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 The Higher Education and the Common 
 
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 The Faith of the Fathers and the Faith 
 
 of the Future, 50 
 
 Christian Science and Common Sense : 
 
 A Rational Interpretation, 50 
 
 The Loom of Life : A Study of Fate and 
 
 Love, 25 
 
 The Melody of God's Love: A New Piping 
 
 on the Shepherd's Flute, 50 
 
 A Poet and His Songs : Being a Memoir 
 of Russell Powell Jacoby and Selec- 
 tions from His Writings. Edited by 
 O. H (In Press.) 1.50 
 
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 of price, by 
 
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THE 
 
 JEeloDp of #oti^s ilo\)e; 
 
 A New Piping on the 
 Shepherd's Flute 
 
 BEING 
 
 A DEVOTIONAL UNFOLDING OF THE 
 
 TWENTy^-THIRD PSALM 
 
 OLIVER HUCKEL 
 
 BALTlxMORE : 
 JOHN S. B|.IDGES & CO. 
 
 \ 
 
TWO COPZES aECElVE^^ 
 
 Library of QoBgtQiiy 
 
 MAfi6-1900 
 
 Reg!«ter of Copyrtglt% 
 
 Copyright i900. 
 
 StCJND COPY. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 This little book of devotional studies is 
 dedicated with loving gratitude to that noble 
 company of Christian workers, The Ladies' 
 Guild of the Associate Reformed Church of 
 Baltimore. For them it was prepared as a 
 practical unfolding of their chosen psalm 
 and by them it was requested for this wider 
 circulation. The title — " The Melody of God' s 
 Love " was suggested by their President from 
 a similar title to an older exposition, now 
 long out of print, on The Melody of the 23rd 
 Psalm. And the interpretation owes sug- 
 gestions here and there to the noble work of 
 Matthew Henry, Pastor C. H. Spurgeon and 
 Rev. F. B. Me^^er whose expositions have 
 become classic in religious literature. May 
 God bless this further attempt to reveal the 
 manifold meaning of the wondrous love 
 wherewith He has loved us ! 
 
 O. H. 
 Baltimore. 
 
The Melody of God's Love. 
 
 FIRST MELODY. 
 
 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not 
 
 want. 
 
 He maketh me to lie down in green 
 
 pastures: he leadeth me beside the 
 
 still waters. 
 
 SECOND MELODY. 
 
 He restoreth my soul : he leadeth me 
 in the paths of righteousness for his 
 name's sake. 
 
 Yea, though I walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
 evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod 
 and thy staff they comfort me. 
 
 THIRD MELODY. 
 
 Thou preparest a table before me in 
 the presence of mine enemies : thou 
 anointest my head with oil ; my cup 
 runneth over. 
 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall fol- 
 low me all the days of my life ; and I 
 will dwell in the house of the Lord 
 forever. 
 
FOREWORD. 
 
 Once in the wars of the Middle Ages, a royal 
 Prince was taken, and immured in a castle stronghold 
 no one knew where. But one who loved him trav- 
 elled the country over, playing on a shepherd^ s pipe, 
 beneath every castle's windows, the simple air that 
 they both used to know in their childhood days. And 
 at last at one castle the melody pound its response, 
 and a signal was shown, and the Prince was finally 
 rescued. 
 
 One who loves you in the love of Christ comes 
 playing again on a shepherd's pipe the simple melody 
 that we used to love in childhood days. Is there a 
 royal spirit captive in the deepest depths of the 
 stronghold of your life ? No matter how long the 
 years, how strong the world, how gruesome the sin, 
 there must be a response to the m,agic air of the 
 melody of God's love. It has oftentimes cheered the 
 captives, soothed the suffering, comforted the dying. 
 It has oftentimes stormed the castle of selfishness, 
 opened the dungeons of sin, and brought forth the 
 royal captive, and made him free again, a royal 
 Prince in the love and power of a royal God. 
 
FIRST MELODY. 
 
A Song of the S'weet and Pleasant 
 Experiences of Life* 
 
 We do not know at what time in 
 his Hfe David wrote this psalm. It 
 has all the freshness of the shepherd 
 boy's heart in it, and all the wisdom 
 of the aged king. 
 
 This is how we may imagine he 
 wrote it. 
 
 It was in his palace in the great 
 banqueting hall. The guests were 
 gone and King David was sitting 
 alone in meditation. He went into 
 a reverie of the past, even into his 
 
1 2 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 boyhood's life. He longed again for 
 the sweet water of Bethlehem's well, 
 and for all the simple pleasures of his 
 shepherd life and the companionship 
 of his sheep that once seemed to him 
 as friends in his love. 
 
 And as he meditated on all the 
 course of his life and all God's 
 goodness that had brought him to 
 greatness — God's gentleness that had 
 made him great, — suddenly the 
 thought came and leaped into melody 
 on his lips — The Lord, the Lord is 
 my shepherd. 
 
 O, those days of green pastures 
 and still waters, with all God's 
 shepherding goodness and love ! 
 
 But as he thinks further of his 
 life, he remembers that great sin of 
 his life and is sad, but again he 
 remembers God's forgiving goodness 
 
The Melody of God's Love 1 3 
 
 and he sings : He restoreth my soul. 
 
 He thinks of the hardships, the 
 right but stern paths travelled in his 
 devious life, but God guided him in 
 all, for His name's sake. 
 
 He thinks of the dark places, even 
 the death valley ; God was still with 
 him. 
 
 And now, — and now as he looks 
 around on his radiant palace walls 
 and banqueting house, he realizes 
 that we are more than under God's 
 care as a flock. God has made us 
 His friends. His own. God's present 
 goodness still amazes him and he 
 sings : Thou preparest a table for me, 
 thou helpest me to triumph over my 
 enemies. Thou art good ; my cup 
 runneth over. Surely Thy goodness 
 and mercy have followed me. I will 
 be faithful to Thee forever. 
 
14 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 In some such way, it might have 
 been that the divine song bubbled 
 up from the full fountain of David's 
 heart. 
 
 And his personal outburst of faith 
 and triumph becomes ours, and 
 becomes attuned to every life. It 
 fits itself into the heart and needs of 
 all humanity and becomes a new 
 confession of faith and hope and love 
 in God. 
 
 So we come to listen to this 
 shepherd-music once again. It is a 
 royal shepherd music tuned to the 
 sweetest strains of earth and heaven. 
 
 We take up the old sweet familiar 
 words, but we would see them in 
 new lights, hold them in fresh vision, 
 study them with the revealings of 
 deeper love. 
 
