The Song of our Syrian Guest | Page 5

ease of mastery how much those words
mean, 'Thou art with me.'
"And what shall I say of the next words, '_Thy rod and thy staff they
comfort me_'? Ah, madam, you should see the sheep cuddle near the
shepherd to understand that word, 'They comfort me.' The shepherd's
call 'Ta-a-a-a, ho-o-o,' and the answering patter of feet as the sheep
hurry to him, are fit sounds to be chosen out of the noisy world to show
what comfort God gives to souls that heed his voice; and those sounds
have been heard in my country this day as they were the day this
shepherd psalm was written!"
He sat in silence a moment musing as if the sound were in his ear.
With quiet animation he lifted his thin hand and continued: "Now here
is where you drop the shepherd figure and put in a banquet and so lose
the fine climax of completeness in the shepherd's care."
It need not be said that we were eager listeners now, for our guest was
all aglow with memories of his far-off homeland and we felt that we
were about to see new rays of light flash from this rarest gem in the
song-treasury of the world.
"'Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.'"
In the same hushed voice in which he quoted these words he added:
"Ah, to think that the shepherd's highest skill and heroism should be
lost from view as the psalm begins to sing of it, and only an indoor
banquet thought of!" Again he sat a little time in quiet. Then he said:
"The word for table here means simply 'something spread out' and so a
prepared meal, however it is set forth. There is no higher task of the
shepherd in my country than to go from time to time to study places
and examine the grass and find a good and safe feeding-place for his
sheep. All his skill and often great heroism are called for. There are
many poisonous plants in the grass and the shepherd must find and
avoid them. The sheep will not eat certain poisonous things, but there

are some which they will eat, one kind of poisonous grass in particular.
A cousin of mine once lost three hundred sheep by a mistake in this
hard task.
"Then there are snake holes in some kinds of ground, and, if they be not
driven away, the snakes bite the noses of the sheep. The shepherd
sometimes burns the fat of hogs along the ground to do this. Sometimes
the shepherd finds ground where moles have worked their holes just
under the surface. Snakes lie in these holes with their heads sticking up
ready to bite the grazing sheep. The shepherds know how to drive them
away as they go along ahead of the sheep.
"And around the feeding-ground which the shepherd thus prepares, in
holes and caves in the hillsides there are jackals, wolves, hyenas, and
panthers, too, and the bravery and skill of the shepherd are at the
highest point in closing up these dens with stones or slaying the wild
beasts with his long-bladed knife. Of nothing do you hear shepherds
boasting more proudly than of their achievements in this part of their
care of flocks.
"And now," he exclaimed with a beaming countenance and suppressed
feeling, as if pleading for recognition of the lone shepherd's bravest act
of devotion to his sheep, "and now do you not see the shepherd figure
in that quaint line, '_Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies_'?"
"Yes," I answered; "and I see that God's care of a man out in the world
is a grander thought than that of seating him at an indoor
banquet-table."
"But what about anointing the head with oil and the cup running over?
Go on, my friend."
"Oh, there begins the beautiful picture at the end of the day. The psalm
has sung of the whole round of the day's wandering, all the needs of the
sheep, all the care of the shepherd. Now the psalm closes with the last
scene of the day. At the door, of the sheepfold the shepherd stands and
'the rodding of the sheep' takes place. The shepherd stands, turning his
body to let the sheep pass; he is the door, as Christ said of himself.
With his rod he holds back the sheep while he inspects them one by,
one as they pass into the fold. He has the horn filled with olive-oil and
he has cedar-tar, and he anoints a knee bruised on the rocks or a side
scratched by thorns. And here comes one that is not bruised but is

simply worn and exhausted; he bathes its face and head with