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 title 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 assist 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 God. 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
chastisement for sin. Truly, they should not have been, had we never
sinned; but as God, 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 noble 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