 Have you ever taken a gem set in 
 
The Melody of God's Love 1 5 
 
 a ring and looked at it in various 
 lights and angles to see its new 
 flashings of beauty and the hidden 
 fountains of its light ? This psalm is 
 a priceless gem of purest ray serene. 
 
 Have you taken up a lily or a rose, 
 and turned it round and round and 
 lifted it in loving closeness to discover 
 anew its beauty and its fragrance ? 
 This psalm is the fairest flower in the 
 garden of the Lord. 
 
 Have you ever stood before a noble 
 picture, now on this side, now on 
 that, in morning light and evening, 
 and dwelt upon it till, like a lover, 
 you see new beauty in it unseen to 
 others ? This psalm is a picture of 
 the King in His beauty and the land 
 that is afar off. 
 
 Have you ever listened to a sweet 
 song or superb symphony till it 
 
1 6 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 became a part of your life, and each 
 time you heard it, it grew more 
 sweet, and melted your heart and 
 lifted your soul as on wings toward 
 heaven ? This sweet psalm is a min- 
 strel song from the heart of God. It 
 comes singing itself into the world 
 like a harmony of heaven. It sings 
 new faith and hope and love into the 
 sad heart of the world. 
 
 The psalm seems to divide itself 
 into three melodies of two verses each. 
 
 The first is the beautiful strain that 
 we may call ** In Green Pastures," a 
 song of the sweet and pleasant 
 experiences of life. The second 
 melody is a more heroic strain, 
 '^ Through the Valley of the Shadow,'* 
 a song of the hard and deep and 
 sorrowful experiences of life. The 
 third melody is the wondrous tri- 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 1 7 
 
 umphant strain, '' In the House of 
 the Lord Forever," a song of the 
 exultant and heavenly experiences of 
 life. 
 
 And indeed can we not see in 
 these three melodies, the Song of 
 Life? First the life of faith ''In 
 Green Pastures ;" secondly, the life 
 of hope, even ''Through the Valley 
 of the Shadow;" thirdly, the life of 
 love "In the House of the Lord 
 Forever ;" — faith, hope and love, but 
 the greatest of these is love, for God 
 is love. 
 
 And the deep melody brings this 
 23rd psalm, this sweetest song of the 
 Old Testament, into unison w^ith the 
 most heavenly hymns of the New 
 Testament, that matchless thirteenth 
 of first Corinthians, — " And now 
 abideth faith, hope, love ; but the 
 greatest of these is love." 
 
1 8 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 So let us listen to the psalm in 
 these three melodies, and listen as 
 King David sings to us the first 
 melody, ** In Green Pastures," a song 
 of the sweet and pleasant experiences 
 of life. These are the words : 
 The Lord is my shepherd ; I shall not 
 
 want. 
 Lie maketh me to lie down in green 
 
 pastures : 
 LLe leadeth me beside the still waters. 
 
 Once on a time David, I doubt 
 not, played the shepherd's pipe among 
 his flocks under the shade of the 
 trees. It is an ideal instrument for 
 a pastoral life, so handy, so natural, 
 so sweet. 
 
 But also, as we know, he played 
 the rustic harp, — the harp often 
 twined with flowers. This was what 
 he used in order to charm away 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 19 
 
 the madness from King Saul, and 
 this also became the royal harp of 
 his later minstrelsy. 
 
 Perhaps as his heart sang this new 
 shepherd song of divine memories, 
 his hand softly caressed the strings 
 of his kingly harp and made an 
 accompaniment low and tender. 
 
 Those hands were stilled three cen- 
 turies ago, the harp has crumbled to 
 dust in the oblivious ages, but how 
 the melody has lingered, the soul of 
 music, in these marvellous words. 
 
 Listen ! It sings in the soul, — The 
 Lord is my Shepherd. 
 
 There comes the picture of an 
 Eastern hillside and a shepherd 
 among his sheep ; such a picture 
 as we sometimes see among the hills 
 and glades of our Druid Hill. Beau- 
 tiful picture always, so quiet, tender, 
 
20 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 loving. The Eastern shepherd, as 
 many have noticed, comes into loving 
 companionship with his sheep. So 
 long and lone are his vigils with 
 them. He calls them by name. His 
 affection goes out to them. They 
 become his life and care and affec- 
 tion and all his thought. They are 
 in his hands. He would protect 
 them with his life. He thinks and 
 plans for them, leads them, calls 
 them, folds them at evening. They 
 are like a family around him. The 
 ewe lamb feeds at his table. It is 
 an exquisite pastoral picture. 
 
 And so also in this intimate and 
 charming way, the Lord is our shep- 
 herd. 
 
 The Lord has a tender shepherd 
 love. He is wise and strong and 
 careful like a loving shepherd. His 
 
The Melody of God's Love 2 1 
 
 infinitely loving heart outpours its 
 love upon us in daily care and 
 nightly watch. He that keepeth us 
 doth not slumber nor sleep. The 
 Lord it is, — our Father. He who 
 reveals himself to us in the blessed 
 Saviour. He who is realized in us 
 by the blessed Spirit. For our 
 Father, the God of all the world, the 
 Creator of the ends of the earth. He 
 is our Protector, our Guide, our 
 Shepherd. 
 
 But the sweet relation is even 
 more personal. Shepherd of all the 
 rolling spheres is he, shepherd of all 
 the multitudes of earth ; but best of 
 all, He is my Shepherd, mine own, 
 my very own. 
 
 And we are His own. His very 
 own. He says to each of us : I have 
 called thee by thy name, thou art 
 mine. 
 
22 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 We can each say : He is my 
 Shepherd, caring for and guiding 
 my life. 
 
 We can each feel that our Shep- 
 herd serves us out of real love to us, 
 as a mother serves the babe that is 
 her own, her heart's love. 
 
 We can emphasize this personal 
 relation more and more with increas- 
 ing pleasure and gladness. It means 
 so much. The child is dead, says 
 the stranger. My child is dead, says 
 the weeping mother, with her heart 
 breaking. The Lord is a shepherd, 
 says an onlooker in religious things. 
 The Lord is my Shepherd, exclaims 
 with joy the heart that has found 
 him. Jesus is a Saviour, says one 
 who has heard the testimonies. But 
 there is all the difference in the world 
 between that and the personal claim 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 23 
 
 and joyful assurance, Jesus is my 
 Saviour. Let us rejoice constantly 
 in the infinite joy of the personal 
 assurance, the Lord is my Shepherd. 
 
 The Lord is my Shepherd, / shall 
 not want, runs the melody. I shall 
 not want. 
 
 There is a good promise of God — 
 Blessed are they that hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness, for they 
 shall be filled. We may thank God 
 for all spiritual hunger within us, for 
 He has abundant provision to meet 
 it and satisfy it. 
 
 I shall not want. It is a blessed 
 assurance of God's bountiful pro- 
 vision. God is abundant and super- 
 abundant in all His gifts to the world. 
 He floods the earth with light ; He 
 fills the world with beauty; He crowds 
 the universe with life in myriad man- 
 
24 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 ifestations. He is prodigal in all His 
 gifts — in the joys of life and the 
 things of the spirit. I shall not want. 
 It is also a blessed assurance of God's 
 perpetual providence. He careth for 
 us. He will see that our lives are 
 not famished for affection, nor our 
 souls starved for lack of spiritual 
 things. More willing is He than 
 any earthly father. Nothing will He 
 withhold. With the best gift of His 
 love, freely will He give us all 
 things. 
 
 I shall not want. Many things I 
 may wish which I cannot have, be- 
 cause His love sees that they are not 
 best for me. But all that is needful 
 will He give. 
 
 We worry sometimes over the 
 future, oftener over material things 
 than spiritual. What has the future 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 25 
 
 for us, will old age bring sickness 
 and poverty, will those we love come 
 at last to destitution ? Are the right- 
 eous sometimes brought to penury ? 
 what can I expect who am full of 
 sins ? But let us claim the blessed 
 assurance, — The Lord is my shep- 
 herd ; I shall not want. God will 
 take care of me. Let us cast all our 
 cares upon Him, for He careth for us. 
 My shepherd will provide all that is 
 needful for body and for soul. 
 
 He maketh me to lie dow7z in green 
 pastures, singeth nobly the psalmist's 
 song. He maketh me, — as if there 
 w^ere divine compulsions, and there 
 are. Sometimes the Lord maketh 
 us do His will, by the discipline of 
 protracted sickness or enforced idle- 
 ness or the balking of plans. He 
 maketh for our good. O the blessed 
 tryannies of love ! 
 
26 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 He maketh me to lie down, -for 
 rest and peace. And we all need 
 these times of quietness before God. 
 The body needs its rest of sleep, the 
 soul needs its quiet of prayer, the 
 whole life needs its day of rest. It 
 was divine wisdom that said. Come 
 ye apart into a desert place and 
 rest awhile. 
 
 He maketh me to lie down in 
 green pastures, to enjoy the sweet 
 and quiet joys and experiences of 
 life, the comfort of home, the rest 
 of the loved one's heart, the quiet 
 hours of reading and music, the fel- 
 lowship of friends. These are the 
 blessed joys of this earthly life. 
 
 He leadeth me beside the still 
 waterSy— the melody continues. He 
 leadeth me as a shepherd goeth before 
 his sheep, — He leadeth me into the still 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 27 
 
 waters of the spiritual joys of life, the 
 things of the divine love that come to 
 us to refresh life and to transfigure it 
 with a tinge and glow of heaven. 
 The flowing river in Ezekiel and the 
 crystal river in Revelation as well as 
 the blessed Master's own words about 
 the water of life, tell us of the still 
 waters, the deep currents of God's 
 own great life, in the midst of human- 
 ity. The waters are still with the 
 abounding peace of God ; the waters 
 are still with the depths of God's love, 
 those depths that no plummet can 
 ever fathom. 
 
 There may be a still further un- 
 folding. For the precious Word of 
 God is like green pastures, full of 
 freshness, beauty, and nourishment, 
 as sweet and fair as at the first. And 
 the Lord's Day is full of quiet and 
 
28 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 rest like the still waters of life with 
 the placid hours of worship and soul 
 communion. 
 
 But yet further is the unfolding in 
 the light of the gospel revelation, for 
 in a deep and mystic sense the blessed 
 Saviour himself is the green pastures 
 and the still waters for the soul's most 
 intimate communion. He is the 
 bread that cometh down from heaven, 
 the soul's best nutriment ; He is the 
 water of life that satisfieth thirst 
 eternal. 
 
 For in very truth, the loving Sav- 
 iour has become fully identified in 
 our thought with every note in the 
 heavenly melody of this psalm. He 
 is not only the green pastures and 
 still waters of the soul's peace and 
 joy, but He is also the abundant sat- 
 isfaction, the abundant life, so that 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 29 
 
 we shall not want. And above all, He 
 is the divine and saving shepherd, for 
 so He Himself calls Himself in grac- 
 ious words, I am the good Shepherd, 
 I know my sheep and am known of 
 mine. My sheep hear my voice and 
 follow Me. The good Shepherd 
 giveth his life for his sheep. 
 
 Shall we not say, Dear Lord, Thou 
 art my Shepherd, mine own. Feed me, 
 lead me. I am willing, lead me. Give 
 me thy peace and thy rest, O Lord. 
 
 Do we ever wander away from 
 our Shepherd, the loving Saviour. 
 Do we ever lag behind ? Do we 
 come always when He calls ? Do 
 we love Him as we should ? — He 
 gave His life for us. Do we rest in 
 His love and wait patiently for Him ? 
 
 The thought of resting in God is 
 uppermost in this first melody of the 
 
30 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 psalm. It is our privilege and duty. 
 We rest as we take God at His word 
 and trust Him ; as we cast all our 
 cares upon Him ; as our hearts are 
 purified by his cleansing spirit. We . 
 rest in God simply by surrendering 
 our hearts to Him and accepting His 
 will for us. We give ourselves and 
 all we are and have into God's keep- 
 ing and say, Lord, do with me and 
 for me as Thou knowest best, for 
 Thou lovest best. Then there is 
 peace and rest. 
 
 But the thought of the pleasures 
 of such a life of divine trust also 
 comes out in the melody. God 
 wants us not to be distracted by 
 trifles, not to be satisfied with noth- 
 ings, but to come as He leads into 
 the deepest and richest experiences 
 
The Melody of God's Love 3 1 
 
 of the spiritual life, as the disciple 
 John of old knew. God has for 
 each of us in this life what eye hath 
 not seen nor ear heard, nor heart 
 dreamed, — the sweet rest and the 
 refreshing joys of the green pastures 
 and still waters of His own love. 
 
 This then is the first melody of the 
 psalm. The life with God here in 
 this world is pleasant. It is shep- 
 herded by the eternal love ; it is 
 abounding in God's grace ; it gives 
 the rest of heart amid the green 
 pastures of earth's divinest joys ; it 
 leads us away beside the still waters 
 of eternal depths and infinite peace. 
 
