Howling shepherds.
In the general calamity of the nation the shepherds are especially called upon to howl and cry and wallow in the dust. The shepherds are the leaders of the people. These leaders, therefore, are not to be exempt from the distresses of the common people; on the contrary, trouble is to fall upon them in an aggravated degree.
I. HIGH RANK IS NO SECURITY AGAINST TROUBLE. It may free a man from many annoyances, it cannot defend him from all kinds of calamity. It is chiefly a safeguard against the smaller vexations of life; the more serious troubles sweep over it unchecked. It is like a small breakwater that will keep back the little waves of a fresh sea, but is overwhelmed in the storm. When it is most needed it is of least use. Rank is no protection against disease and death, against general human calamities, such as the desolation of an earthquake, the ravages of a plague, the devastation of a war. Nevertheless men do trust to rank unreasonably, and find it a snare when their false confidence is exposed.
II. LEADERS OF MEN SUFFER FROM THE TROUBLES THAT FALL UPON THEIR FOLLOWERS. The shepherd suffers with his flock. The patron is dependent on his clients. The king is great with the greatness of his people, and brought into trouble by his nation's distress. This is more than sharing a general calamity. It is experiencing a trouble that is directly caused by the distress of dependants. History has proved the mistake of those tyrants who have thought to secure their own grandeur by the brutal degradation, the bondage and misery of their subjects. The truly prosperous sovereign is net the Pharaoh reigning in lonely magnificence over a nation of slaves, but the beloved ruler of a free and enlightened people.
III. PERSONS IN EXALTED POSITIONS ARE LIABLE TO PECULIAR TROUBLES FROM WHICH ORDINARY MEN ARE EXEMPT. Not only are they not free from the common distresses of mankind, not only are they directly affected by the distresses of those beneath them; they are also subject to special dangers arising from their high and prominent position.
1. They are burdened with a responsibility that is proportionate to their elevation. If much has been given to them, much is expected of them. Every eye is upon them. Any mistake of theirs which might pass unnoticed in obscure men, is dragged into the full blaze of jealous criticism. If such men abuse a great trust they may expect to be visited with a great judgment.
2. They are liable to special attacks of animosity. Like officers in the field, they are picked out by opponents. Kings have dangers of assassination which obscure men need never fear. The highest tree catches the fiercest blast of the gale, while humble shrubs grow at peace in sheltered nooks.
3. They feel the blow of trouble most acutely. They who stand highest can fall lowest. Poverty is not the calamity to a born pauper that it proves itself to a bankrupt prince.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR