PASTOR.
I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.—Jeremiah, iii. 15.
Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.—Jeremiah, xxiii. 1.
He was a shepherd, and no mercenary.
And though he holy was and virtuous,
He was to sinful men full piteous;
His words were strong, but not with anger fraught;
A love benignant he discreetly taught.
To draw mankind to Heaven by gentleness
And good example, was his business.
But if that any one were obstinate,
Whether he were of high or low estate,
Him would he sharply check with altered mien:
A better parson there was nowhere seen.
He paid no court to pomps and reverence,
Nor spiced his conscience at his soul’s expense;
But Jesus’ love, which owns no pride or pelf,
He taught—but first he followed it himself.
Chaucer.
Do not, as some ungracious pastors do,
Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven,
Whilst, like a puff’d and reckless libertine,
Himself the primrose path of dalliance treads,
And recks not his own road.
Shakspere.
A genial hearth, a hospitable board,
And a refined rusticity, belong
To the neat mansion, where, his flock among,
The learned pastor dwells, their watchful lord.
Though meek and patient as a sheathed sword,
Though pride’s least lurking thought appears a wrong
To human kind; though peace be on his tongue,
Gentleness in his heart; can earth afford
Such genuine state, pre-eminence so free,
As when, array’d in Christ’s authority,
He from the pulpit lifts his awful hand;
Conjures, implores, and labours all he can
For re-subjecting to divine command
The stubborn spirit of rebellious man?
Wordsworth.
He is a faithful pastor of the poor;—
He thinks not of himself; his Master’s words,
“Feed, feed my sheep,” are ever at his heart,
The Cross of Christ is aye before his eyes.
Grahame.
So glorious let Thy pastors shine,
That, by their speaking lives, the world may learn
First, filial duty, then divine;
That sons to parents, all to Thee may turn.
Keble.
Of the deep learning in the schools of yore,
The reverend pastor hath a golden stock;
Yet, with a vain display of useless lore,
Or sapless doctrine, never will he mock
The better cravings of his simple flock;
But faithfully their humble shepherd guides
Where streams eternal gush from Calvary’s rock;
For well he knows, not learning’s purest tides
Can quench the immortal thirst that in the soul abides.
Mrs. Little.
By weakest ministers, the Almighty thus
Makes known His sacred will, and shows His power;
By Him inspired, they speak with urgent tongue
Authoritative, while the illumined breast
Heaves with unwonted strength; high as their theme,
Their great conceptions rise in rapturous flow,
As quick the ready organs catch the thought,
And, in such strains as science could not teach,
Bear it, in all its radiance, to the heart;
The listening throng there feel its bless’d effect,
And deep conviction glows in every breast.
Charles Jenner.
Shepherd of Israel, Thou dost keep
With constant care, Thy humble sheep,
By Thee inferior pastors rise
To feed our souls and bless our eyes.
Fed by their active, tender care,
Healthful may all Thy sheep appear,
And by their fair example led,
The way to Zion’s pastures tread.
Doddridge.