 Later we shall see what hardships 
 mean in the music of this psalm, 
 what death means and what is the 
 final note of perpetual triumph. But 
 
32 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 here at least in this first melody is 
 life's sweetness, abundance and peace 
 under the tender shepherd love of 
 God. 
 
 Can we not take the lesson. We 
 are all under-shepherds, a king and 
 his subjects, a pastor and his people, 
 a mother and her family, a heart and 
 its friends — all under-shepherds. Can 
 we not get this melody of trust and 
 joy singing anew in our souls? It 
 will be a new inspiration in all our 
 work and a new benediction upon 
 our lives. 
 
 Let it sing itself in the heart at the 
 break of day like a lark from the 
 meadows. And let it break forth 
 again in the twilight like a nightin- 
 gale in the evening shadows. And 
 let it chirp cheerily and warble softly 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 33 
 
 all day long through the toil and 
 troubles of life like a hidden nest of 
 song-birds. Let its liquid melody 
 make all the life joyous with God's 
 overflowing love. 
 
SECOND MELODY. 
 
€i)rougt) tl^e Ballep of tl)e 
 ^Ijatioiu : 
 
 A Song of the Harder and Deeper and 
 
 More Sorro<TvfuI Experiences 
 
 of Life* 
 
 What a multitude of hearts have 
 sung this melody of God's love since 
 the lips of David first whispered the 
 music in loving accents to the world. 
 
 Peasant and prince have sung it, 
 children have learned it at their 
 mother's knee, the aged have crooned 
 it as they fell into their last long 
 
38 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 sleep. The widow and the orphan 
 have come to it for consolation ; the 
 suffering and the sorrowing have 
 found balm in its blessed promises. 
 
 For three thousand years it has 
 been upon the lips of mankind, 
 welling up from the heart of mankind 
 as a fountain of praise to the glory 
 of His name. The centuries have 
 been vocal with it as the favorite 
 song of all God's word. 
 
 And yet we never tire of it. 
 
 It is perennially and perpetually 
 fresh and sweet. 
 
 The words of the second melody 
 of the psalm run — 
 
 He restore th my soul ; He leadeth 
 me in the paths of righteousness for 
 His name s sake. 
 
 Yea, though I walk through the 
 valley of the shadow of death, I will 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 39 
 
 fear no evil : for Tlioit art with me ; 
 Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. 
 
 It is a beautiful melody, but it is a 
 little more sombre in tone than the 
 first. The former sweet song of 
 shepherd love and leadings among 
 green pastures and beside still waters 
 was a tender idyl of pastoral life. 
 Here come some sterner and rather 
 more heroic notes. 
 
 The very first words of this melody, 
 '' He restoreth," are a revelation of 
 something wrong. It is a phrase 
 with a past. It is an implication of 
 many things that have gone before. 
 It is a retrospective picture in itself 
 
 He restoreth — was it apostacy of 
 soul, was it rebellion of spirit, was it 
 weariness or weakness of life ? Some- 
 thing was wrong, something unnatural, 
 something abnormal. Health or 
 
40 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 communion was broken, the wish or 
 the will was astray. There is a 
 heart confession in these words. 
 
 It may be that the heart has been 
 down in the depths of despair, not 
 lost to God but overwhelmed by 
 trouble until the face of God is 
 almost obscured. And He restoreth 
 unto me the joys of salvation. 
 
 It may be that the soul is lost as a 
 wandering sheep, as the one sheep 
 gone astray while the ninety and 
 nine are safe folded in. And God 
 goes seeking with tender compassion 
 and infinite patience, and brings it 
 back again to the fold and restores it 
 to the old love of His great warm 
 heart. 
 
 It may be that the life is famishing, 
 starving because it is trying to live in 
 itself and of itself Perhaps it is 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 41 
 
 neglecting the means of grace, per- 
 haps Hving in known sin, perhaps 
 consorting with unwholesome asso- 
 ciations, and still thinking to keep in 
 spiritual health and grow in grace. 
 It is impossible. We cannot feed 
 entirely on the world, and still live in 
 God. Our better life will die, we 
 will piteously starve. We need the 
 restoration to His health and love by 
 the tears of penitence, and the breath 
 of prayer and the bread and wine 
 of His love, put to our famished lips. 
 O, how eager He is to restore us 
 to the joys and health of His love. 
 He woos us in a thousand ways. He 
 tries to persuade us of His tenderness 
 and kindness. And sometimes our 
 hearts are melted by the song of a 
 bird, the gladness of the sunshine, a 
 walk through the woods, the laughter 
 
42 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 of a child, the hand-grasp of a friend, 
 to new thoughts of God. God is 
 constantly seeking channels for the 
 inflowing of the streams of His 
 healing and restoring love. 
 
 '' He restoreth my soul. He lead- 
 eth me" — sings the sacred psalm to 
 our hearts. 
 
 Two modern hymns have beauti- 
 fully taken up the melody *^ He lead- 
 eth me, O blessed thought," and 
 ^^ Lead kindly light amid the encir- 
 cling gloom, lead thou me on." 
 
 He leadeth ! It is the Shepherd's 
 part. He leadeth and his flock fol- 
 loweth after him. 
 
 Do we remember it ? He leadeth ! 
 Do we ever try to go faster then He 
 leads. O these self wills and impet- 
 uous spirits of ours that are sometimes 
 impatient with God. 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 43 
 
 He leadeth. If we cannot feel any 
 leadings, let us wait. He will indi- 
 cate and show either one step at a 
 time or perhaps a great stretch of the 
 way. 
 
 Once we were travelling in the 
 mountains in a thunder storm. We 
 had to press on, for there was no 
 shelter. But the way was dark and 
 unknown. Sometimes we had to 
 stop and wait. Then a lightning flash 
 would come and light up a great 
 stretch of the road before us. God 
 sends his lightning flashes of intuition 
 and conviction in all lives. 
 
 But not always the lightning flash, 
 sometimes just enough light for a 
 few steps. The miner carries his 
 little lamp in his hat. It goes with 
 him, and lights up a few steps at a 
 time. We carry Christ in our hearts 
 
44 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 and the quiet illumination of his ex- 
 ample will always light our way for 
 the steps in front of us. 
 
 He leadeth. It is an unseen Mas- 
 ter. But we can learn to follow His 
 invisible leadings like the birds follow 
 their instincts in migration, like the 
 tides follow the silent behests of the 
 moon, like the curling fire ascends 
 upward toward the higher atmos- 
 phere of the sun. 
 
