whereas the gifts of grace and holiness are tenderness, mercy, strength. But though all have to suffer, both the holy and the unholy, the difference between them is this, that the unG.o.dly are borne down and overcome by their sorrows and crosses, while the spiritual are always triumphing even in the midst of apparent defeat. To the foolish they seem to be vanquished, yet they conquer; often they seem on the verge of surrender, when they emerge in victory; they seem to die, when behold they live!(46)
The spiritual man, then, does suffer; he suffers in the cause of G.o.d; he suffers for others and for himself. More than this, it is doubtless true that he feels his crosses more keenly, he grieves more profoundly, than do the children of the world; but through it all he remembers his Saviour and is comforted. He knows that the tribulations of the just are many, and that from all these the Lord will soon deliver him,(47) and he shall not be confounded forever.
VIII. THY ROD AND THY STAFF THEY COMFORT ME.
It is already plain to us that the sorrows and sufferings of the present life are, without doubt, the result and consequence of sin. That we should pa.s.s our mortal days so full of pain and tears, that our fellow-man, that the beasts of the field and the elements, which we need and use as helpers and servants, and most of all that our own nature, with its pa.s.sions and evil tendencies, should rise up against us and oppose us, was a.s.suredly not a part of the original plan. As a wise and all-powerful Designer and Creator, G.o.d founded the world after a masterful fashion-devoid of evil, free from defect, perfect according to the plans framed in Heaven. The hills and mountains He founded and set on their bases; the streams and rivers and valleys He formed, all rich and lovely, intended for the comfort and happiness of man; the blue deep He constructed and beautified with its millions of shining wonders; and in all these stupendous creations, in all the diverse works of His mighty, omnipotent hands there was in the beginning no trace of fault, of defect, of error or sin. The upheaval came when man disobeyed and wrought the commencement of all our woe. And hence it is to man"s first disobedience and the fruit of that forbidden tree, that we owe all the evils from which our nature suffers and to which our flesh is heir.
But although we know the source of our sorrows and feel the guilt of our sins, this does not make our burden lighter or shorten the path of our pilgrimage. We are confronted by the problem of labor and suffering as soon as we enter the world. No one is entirely exempted; and, strange as it is, we see that it frequently happens, that those are most afflicted who are farthest removed from the wickedness of the world and purest in the sight of G.o.d. "Many are the tribulations of the just;" and how true is it that the very fidelity of the servants of G.o.d is often an occasion of their sufferings! It is not wonderful that sorrow and fear should be the portion of sinners throughout the length of their days, for "contrition and unhappiness are in their ways, and the way of peace they have not known;"(48) but that all, even the saints of G.o.d, should suffer alike and be oppressed with miseries is, at first sight, a problem and a baffling mystery.
It is something, indeed, to feel in our suffering that we are paying the debt of our sins, whether personal, or original, or both; it is much to know that our crosses, severe and inevitable as they are, are a curb to our wayward nature, and a restraint against further sins; it is a.s.suredly a great privilege and a high honor that we, unworthy and unfaithful servants of our Master, should, through our tears and sorrows and sufferings, be enabled to conform our poor lives to the tearful and sorrowful life of our Saviour; it is a comfort that words cannot tell to be a.s.sured by our faith that in the midst of pains and perils the Shepherd of our souls is ever near to shield, to guard, and to save-all this is surely much-enough to encourage and strengthen us daily to take up our cross and joyfully follow our Redeemer, even to the hill of Calvary, even to the death of the cross. But this is not all. A deeper meaning lies hidden behind the veil of tears, beneath the cloak of pain and sorrow. The miseries of life are not a mere inheritance, neither is their value of a purely negative character. We instinctively feel that somehow, somewhere beyond the scope of mortal ken, there is a higher explanation and a more valid justification for all the failures and pains and sorrows of life, than that which appears on the surface of things, or issues in results that are only negative. Suffering for its own sake was never intended; and we were not made to suffer. We were not created for misery, but for happiness; not for failure, but for victory; not for death, but for life; not for time, but for eternity. And hence there is a deeper meaning, a higher explanation for all the failures and miseries of the present life than those that are apparent to the casual observer.
In the t.i.tle of this chapter the Psalmist, referring to the shepherd"s care for his sheep, says: "Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me." The staff the shepherd uses, as already explained, is to a.s.sist the sheep along their perilous journeys, and the rod to protect them in case of attack. The rod and the staff are necessary for the welfare of the flock, necessary to guide and shield them in their wanderings, and to bring them safely home. So too, it is with us, the children of G.o.d. To be properly protected and guided to our happy end we have need of the rod of affliction and adversity, and likewise of the staff of mercy.
