八月十九日
他必起来，依靠耶和华的大能……牧养他的羊群（他必在耶和华的大能中……站起，喂养）。（弥5：4）
基督在教会中的权柄好像是一位牧王。他有权柄，但他像一个大有聪明和温柔的牧人牧养饥饿可爱的羊群一样；羊群甘心听从他的命令，因爲他的看顾是周到的。他们知道可爱之牧人的声音，因此使他得到快乐。他用慈爱和良善来治理他们。
他的权柄的性质是很实际的：“他必……站起，喂养。”教会的头实在供给他民的一切需用。他幷非空自坐在宝座上，或是持节而不理政事。不，他乃是站起，喂养。喂养与希腊文的牧放同义，牧人要当心羊群的一切：引导、看守、保护、寻找、医治、服侍以及喂养。
他的权柄是继续不断的：“他必……站起，喂养；”幷不是说：“他喂养过了，就离开他的地位。”也不是：“他在某一天奋兴了教会，第二天就任他的教会荒废起来。”他的眼永不打盹，他的手永不休息；他的心永远不停地流露他的爱；他的肩永不疲倦地担负着他民的重担。
他的权柄是有效能的：“他必在耶和华的大能中站起，喂养。”基督在哪里，神就在哪里；凡他作的，就是至高者所作的。今天我们想到他爲他民的好处而站起的道理就当快乐，他就是神，万膝都当向他跪拜。我们在这样一位牧者的手下真该欢喜快乐，他时时与我们同在，他用神权保护我们。我们要在他的面前向他跪拜，像他草场的羊一样。
August
19
“He
shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord.” — Micah 5:4
Christ’s reign in His Church is that of a
shepherd-king. He has supremacy, but it is the superiority of a wise and tender
shepherd over his needy and loving flock; He commands and receives obedience,
but it is the willing obedience of the well-cared-for sheep, rendered joyfully
to their beloved Shepherd, whose voice they know so well. He rules by the force
of love and the energy of goodness.
His reign is practical in its character.
It is said, “He shall stand and feed.” The great Head of the Church
is actively engaged in providing for His people. He does not sit down upon the
throne in empty state, or hold a sceptre without wielding it in government. No,
He stands and feeds. The expression “feed,” in the original, is like
an analogous one in the Greek, which means to shepherdize, to do everything
expected of a shepherd: to guide, to watch, to preserve, to restore, to tend,
as well as to feed.
His reign is continual in its duration. It
is said, “He shall stand and feed”; not “He shall feed now and
then, and leave His position”; not, “He shall one day grant a
revival, and then next day leave His Church to barrenness.” His eyes never
slumber, and His hands never rest; His heart never ceases to beat with love,
and His shoulders are never weary of carrying His people’s burdens.
His reign is effectually powerful in its action; “He shall feed in
the strength of Jehovah.” Wherever Christ is, there is God; and whatever
Christ does is the act of the Most High. Oh! it is a joyful truth to consider
that He who stands to-day representing the interests of His people is very God
of very God, to whom every knee shall bow. Happy are we who belong to such a
shepherd, whose humanity communes with us, and whose divinity protects us. Let
us worship and bow down before Him as the people of His pasture.