 He is an unseen Leader and Guide, 
 but His own blessed example we 
 know. He has blazed a way through 
 the forests of life for us. 
 
 He leadeth me in the paths of 
 righteousness — in the right paths, we 
 may also put it. The right paths 
 may not always be the easy paths. 
 That word righteousness implies a 
 little of sternness and hardness. Here- 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 45 
 
 tofore it has been green pastures and 
 still waters, but now it may be paths 
 that are stony, steep, thorny, through 
 mountain jungles, deep glens, heavy 
 forests. 
 
 They will be right paths, for God 
 wills it. Every day He plans. He 
 is interested in everything that con- 
 cerns us. All our interests are in 
 God's hand, and God's hand in all 
 the interests of our lives. 
 
 We may not understand the ways 
 in which He leads us. It may not 
 seem to us necessary or wise. It may 
 seem hard, severe, cruel, unjust. It 
 may seem dark and mysterious. But 
 we will learn better in the retrospect 
 if we are patient. 
 
 ''Sometime, when all life's lessons 
 
 have been learned, 
 Then we shall see how all God's 
 
 plans were right ; . . . 
 God's plans, like lilies, pure and 
 
 white unfold, 
 
 Time will reveal the chalices of gold." 
 
46 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 We may not understand all God's 
 leadings of our lives, but it is done, 
 runs the melody, for His name's sake. 
 His nature and His name is love. 
 For His love's sake He does it, 
 because He loves you, because He 
 is love, because these His leadings 
 are the honor of love and the wisdom 
 of love. In them all He is true to 
 you and true to Himself God will 
 not deny His nature and name in^ 
 His leadings of you. 
 
 But even deeper. The hard and 
 stony and thorny paths sometimes 
 lead where the shadows are dark 
 and heavy. Yea, though I walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of 
 death. 
 
 It is first of all the deep shadows, 
 the heavy shadows of life, that are 
 meant by the psalmist. But it means 
 
The Melody of God's Love 47 
 
 also the last and final valley of the 
 darkest shadow of all. 
 
 But primarily the picture is not of 
 death. It is primarily the picture 
 of a dark mountain gorge through 
 which the shepherd leads his sheep. 
 Such a gorge some of us knew in 
 Switzerland, near the Lake of Lu- 
 cerne at Kussnacht — that dark gorge 
 where legend has it that William Tell 
 shot the tyrant Gessler. It is deep 
 and dark, overhung with frowning 
 banks, rough, thorny vines and thick 
 trees that meet overhead. It is 
 gloomy there even at midday. It is 
 heavy with the shadows at dusk. It 
 is impenetrable blackness at night. 
 
 There are many dark valleys in 
 life. The valleys of spiritual depres- 
 sion, of discouragement and despair, 
 of loneliness, of disappointment and 
 
48 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 tears of sorrow. These must be 
 passed through oftentimes ere we 
 reach the final valley. 
 
 And that valley is darkest of all, 
 loneliest and coldest. The valley of 
 the shadow of death. Death is the 
 monstrous angel whose gloomy wings 
 overshadow it all. It is the valley 
 of pain, of partings, of struggle, of 
 unutterable loneliness. 
 
 We must die alone and be judged 
 alone. No one can be vicarious for 
 us in these stern and solemn realities. 
 
 But this is only one side of the 
 picture. Even though I come down 
 to this dark valley^ we may sing with 
 the psalmst, / will fear no evil for 
 Thou art with me ! 
 
 We do not die alone, after all, for 
 we can look up and say to our loving 
 Father, Thou art with me. 
 
The Melody of God's Love 49 
 
 He is with us and the angels of his 
 presence are with us to carry us to 
 the paradise of His love. 
 
 He is with us and this gives the 
 death-valley an entirely new aspect 
 and significance. 
 
 It is said that in Damascus there 
 has been for centuries, a long, dark 
 secret passage that goes from the 
 common street, and one who enters 
 there passes through dampness and 
 darkness, but suddenly he issues 
 forth into the sunlight in the beauty 
 and the glory of the inner court of 
 an Oriental palace. This is the 
 meaning of death. A dark passage 
 that leads to great light and beauty 
 in the palace of the King. 
 
 Some of us know such a similar 
 tunnel near the Lakes of Killarney, 
 in Ireland. It is hard travelling in 
 
50 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 a desolate country for many miles to 
 the Magillicuddy Reeks. Then the 
 coach enters a long mountain tunnel 
 and as it comes out, it is a revelation 
 of beauty. A magnificent prospect 
 flashes before, the eye, — lakes and 
 islands and forests that seem like a 
 paradise of God. 
 
 Death is only a shadow on life. It 
 is not an end, but an incident. The 
 death valley only leads to the portals 
 of a larger and more glorious life. 
 
 We remember as we think of the 
 valley of the shadow, all those whom 
 we have loved long since and lost 
 awhile. We thank God for the bene- 
 diction that their sweet memory is upon 
 our lives, as fragrance in the heart, 
 as refreshing water to the soul, as 
 heavenly hands laid in blessing upon 
 our brows. 
 
TJie Melody of God' s Love 5 i 
 
 God was with them in the valley 
 of the shadow and the silence. Their 
 heads were pillowed upon His love. 
 They trusted Him and were not 
 afraid. 
 
 And they have taught us how to be- 
 have and be trustful. Even the valley 
 of the shadow has the glimmering of 
 light in it, for their memory illumines 
 it and makes it not altogether a lonely 
 or an unknown place. 
 
 And they have led us on past the 
 shadows to the heaven-side. The 
 great beyond is no longer vague and 
 void to us. It is warm and bright and 
 joyous to us in anticipation, for they 
 are there. We bless God that the 
 valley of the shadow leads to glory, to 
 all the wonderful visions of the Delec- 
 table Mountains, and beyond that to 
 our Father's Home, our Home, for 
 
52 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 some of our loved ones are already 
 there. 
 
 There is something very significant 
 here. Have you noticed it? The 
 psalmist all along has been speaking 
 of God. He is my shepherd ; He 
 leadeth me. But when he comes to 
 the thought of the death-valley, his 
 feelings become more personal and 
 he says Thou. Not, For He is with 
 me, but, For Thou art with me. 
 There is a secret here. God does 
 become nearer to us, God becomes 
 more and more personal to us through 
 trouble and sorrow. When all is 
 prosperous, we talk about God ; when 
 death draws nigh, we talk to Him. 
 
 Though I walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, / will fear no 
 evil. 
 
The Melody of God's Love 5 3 
 
 What a relief it is to get rid of 
 fear. Some live with the sword of 
 Damocles constantly hanging over 
 their heads. They fear this and they 
 fear that. Fear is constantly fretting 
 their lives. It is learning the most 
 splendid philosophy of life when we 
 learn to take God at His word, trust 
 Him and banish fear. Perfect love 
 casteth out fear. Fear hath torment. 
 But God can rid us of it in all the 
 petty trials of life and even in the last 
 great trial, so that we can face even 
 death without fear or foreboding. 
 There is the promise, '' Thou wilt 
 keep him in perfect peace whose 
 mind is stayed on Thee, because he 
 trusteth in Thee." 
 
 For Thou art with me — that is the 
 end of fear. If God is with us. 
 
54 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 nothing can harm us in life or death. 
 For He is Lord of both. 
 
 Thy rod arid Thy staff they comfort 
 me. It is the shepherd's care and 
 love again. For the rod was to 
 protect the sheep from wolves and 
 robbers, and the staff, the shepherd's 
 crook, to guide the flock. It is 
 God's protection and guidance that is 
 portrayed. God is with me to the 
 last, — His guarding and His guiding 
 love follow me to the very end. 
 
 Would that God might give us to 
 sing this melody continually — ''I 
 will fear no evil, for Thou art with 
 me." 
 
 We need this note in our hearts 
 in all the daily work of life and in all 
 the hard places of life — '' I will fear 
 no evil, for Thou art with me." 
 
 We need the conquest of fear, we 
 
Tlie Melody of God's Love 5 5 
 
 need the consciousness of the pres- 
 ence of God. 
 
 We whistle as we pass through a 
 dark woods. Let us sing this song 
 of cheer and confidence as we pass 
 through the gloomy places of life. 
 
 For Thou art with me, For Thou 
 art with me. This is the blessed 
 keynote of this second melody and 
 of the whole psalm. 
 
 And we can say — '' I would rather 
 w^alk in the dark with God than walk 
 alone in the light." 
 
 This very day as I was meditating 
 on this melody of the Valley of the 
 Shadow there came to me as a legacy 
 from Philadelphia, from a dear friend 
 just recently in Heaven, a large pic- 
 ture handsomely framed called '' The 
 Deathbed of John Wesley." It is a 
 sad picture and yet a most beautiful 
 
56 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 one. The aged saint seems haloed 
 with a circle of light, a heavenly 
 smile is upon his face and the group 
 of ministers and friends around him 
 look at him lovingly and listen for 
 his last words as he walks through 
 the valley of the shadow and nears 
 the end. It is an intensely interest- 
 ing picture to me. It is the trans- 
 figuration of death by the shining of 
 a heavenly glory. And I can almost 
 hear him say as I look at the picture 
 those last words of his, — '^ The best 
 of all is — God is with us." He had 
 caught the music of David's psalm. 
 Thou art with me. I will fear no 
 evil, for Thou art with me. 
 
 The Alpine shepherds have a beau- 
 tiful custom of ending the day by 
 singing a refrain to each other. The 
 air is so crystalline clear that the song 
 
The Melody of God's Love 57 
 
 will carry long distances. As dusk 
 begins to fall, they gather their flocks 
 and begin to lead them down the 
 mountain paths singing : '' Hitherto 
 hath the Lord led us. Let us praise 
 His name." And at last with a sweet 
 courtesy, they sing to each other the 
 words, Gute Nacht, Good Night, 
 Good Night ! And the words are 
 taken up by the echoes and from 
 side to side the song goes reverber- 
 ating sweetly and softly until the 
 sounds die away in the distance. 
 
 When the shadows fall about us at 
 last and the night comes creeping 
 in the valley, may this blessed mel- 
 ody of God's love still sing in our 
 hearts, — '^ I will fear no evil ; for 
 Thou art with me," and God will an- 
 swer, Lo, I am with you alway, 
 even unto the end. 
 
THIRD MELODY. 
 
S^n tl)e i^ou^e of tf^t Slorti 
 5f oreijer : 
 
 -A *Sbn^ of the Exultant and Triumphant 
 
 and Hea'venty Experiences of Life 
 
 Here and Hereafter* 
 
 ^ 
 
 It will be suggestive to us to recall 
 the way in which we were supposing 
 that this sweet psalm may have been 
 written. We thought that King 
 David may have been sitting in his 
 banqueting hall, in his palace, in the 
 evening. The guests were gone. 
 The lamps dimly burning. And 
 
62 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 he was in reminiscent mood. He 
 thrummed on his harp, which he 
 always had near him and he sang the 
 snatches of melody that came to his 
 heart. He remembered his boyhood 
 days around the well of Bethlehem and 
 on the hillsides with the sheep. He 
 remembered his varied life, and how 
 God had cared for him and he sang, 
 as he remembered his own shepherd 
 love and care, and as the thanksgiving 
 brimmed from his heart, The Lord is 
 my Shepherd. He has cared for me 
 as I cared for my sheep. He has 
 been with me in green pastures and 
 even in the valley of the shadow. 
 
 But in his thought the folding of 
 the sheep is done, evening has come, 
 and now the shepherd king strikes a 
 new note, perhaps suggested by his 
 own banqueting-hall where he is sit- 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 63 
 
 ting. It is a note, a vision of higher 
 communion : 
 
 Tlioii preparest a table before me 
 i7i the p7'esence of mine eiiemies : Tlioit 
 anointed my head zvitli oil ; my cup 
 runneth over. 
 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall 
 folloui me all the days of my life ; arid 
 I will dwell i7i the House of tlie Lord 
 fo7'ever. 
 
 There is a sweetness, a surety, 
 an exultant confidence in this final 
 melody that is contagious with all 
 gladness and thanksgiving. 
 
 TIiou preparest a table before me. 
 We are more than the sheep of the 
 Good Shepherd ; we are friends of 
 God. The Lord is our host, we 
 are His guests ; and all life is the 
 banqueting table of the Lord. 
 
 It is a table of bounties. There is 
 
64 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 refreshment for the eyes in all the 
 beauty of Nature and life ; there is 
 refreshment for the ear in the sweet 
 sounds of Nature, the voices of 
 friends, and in the symphonies that 
 man creates in noble harmonies ; 
 there is refreshment for the mouth 
 in the luscious fruits ; there is 
 refreshment for the brain in noble 
 thoughts and high converse ; there 
 is refreshment for the body in '' tired 
 nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep"; 
 there is refreshment for the heart in 
 the loves of kindred and friends ; 
 there is refreshment for the soul in 
 the visions of truth and the gracious 
 opportunities of beautiful service for 
 God. 
 