Although human miseries-pain, poverty, suffering and death-are, as we know, the consequences, just and equitable, of original sin, it is a shortsighted faith and a defective vision that find in these crosses only chastis.e.m.e.nt for sin. Truly, they should not have been, had we never sinned; but as G.o.d, in His mercy, draws good out of evil, so has He made these inevitable results of our transgression serve a higher purpose and minister to n.o.ble ends. The Saviour came that we might have life, that we might progress and advance to ever fuller and more abundant life.(49) His aim, and the aim and purpose of His heavenly Father, since the very dawn of our creation, has been to lead us to happiness-to perfect, abundant, eternal happiness. It would be of little account to be happy here, unless we are also to rejoice eternally. It would be a poor exchange and a paltry satisfaction, to be present at the feasts of men, only to forfeit our place at the banquet of angels. But our heavenly reward and our celestial crown are to be merited and won here below; they are to follow upon our earthly labors. "Only he shall be crowned," says St. Paul, "who has legitimately engaged in the battle."(50) And did not the Master say Himself, "Let him who wishes to come after me deny himself and take up his cross and follow me?"(51) Did He not declare that we must die to live?
that we must surrender our life here, if we would keep it eternally?
"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die it bringeth forth much fruit. He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world, keepeth it unto life eternal."(52) We cannot serve two masters, we cannot serve G.o.d and mammon. If we would seek to avoid all pain and sorrow, and spend our lives in the pleasures of sense, we must be prepared to forego the future joys of the soul; if we would pa.s.s our days indulging the flesh and chasing the phantoms of time, we must needs make ready for the death of the spirit and the forfeit of all that is lasting.
We have no choice, then; if we would succeed eternally, we must follow the way of the cross. This is the only way to life-to that abundant, celestial life which our Creator has wished us to live. And it is the bearing of our cross, patiently and resignedly to the will of G.o.d, together with our other good works, that enables us to merit, in so far as we can, the joys of the kingdom of Heaven. But the sufferings and labors, so inevitable and necessary to our earthly state, which serve as a means to supernal rewards, have still another, deeper meaning, and serve another purpose. We cannot evade them, we must encounter them. They are not only unavoidable, but necessary to our dearest interests, as we see, since they are strewn as thorns and brambles all along the narrow way that leads to eternal life. We cannot choose them or lay them aside at will. We may, indeed, if we be foolish and impious enough, refuse to walk the narrow way of the just and choose the broad road that leadeth to destruction; but we shall not even thus escape the pains and perils inseparable from this mortal life. Or again, we may, in our folly, rebel against the crosses and labors that confront and pursue us; but whether we go this way or that, whether we will it or not, we can no more eschew all the evils of life than escape from the air that we breathe. The pressure, it is true, is not always upon us; we are not, without ceasing, weighed down by our labors and groaning to be delivered from the body of this death. There is interruption, there is pa.s.sing pleasure, a rift in the clouds and a smile of the sunshine even for the darkest and poorest life. And yet withal, we know and we are conscious that we are ever under the sentence of death, that life is a fleeting shadow, that like
"A flash of the lightning, a break of the wave, Man pa.s.ses from life to his rest in the grave."
There is no evading the conclusion, therefore, that the days of man in this world are few and full of miseries. "The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling. He cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow."(53) "For all flesh is as gra.s.s, and all the glory thereof as the flower of gra.s.s. The gra.s.s is withered, and the flower thereof is fallen away."(54) To the natural man all this is appalling, and how frequently it finds its solution in unbridled self-indulgence, in mental unbalance, and self-destruction! But the saints, and all the truly wise, have viewed the problem of human suffering in a vastly different light. They have discerned it, first of all, as really distinctive of the road to Heaven, and as essentially pertaining to the royal way of the cross. They have understood that it extinguishes the wrath of the heavenly Father, that it atones for sin and makes the soul conformable to our suffering Saviour, and therefore have they loved it. And more than this, those who have been led by the wisdom of G.o.d have found, not only that the crosses of life are essentially connected with the way of salvation, but that by them and through them alone we are often _positively driven_ to G.o.d. We may try to avoid them, and at times, perhaps, succeed; we may flee from them or endeavor to still the voice of their pain; or, when unable to escape them, we may, in our wrath and desperation, rise up against them and rebuke them: but they persistently remain, they continue to haunt, as if to woo and to win us to penetrate their deeper meaning, and discover the treasure that in them lies concealed. The very breakdown of human things, the severing of human ties and relationships, the loss of health and wealth, of treasures and friends, and of all that life holds dear, are really meant, in the deepest sense, to drive us to the divine. This is the meaning of those tears and sorrows, those pains and sufferings, that loneliness, that grief, that agony of heart and soul which belong to this world of tears. All these are intended to teach us that here below, on this crumbling sh.o.r.e of time, we have no abiding city, or home, or life, or love; but seek a city, a home, a life, a love that hath foundations, whose builder and maker is G.o.d.(55)
