Would that we knew how much depended, both for ourselves and others, on these seasons of retirement for meditation and prayer! What a blessing it would be to us! What a benediction to others! Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make; What heavy burdens from our bosoms take; What parched grounds refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all around us seem to lower; We rise, and all the distant and the near Stands forth in sunny outline, brave and clear; We kneel, how weak! We rise, how full of power! Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong-- Or others--that we are not always strong; That we are ever overborne with care; That we should ever weak or heartless be, Anxious or troubled, then with us in prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with Thee! --_Richard Chenevix Trench_ CHAPTER THREE [Illustration] ="He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake."= David, the shepherd Psalmist, is doubtless thinking of the refreshment that comes to the soul from browsing or meditating in the green pastures and by the still waters of the Word of God, and of the exhilaration and inspiration that comes from being alone with God with an open Bible and on bended knee. Every true child of God knows the strength and blessing that comes from such fellowship and communion. "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall; but they that wait upon the +LORD+ shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint" (Isaiah 40:30, 31). But the Psalmist is referring more particularly, perhaps, to the restoration of the soul from a spiritual lapse or backsliding, resulting from failure to "lie down." We well know from what we have read regarding the Oriental shepherd life, that the shepherd must needs be a physician as well as a guide. A sheep is a most defenceless creature. A cat, horse, cow or a dog will defend itself--a sheep cannot. Sheep have a genius for going wrong. A sheep is said to have less brains than any other animal of its size. If lost, it cannot find its way back unaided. A dog, a cat, a horse can, but not a sheep. "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." If the Good Shepherd had not gone after us we would not have been in the fold today. Have you ever looked into a sheep's eyes? They look for all the world like glass eyes. A sheep can see practically nothing beyond ten or fifteen yards. It recognizes persons by sound and not by sight. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice; a stranger will they not follow, for they know not the voice of strangers." =_Traps for Falling_=