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Music For the Soul
Devotional: November 4th

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THE DIVINE HOST AND THE HUMAN GUESTS

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou hast anointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over. - Psalms 23:5

Life is a sore fight; but to the Christian man, in spite of all the tumult, life is a festal banquet. There stand the enemies, ringing him round with cruel eyes, waiting to be let slip upon him like eager dogs round the poor beast of the chase. But, for all that, here is spread a table in the wilderness, made ready by invisible hands; and the grim-eyed foe is held back in the leash till the servant of God has fed and been strengthened. This is our condition - always the foe, always the table. What sort of a meal should that be? The soldiers who eat and drink, and are drunken in the presence of the enemy, like the Saxons before Hastings, what will become of them? Drink the cup of gladness, as men do when their foe is at their side, looking askance over the rim, and with one hand on the sword, ready, aye! ready, against treachery and surprise. But the presence of the danger should make the feast more enjoyable, too, by the moderation it enforces and by the contrast it affords - as to sailors on shore, or soldiers in a truce. Joy may grow on the very face of danger, as a slender rose-bush flings its bright sprays and fragrant blossoms over the lip of a cataract; and that not the wild mirth of men in a pestilence, with their " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," but the simple-hearted gladness of those who have preserved the invaluable childhood gift of living in the present moment, because they know that tomorrow will bring God, whatever it brings, and not take away His care and love, whatever it takes away.

This, then, is the form under which the experience of the past is presented in the second portion of this Shepherd -psalm - joy in conflict, rest and food even in the strife. Upon that there is built a hope which transcends that in the previous portion of the psalm. As to this life, "Goodness and mercy shall follow us " This is more than "I will fear no evil" . That said, sorrow is not evil if God be with us. This says. Sorrow is mercy. The one is hope looking mainly at outward circumstances; the other is hope learning the spirit and meaning of them all. These two angels of God - Goodness and Mercy- shall follow and encamp around the pilgrim. The enemies whom God held back while he feasted may pursue, but will not overtake him. They will be distanced sooner or later; but the white wings of these messengers of the covenant shall never be far away from the journeying child, and the air shall often be filled with the music of their comings, and their celestial weapons shall glance around him in all the fight, and their soft arms shall bear him up over all the rough ways, and up higher at last to the throne.

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