Xanthe Hancox
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:1-3
"The Lord's my Shepherd" is one of the best-loved hymns based on one of the best-loved psalms. People love it for good reason. It speaks of green pastures and still waters and restored souls. But more than that, it speaks of an all-knowing, all-powerful shepherd who devotes full attention to our care.
The Lord's My Shepherd hymn is another old one with its roots in the Reformation, when Luther and Calvin emphasised singing psalms. I mentioned the Marian exiles a couple of days ago, the large numbers of Protestants who fled to Europe to escape persecution during the reign of Queen Mary I (1553-1558). There, under the influence of Luther and Calvin, they began singing psalms. When Mary died and Elizabeth I ascended to the throne, they returned to England, bringing their psalm tunes with them.
In the late 1640s, a group of scholars gathered together for the purpose of developing a faithful, metrical translation of the Psalms. When The Scottish Psalter of 1650 was published, it became the gold standard for metrical translations of the Psalms. The text derived from The Scottish Psalter is the one most frequently used today for The Lord's My Shepherd.
The hymn version of Psalm 23 remains faithful to David's psalm. It gives us a reassuring and challenging image of God. He is our shepherd, the one who provides for all our needs. But the image of God as shepherd also confronts us with this question: If God is our shepherd, are we sheep who follow and trust? Or do we wander our own way?
The shepherd promises to fill our every need. Yet how often have we looked elsewhere for what we need? We wander from the shepherd because we don’t really trust God. We start worrying about tomorrow and devising our own plans to fill our needs.
When you struggle with those doubts, sing the words of this well-known psalm and hymn. You don't need to worry about tomorrow's needs. Your shepherd has provided enough for today. And he'll do the same for tomorrow and every day beyond.
Prayer: Lord, help me to take these well-known words to heart this morning and to put my trust in you, whatever today or tomorrow may bring. Amen.
Listen to a choir singing The Lord is My Shepherd: