is confidence, therefore, in their Saviour and God that gives peace and
tranquillity to the souls of the just. To know Him, to love Him, to trust
Him, to dwell in His presence and to please Him, throughout all the
vicissitudes and evils of life, are the objects of their constant actions
and the highest aspirations of their fervid souls. Confident of the favor
and protection of God, and rooted in His love, they despise all pain and
the threats of men; and in the midst of the battle of life they rejoice in
a peace of mind and soul of which the worldling cannot dream. The pasture
in which they feed, the banquet of which they partake are nothing else
than the love and friendship of God which nourishes and refreshes their
spirits when to every mortal eye they seem destitute, abandoned and alone.
And this peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding,(68) develops in
souls truly spiritual a habit of mind and a character of life that even
here below partake of the stability and calm sense of victory which, in
their perfection, belong only to the state of the blessed in Heaven. They
feel that all things are possible to them through Him that strengtheneth
them,(69) and that no temporal affliction, no power of man or any creature
shall wrest from them the feast which they enjoy. And hence they are able
to ask, in the confident words of the Apostle, "Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or famine, or
nakedness; or danger, or persecution, or the sword ... In all these things
we overcome, because of him that hath loved us. Therefore we are sure that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor
things present, nor things to come, nor might, nor height, nor depth, nor
any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord."(70)

X. THOU ANOINTEST MY HEAD WITH OIL; MY CUP RUNNETH OVER.

In these words the Psalmist alludes to one of the most touching offices
performed by the good shepherd towards his sheep. The day is drawing to a
close, the golden orb of light has sunk to rest, and the shadows are
creeping up the hills. The hush of night is falling round, and the
shepherd must gather his flock into the fold. The labors, the journeys,
the trials, the wanderings of the day are over, and now comes the time for
rest. It is a scene full of peace, and the sheep greet its approach with
feelings of restful antic