But these sheep, what have they done? (2 Sam. 24:17.) How sweetly the Shepherd character of David shines out here! Israel was in a bad state, calling for God’s discipline. It shows itself in the king whose pride leads him to number the people, that he might glory in the magnificent army at his command. The prophet Gad is sent to David to ask him to choose one out of three different kinds of judgment to come upon him for his sin, and upon Israel for their state.

In the execution of the judgment, '' David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly:but these sheep, what have they done? let Thy hand, I pray Thee, be against me, and against my father's house."

What moral lessons for ourselves we find in these Old Testament histories! i Cor. 11:26-32 views the people of God in our day in just the same circumstances. If a nation, as such, was chosen out of the rest of the nations, as Israel was, to be in special nearness to God on earth, and to be the depositories of His oracles, they must prove that He is holy, and that they therefore must be holy too. How much more a people chosen out from among sinners, to be in nearness to Himself in heaven, and to be the depositories of His eternal counsels, must prove that He is holy, and that they must be holy in a far deeper sense than Israel!

Oh, to be pastors-true pastors-among such a people! Such must learn to weep; they must suffer patiently; they must go to the roots of evil in their own selves, and hate it; they must love the sheep
for their own sake and for that of their Owner; they must not be sectarian; they must not be self-willed ; their task is not mean, nor small, their reward is great.

"And they shall be Mine. . .in that day when I make up My jewels" (Mal. 3:17). This is the last of Old Testament history. It closes with the promise which has filled its pages from Genesis on:"The
Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple:. . . behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts" (ver. i). And when He comes, "all nations shall call you blessed:for ye shall be a delightsome land" (ver. 12). "Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord " (ver. 4).

But what different circumstances they are in now! Judgment upon judgment; discipline follows discipline; days of clouds, and rains, and storms; and yet so much more do they deserve for their evil ways and stubborn course this the voice of Him who smites them is heard to say, '' For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed " (ver. 6). He cannot call them sons of Abraham, for faith does not characterize them; He calls them sons of Jacob-that crooked man who, but for God's unconditional promises and sovereign grace, would have been cast off.

This discipline, which is far short of what they deserve, discourages them. Instead of recognizing the grace of God in not consuming them, instead of judging themselves, they say, "It is vain to serve God:and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?" (ver. 14). They are indeed in sorrow, and there is some compliance with outward ordinances, but the heart is not right. So they "call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered " (ver. 15). What a picture! In the place where the true followers of the One who is meek and lowly in heart should be loved and recognized, the proud and the evil-doers are in the lead.

Amid all this, here are a few who fear the Lord, who recognize His righteous hand yet His rich grace, who value the fellowship of those of a like mind, and therefore "speak often one to another." If they are faithful, they are not haughty, for they fear the Lord; if they have to be apart from much, they are not independent, for they feel the need of each other. Of them the Lord takes notice. (Oh, what can be compared with this!) Their needs, their cries, their confessions, their secret exercises with Him, are all heard and noted down, and kept before Him. They do not call the proud happy; they do not say it is vain to serve God; though cast down, they are not discouraged, for they keep the long-delayed yet certain promise before their souls, "The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple"; and this keeps everything that God loves alive in their souls. Then, at that day which is hourly approaching, "they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will spare them as a man spareth His own son that serveth him " (ver. 17).

Who that drinks into His present grace would not seek to be of that blessed company!