Part 3 (1/2)

Oh cleanse me now, my Lord, I cannot stay For evening shadows and a silent hour: Now I have sinned, and now with no delay, I claim Thy promise and its total power.

O Saviour, bid me go and sin no more, And keep me always 'neath the mighty flow Of Thy perpetual fountain, I implore That Thy perpetual cleansing I may fully know.

--_Frances Ridley Havergal_

O wandering sheep, backslidden soul, may the Saviour find you today, put His strong arms around about you, bring you back again into the fold, keep you from wandering, teach you all you need to know, until the gloaming, until after having washed the last sleep from your eyes in the river of life, you place your last climbing footstep on the threshold of our Father's house to go out no more.

Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?

I am weary and heavy laden, and longing to come to Thee; And out in the distant darkness Thy dear voice sounds so sweet, But I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, to kiss Thy feet.

”Child!” said the gracious Master, ”why turnest thou thus away, When I came through the darkness seeking my sheep that have gone astray?

I know thou art heavy laden, I know thou hast need of me And the feet of thy loving Master are weary with seeking thee.”

Callest Thou thus, O Master, callest Thou thus to me?

When my untrimmed lamp is dying and my heart is not meet for Thee; For Thou art so great and holy, and mine is so poor a home, And I am not worthy, not worthy, O Master, that Thou shouldst come.

”Child,” said the tender Shepherd--and His voice was very sweet-- ”I only ask for a welcome, and rest for my weary feet.”

Then over my lonely threshold, though weak and defiled by sin, Though I am not worthy, O Master, I pray Thee enter in.

--_Helen Marion Burnsides_

=_Christ the Restorer_=

Do I not speak to a soul who once has known Christ as the Good Shepherd, but has now wandered away from the fold?

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, But yet in love He sought me, And on His shoulders gently laid, He home rejoicing brought me.

--_Sir Henry W. Baker_

May I not remind you of the Master's own parable, ”What man of you, having one hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which has gone astray, until he find it?” May I impress upon the words _until he find it_? He will not cease the search until He has found the sheep. It has been said that the first verse of this Psalm may be translated, ”The +LORD+ is my Shepherd, I shall not be _missing_.” ”O love that will not let me go.”

The Shepherd stands at the door of the sheepfold and counts the sheep, his one hundred sheep. He counts to ninety-nine. One is missing. He cannot rest until that last one is found. The door of the sheepfold is closed, and out into the darkness and cold and pain of the night the shepherd goes until he finds his lost sheep, and on his shoulders he carries it back to the fold, then calls upon his neighbors to rejoice with him. He has found his lost sheep.

There were ninety and nine that safely lay In the shelter of the fold, But one was out on the hills away, Far off from the gates of gold-- Away on the mountains wild and bare, Away from the tender Shepherd's care.

Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine; Are they not enough for Thee?

But the Shepherd made answer, ”This of mine Has wandered away from me, And although the road be rough and steep, I go to the desert to find my sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew How deep were the waters crossed, Nor how dark was the night that the Lord pa.s.sed through Ere He found His sheep that was lost.

Out in the desert He heard its cry-- Sick and helpless, and ready to die.

Lord, whence are those blood-drops all the way That mark out the mountain's track?

They were shed for one who had gone astray Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.

Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?

They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.

But all through the mountains, thunder-riven, And up from the rocky steep, There arose a glad cry to the gates of heaven, Rejoice! I have found my sheep!

And the angels echoed around the throne, Rejoice, for the +LORD+ brings back His own!