 It is a table of bounties, of food 
 convenient for the whole life ; a 
 banquet spread by the love of the 
 Father ; angel's food, new every 
 morning, fresh every evening. 
 
 The sacrament of the Lord's Table 
 
The Melody of God's Love 65 
 
 is symbolical of the everlasting 
 banquet of God's love, the bread 
 of goodness, the wine of love forever. 
 The sacrament of Nature is per- 
 petually the Lord's Table to eyes 
 that have vision, where love in 
 continual sacrifice is day by day 
 redeeming all things to the heavenly 
 life. 
 
 Thou preparest — God beautifully 
 anticipates our needs. Before we 
 speak, He answers. As Hager and 
 Ishmael faint in the desert, His 
 anticipatory love bubbles forth in a 
 refreshing spring of water from the 
 sands. 
 
 Thou preparest a table before me 
 in the presence of mine enemies. 
 Every life is beleagured with ene- 
 mies, foes within and foes without. 
 Sloth, doubt, selfishness attempt 
 
66 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 to waste the life, but God reveals His 
 goodness and inspires us. Poverty 
 and disease and bereavement seem 
 as enemies to starve the life, but God 
 spreads the banquet of His love in 
 their very presence, and we learn 
 ^'to suffer and grow strong." His 
 gentleness hath made us great. He 
 has brought us into His banqueting 
 house, and His banner over us is 
 love. 
 
 Thou anointest my head with oil. 
 It is God's royal welcome to us ; it 
 is the glad salutation that goes with 
 the word of greeting and the kiss of 
 peace. It is an Oriental token of love. 
 The blessed Master knew it and loved 
 it in His day. It is the fragrance of 
 friendship. 
 
 The Lord rejoices to have us as 
 His guests at the banqueting table of 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 67 
 
 life. He takes pleasure in us. He 
 welcomes us into life. The mother's 
 kiss at birth and God's kiss at 
 death, — they are welcomes into life 
 and life eternal. 
 
 My cup nuineth over. — The cup is 
 the brimming chalice of the varied 
 experiences of life. Hold up your 
 cup and look at it ! What are the 
 experiences ? What does your life, 
 '^ heaven's consummate cup," hold as 
 its most precious distillation ? Joys 
 are sparkling there, happiness bub- 
 bling, but tears also and the dregs of 
 sorrow. 
 
 Once I drank a brimming goblet 
 of the wine of tears, and in the last 
 and bitter dregs, I found a pearl. 
 There are blessings in sorrows. 
 
 The Master found His cup full of 
 anguish unutterable. The agony of 
 
68 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 the Garden was confessed in those 
 whispered words — '^Father, let this 
 cup pass. Nevertheless, . . , . Not 
 as I will, but Thy will be done." 
 
 It was a cup of mingled drink. His 
 cup was running over, but running 
 over with shame, bitterness, torture ; 
 dashed with ingratitude and scorn ; 
 stained with blood ; darkened with 
 death. 
 
 This was the cup of the eternal 
 Oblation offered once for all. 
 
 But our cups, — the bitterest is 
 sweet in comparison. He drank the 
 bitterness for us. And now our cups 
 are largely cups of happiness, — the 
 myriad joys that God has given us, — 
 the sweetness of life, the beauty of 
 Nature, the comradeship of friends, 
 the love of kindred and children, the 
 joyousness of thought and worship. 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 69 
 
 Oftentimes on a radiant morning 
 when all things seem worth while 
 and life worth living, does not your 
 cup of happiness, even yours, seem 
 sweet and full, overflowing w^ith 
 God's goodness ? 
 
 My cup ritnnetJi over, — that is 
 God's way. 
 
 He gives us more than we deserve, 
 more than we can hold. As children 
 make holes in the sand, and wait to 
 see the incoming tide fill them, and 
 it does, filling them full, full to over- 
 flowing, with a royal and limitless 
 abundance, so God's love fills the 
 cup of our lives. The sparkling wine 
 of life is the vintage of God's love. 
 
 We have abundance enough to 
 overflow and bless others. Our 
 hearts need never be arid ; our faith 
 merely watering our own garden. God 
 
70 The Melody fo God's Love 
 
 gives us an abundant life. And the 
 more we pour on the hearts of 
 others, the more will our own lives 
 feel His inexhaustible goodness. 
 
 But now we come to another 
 word : Surely — sings the sweet 
 singer with exultation, — and we may 
 expect a burst of rapturous faith. 
 Surely — for God's promises cannot 
 fail. 
 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall fol- 
 low me. Here is the courageous and 
 confident confession. He cries : I 
 follow the Lord, and as I follow, I 
 am followed, for goodness and mercy, 
 God's twin angels, follow me as a 
 heavenly escort and retinue; '* good- 
 ness to supply every want, mercy to 
 forgive every sin." Goodness and 
 mercy — daughters of God with His 
 own features in their sweet mystic 
 
Tlie Melody of God' s Love 7 i 
 
 faces, and His own dear love looking 
 out of their tender eyes. 
 
 Surely goodness and mercy shall 
 follov/ me all the days of my life — 
 Who knows what the days shall be, 
 for none can lift the veil of the future ? 
 Some will be bright with a great joy, 
 some troubled and weary with disap- 
 pointments and suffering, some dark 
 with death. But in them all — in 
 summer's thirst, and winter's cold, 
 and springtime restlessness, and au- 
 tumn dreariness — in all the days of 
 my life God and His angels shall be- 
 set me behind and before to put new 
 blessing upon my life. 
 
 And I zuill dzuell in the lions e of the 
 Lord forever, — runs the royal mel- 
 ody. 
 
 I will dwell — where we dwell is 
 home. What a sweet word is 
 
72 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 ''home," the dwelHng place of love. 
 The old homestead has its peculiar 
 and tender associations in our hearts, 
 but it is not home if all the loved 
 ones are gone. Home is where our 
 loved ones are. Home here is 
 promise of heaven there. 
 
 This life is often likened to an inn 
 in which we lodge for a day and a 
 night on the road to eternity, and so 
 it is. Our dwelling place is not 
 here. The true dwelling place, the 
 true home of the soul, is told in the 
 secret of the psalmist, O Lord, 
 Thou hast been our dwelling place 
 in all generations. 
 
