Morning, August 19

Charles Spurgeon · Morning and Evening: Daily Readings

"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 today 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.