We need G.o.d, we were made for G.o.d, and our nature, with all its longings and powers, cries out for Him. And therefore has G.o.d so arranged the world, in spite of all its evils, and in spite of all our sinfulness, that, if we do not prevent it, it will lead us out to happiness-lead us out to Himself. It was our sin that despoiled the face of the world; but G.o.d, in His mercy, has drawn good out of evil, He has made the effects of sin minister to our advantage, if we will but have it so. We may, forsooth, refuse, because we are free; we may object, and rebel, and oppose our lot; we may take our destiny out of the hands of our Creator and attempt to shape it for ourselves; we may deride and despise the humble, the lowly of heart, the patient, the mortified and the suffering; we may upbraid the Providence of G.o.d and its workings, and refuse to submit to the rule of the Creator; we may hold in derision and contempt the little band that is sweetly marching the way of the cross, preferring for ourselves the company of the mult.i.tude that knows not G.o.d-all this can we do, because we are free; but if such be our choice, and if we persevere in it, our portion is fixed, and we shall have at last only to say with the wicked: "Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of understanding hath not risen upon us. We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known. What hath pride profited us? or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? All those things are pa.s.sed away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on."(56)
Sufferings, therefore, are common to all, to the good and the bad, to the wise and the foolish, to the children of light and to the children of darkness. But only those who are directed by grace and light from above are able to pierce the deeper meaning of the cross. All have to bear it, but not all understand it; all feel the weight of it, but all do not know the power of it. Like fortune, it knocks at every door, into every heart it endeavors to enter and make known its deeper significance, its hidden secrets, lest any of us should suffer in vain, and our lives be altogether a failure. To be able to suffer patiently and gladly for G.o.d"s sake, is thus a great wisdom; it is a sign of future blessedness. It is the wisdom of G.o.d, which is foolishness to men. "If thou hadst the science of all the astronomers," says Eternal Wisdom; "if thou couldst speak and discourse about G.o.d as fully and well as all angels and men; if thou alone were as learned as the whole body of doctors; all this would not bestow on thee so much holiness of life as if, in the afflictions that come upon thee, thou art able to be resigned to Me and to abandon thyself to Me. The former is common to good and bad, but the latter belongs to My elect alone."
We know that our Saviour took upon Himself the cross of sorrow and suffering, not alone that He might satisfy for our transgressions and be our ransom from bondage, but also that He might be unto us an example and a leader. And knowing that our unfaithfulness had incurred severest maladies from which none could escape, He bore our infirmities and carried our sorrows for us, in order that we, in our time, might bear our inevitable afflictions for His sake, for love of Him, and thereby attain to unending glory with Him. "For the spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of G.o.d. And if sons, heirs also; heirs, indeed of G.o.d, and joint heirs with Christ: yet so, if we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified with him."(57) "If you partake of the sufferings of Christ," says St. Peter, "rejoice that when his glory shall be revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."(58) The chains of sorrow which bind us here below, our Shepherd thus would turn to golden cords of love, which draw and hold us to Himself. We cannot, as we see, ascend to Heaven, rise to blessedness, except by the way of the cross. And our degree of glory in Heaven, the eternal happiness which we shall enjoy, will be in proportion to the degree of charity or love of G.o.d which our souls possess at death; and this divine charity, which is to measure our future beat.i.tude, is acquired and augmented by faithfully doing the will of G.o.d-by patiently and lovingly bearing the cross of life. Sacrifice is the test of love. And hence the more we do and suffer for Christ"s sake, the more we prove our love for Him and the greater shall be our happiness in the kingdom of His Father. All holy writers, all the masters of the spiritual life agree in teaching that G.o.d particularly chastises those whom He loves with a special love. He proves the elect to find if they are worthy of Himself.(59) He does not spare them now, that He may spare them hereafter; He tries them for a time, that He may reward them forever; He seems harsh with them here, during the time of probation, only that He may draw them closer to Himself everlastingly.
The devoted friends of G.o.d and the ardent lovers of things spiritual have deeply pondered these momentous truths. They have realized that our days here, though few and fast-flying, are really to determine our lot and condition throughout the eternal years. They have known that the pa.s.sing present is the price of the lasting future; that this is the seeding time, and hereafter the harvest. And because our future happiness is to be in accord with our merits here acquired, jealously have they sought and embraced every present occasion to increase their merits and their worthiness for the glory that is to come. This is why they have loved the cross, the symbol of salvation, the emblem of victory; this, too, is why they have felt disturbed and full of fear when the cross was absent from them. Unlike the unenlightened sufferer, who sees only punishment in his pains, the saints of G.o.d have ever accepted their crosses as a sign of special love, a divine visitation, a preparation for the great communion.