 God is the home 
 To which we come 
 When death has passed 
 To life at last. 
 
 I will dwell in the house of the 
 Lord — it is Heaven, yes, but it is 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 73 
 
 more than Heaven. It is all life and 
 all the universe where God is. God 
 is Heaven. 
 
 Your own house and home may 
 be a house of the Lord. Your 
 business house is to be not merely a 
 house of merchandise but a house of 
 the Lord. Your church is a house of 
 the Lord. The whole earth with its 
 templed woods and bending heavens 
 is a house of the Lord. If God be 
 with us, we never go out from the 
 house of the Lord. 
 
 Said the Master — In my Father's 
 House are many mansions. Yes, 
 but they are all mansions of His 
 love. Life is full of mansions of 
 imagination ; death is full of mansions 
 of reality. Should every star in 
 God's heaven be a mansion, all are 
 mansions of His eternal love. For 
 
74 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 they are in our Father's House — our 
 Father's It is a family gathered 
 there, — the whole family in heaven 
 and on earth, — all joy and gladness, 
 no pain or parting, the cup filled to 
 overflowing with love in the Paradise 
 of God. 
 
 And I will dwell in the house of 
 the \^or A forever. Forever and sure- 
 ly, — these are the two great bell-like 
 notes of this melody, — surely and 
 forever. 
 
 Certainty and permanence, — surely 
 and forever! Forever — it is the 
 music of eternity, but it has its refrain 
 in the time of this world. It can 
 begin now. A foretaste of Heaven 
 is possible in this world to those who 
 follow the Gleam. They that dwell 
 in the secret place of the Most High 
 shall abide under the glorious shadow 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 75 
 
 of the Almighty. Heaven is dwelHng 
 in God's love now and forever. 
 
 It is a life of conquest and tri- 
 umphant joy when we enter into the 
 peace and strength of the practice of 
 the presence of God. It is triumph 
 over the pettiness and vanities of life, 
 for it is entering into larger and 
 nobler things. It is conquest over 
 sin for the higher life seems so much 
 easier and more worthy. It is victory 
 over death, for we come into the 
 perpetual realization that life and 
 death are both alike to God, His 
 servants for bringing us into newness 
 of love. 
 
 The joys of the spiritual life in this 
 world are the finest and most exultant 
 experiences. The sweet communion 
 with the divine, the thrill of the 
 spirit, the ecstasy of deep devotion. 
 
76 The Melody of God's Love 
 
 But the surprises of eternity will be 
 the new capacities and the new reve- 
 lations. We shall learn what fulness 
 of joy means, and the infinite pleas- 
 ures which are at His right hand 
 forevermore. 
 
 What a note concerning immortal 
 permanence is struck in this supreme 
 outburst of the minstrel heart of 
 David. Life is so fickle, transitory, 
 shifting. We want a stay for the 
 soul. We want foundations that will 
 not shift with the sands. Here it is. 
 We can dwell in the house of the 
 Lord, in God's very presence, now, 
 daily and hourly, forever. 
 
 ** I know not where His islands lift 
 Their fronded palms in air, 
 
 I only know I cannot drift 
 Beyond His love and care." 
 
 We have sung again in this devo- 
 tional way the melody of God's love. 
 
The Melody of God' s Love yj 
 
 It is a song of life, — a song of 
 faith, walking with the Shepherd ; a 
 song of hope even in the shadows of 
 death ; a song of love in the perpetual 
 banquet-house of God forever. 
 
 It sings a triple melody, — In Green 
 Pastures, a song of the sweet and 
 pleasant experiences of life ; Through 
 the Valley of the Shadow, a song of 
 the hard and dark and sorrowful 
 experiences of life ; and In the House 
 of the Lord Forever, a song of the 
 exultant and triumphant and heaven- 
 ly experiences of life in this world 
 and the world to come. 
 
 It brings to us more and more 
 sweetly the music of the Gospel for 
 the heart, and the loving voice of our 
 own Good Shepherd. 
 
 We thank God for this psalm — 
 sweetest in sentiment, most melodi- 
 
78 The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 ous in music, most uplifting in its 
 pure and exultant faith among all the 
 psalms. 
 
 '' The Twenty-third Psalm," as one 
 has nobly said, *Ms the nightingale 
 among the psalms. It is small and 
 of homely feather, singing shyly out 
 of obscurity ; but oh ! it has filled the 
 air of the whole world with melodious 
 joy greater than the heart can con- 
 ceive. Blessed be the day on which 
 that psalm was born." 
 
 We have sung again with David the 
 melody of God's love. It has brought 
 back to us, perchance, some of the 
 forgotten music and memories of our 
 own lives. The story is told of Ole 
 Bull that once in New York City he 
 sought out his fellow-countryman the 
 inventor Ericsson to mend a certain 
 part of his violin for him. Ericsson 
 
The Melody of God' s Love 79 
 
 was glad to do the mending, but told 
 him frankly that he had not been to 
 any of his concerts, that he did not 
 enjoy music, and the violin least of all, 
 and never would. A few days later 
 Ole Bull called for his intrument and 
 before he took it away played a few 
 bars to see that all was right. It was 
 only a simple melody, — a Norwegian 
 folk song, — but Ole Bull saw that 
 Ericsson was interested and listening. 
 And he played on. He played a 
 shepherd's song and Ericsson said, 
 '' Why, that's our hillside among the 
 sheep." And he played the purling 
 music of the rills and Ericsson felt 
 it, and the tears came to his eyes, 
 as he said, '' I can hear the brooks 
 in the forest in the springtime." 
 And Ole Bull played on, — the vintage 
 festival songs, and the marriage 
 hymns, and the funeral dirges, and 
 
8o The Melody of God' s Love 
 
 the majestic chorales of the church 
 worship. And as Ole Bull played 
 on in his wonderful way, for he was 
 a master of music, Ericsson sat 
 there and cried like a child, for it 
 brought back to him all his boyhood 
 days and his dear old home and his 
 mother and friends. He forgot it 
 was music ; it seemed a revelation. 
 
 This ancient psalm of God's love 
 has a divine genius in it. It sings 
 deeply to our own hearts. It tells us 
 of our own forgotten lives. It stirs 
 the depths of our noblest devotion. 
 It lifts us to new heights of exultant 
 faith. May it sing in our hearts 
 forever ; may it bring us perpetually 
 into tune with the infinite ; may it 
 raise our hearts constantly above the 
 troubles and discords of life, and may 
 it fill all our thoughts and words 
 and deeds day by day with the very 
 melody of God's eternal love. 
 
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