We see now how it is that the rod of chastis.e.m.e.nt and the staff of mercy are able to give joy and comfort to G.o.d"s chosen friends; and thus are they designed to console and comfort everyone who is truly led by faith and love. Sufferings are really a blessing, but the eye of faith alone discerns it. They keep us from present pleasures, from hurtful occasions, from alluring vanities; they direct us into the way of salvation, they drive us to G.o.d, they increase the glory of our eternal blessedness. What are the trials of earth when compared with the joys of Heaven? Rather, how precious are they! since, if we use them aright, they lead us out into a higher life, to a closer friendship with G.o.d. And if, through the mercy of our heavenly Father, we permit the cross to lead us to His knees and enrich our lives with His love, who can speak its infinite value? What treasure can be likened to it? Surely nothing that we know can surpa.s.s it in worth. We might, indeed, enjoy all that life can give; we might possess all riches, all health, all success; we might have honor, fame, glory, power; the praise and love of men, the treasures of earthly friendship and earthly affection-the whole world we might gain and enjoy; but if through all these, or in spite of all, we should not be led to the love and friendship of G.o.d, we should know only vanity, and life for us would in its issue be nothing but a dismal failure.
But if, on the contrary, through the sufferings and losses, the deficiencies and limitations of life, we have been led to make G.o.d our dearest friend, if we have been taught, by the coldness and harshness of men, to take refuge in His love, how blessed are we! how cheaply the purchase has been made, even though it has meant the loss of every pa.s.sing good, of all that the world can give, even the pouring out of our own life"s blood!
Teach me, O my Master, in the day of sorrow and tribulation, to understand the meaning of the cross, to know the value of my sufferings, to grasp the power and the secret of Thy rod and Thy staff. a.s.sist me to see Thee through the darkness that surrounds me; and give me to feel, in the midst of loneliness and perils, amid pain and desolation, the nearness to my soul of Thy loving-kindness, and the strength of Thy merciful presence.
IX. THOU SPREADEST BEFORE ME A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF MINE ENEMIES.
In the preceding verses of the Shepherd Psalm the Psalmist has described the constant care of the shepherd for his sheep-the rest and refreshment, the protection and comfort he provides for them. And now, in the present verse, he speaks of a feast he has prepared for them, which is to be likened to a bountiful banquet-a banquet which they are to enjoy, a feast which they are to consume, in the sight of their enemies, in the presence of the evils that afflict them. He refers, at first, to the manner of preparing or spreading a table in the Orient. Often the custom of olden times was not much different from that which prevails among the Arabs even today. To prepare a table means with them simply to spread a skin or a cloth or a mat on the ground.
And it is to this kind of table that the Psalmist refers when he sings of the feast of the sheep. He means nothing more than that he has provided for his flock in the face of their enemies a rich pasture, a spreading slope, where they shall feed with contentment and peace, in spite of the evils that surround them.
But the quiet and peace which the sheep enjoy, while partaking of their spread-out banquet, are entirely owing to the protecting presence of the shepherd. And it frequently happens that here again the utmost skill and diligence of the shepherd are called into play in thus securing the peace and safety of his flock. The most abundant pastures are many times interspersed with noxious weeds and plants, which, if eaten, would sicken and poison the herd; while around the feeding places and grazing grounds very often lie hid, in thickets and holes and caves in the hillsides, wild animals, such as jackals, wolves and panthers, ready to spring out, at the critical moment, and devour the innocent sheep. The shepherd is aware of all these evils and enemies of his tender flock; and he goes ahead and prepares the way, avoiding the poisonous gra.s.ses, and driving away, or slaying, if need be, the beasts that menace the peace and security of the pasture. The evils are not entirely dispelled, but only sufficiently removed or held in check so as not to imperil the flock.
Such is the table prepared for the sheep by their provident and watchful shepherd; and such is the feast of which they partake with quiet joy in the sight and presence of their enemies. But, as just said, the tranquil joy which is theirs comes not from the fact that danger has been all removed, nor from the fact that they have become hardened and used to its presence. They know it is always near; and they are conscious, as far as animals can be, of their own utter helplessness, if left to themselves, to survive an attack of their powerful enemies. But they do not fear, they are not disturbed or anxious, solely for the reason that they feel their shepherd is present, and they know he will guard and protect them. Hence the Psalmist is speaking for the sheep when he says to the shepherd with a tone of confident joy, "Thou spreadest before me a table in the presence of mine enemies."