And Comfort Still

Psalm 23 will be read today in many churches, and probably sung as well.  Here at the blog, as I always say, we have not yet run out of hymns derived from those well-loved verses.

You are my Shepherd, you know all my needs,

And I am blest;

By quiet streams, in pastures green, you lead

And make me rest.

My soul you save, and for your own Name’s sake

You guide my feet the paths of right to take.

Though in death’s vale and shadow be my way

I fear no ill,

For you are near, your rod and staff my stay

And comfort still.

My table you have spread before my foes,

My head you will anoint, my cup o’erflows.

The goodness and the mercy that have e'er

Upon me shone

Shall surely follow me through all the way

Till life is done;

And ever my Creator's house shall be

My dwelling place through all eternity.

The Psalter, 1912; alt.

Tune: SANDON (10.4.10.4.10.10)

Charles H. Purday, 1857

Nine (Liturgical) Years Ago: My Shepherd, you supply my need

Eight (Liturgical) Years Ago: Since God is my Shepherd

Seven (Liturgical) Years Ago: Thou art my Shepherd

Six (Liturgical) Years Ago: I shall not want: in deserts wild

Five (Liturgical) Years Ago: Beside the still waters

Four (Liturgical) Years Ago: My Shepherd, you will hold me

Even more paraphrases and adaptations can be found by clicking the "Psalm 23" tag at the very bottom of this post.

Anna Laetitia Waring

Welsh poet Anna Laetitia Waring was born today in 1823 (some sources say 1820) in the small town of Plas-y-Felin, near Neath, where she spent her early life. Her family were Quakers, but in 1842 she joined the Church of England, reportedly due to her interest in the Anglican sacraments. She also learned Hebrew so that she could read those scriptures in the original.

Never married, she and her family moved to Bristol around 1850, where she took an interest in prison reform, visiting prisoners and volunteering with the Discharged Prisoners' Aid Society.

She began writing hymns while still in her teens, but her first collection, Hymns and Meditations, was not published until 1850 (perhaps thanks to her improved access to publishers), consisting of nineteen texts. Another collection, Additional Hymns (1858) was eventually incorporated into later editions of her first book with some other texts for a final total of thirty-nine hymns. In 1911, the year after Waring's death, Hymns and Meditations was reissued again with a new section written by her friend Mary S. Talbot titled In Remembrance of Anna Laetitia Waring which included some of her secular poetry and brief biographical information, little of which had been available before.  Also, like many of the women who wrote hymns over the centuries, we have no portrait or photograph of Waring.

Today's hymn appeared in her first collection under the heading "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. (Psalm 23:4)".  It's not a paraphrase, but was certainly inspired by that psalm - the Presbyterian Handbook to the Hymnal (1935) calls it "steeped in the spirit of the psalter."  A chart at Hymnary.org shows that this text became even more popular in the twentieth century, appearing in at least 495 hymnals to date, by their (incomplete) count.

In heavenly love abiding, 
No change my heart shall fear.
And safe in such confiding, 
For nothing changes here.
The storm may roar around me, 
My heart may low be laid,
But God is round about me;
How can I be dismayed?

Wherever God may guide me,
No want shall turn me back.
My Shepherd is beside me, 
And nothing can I lack.
With wisdom ever waking, 
Our path is ever clear.
We know the way we’re taking,
We walk without a fear.

Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be over me, 
Where threat'ning clouds have been.
My hope I cannot measure,
My path to life is free.
My Savior has my treasure,
And ever walks with me.

Anna Laetitia Waring, 1850; alt.
Tune: NYLAND (7.6.7.6.D.)
Traditional Finnish melody

In his Dictionary of Hymnology, John Julian writes of Waring's work: "Her hymns are marked by great simplicity, concentration of thought, and elegance of diction."

Samuel Miller Waring (1792-1827), an uncle of hers, had followed the same path of Quakerism to Anglicanism and also wrote hymns and poems, some collected in Sacred Melodies (1826).



Nine Years Ago: Anna Laetitia Waring

John Quincy Adams

Today is the birthday of John Quincy Adams, the only US President known to have written a number of hymns and psalm paraphrases. As described here before, Adams wrote metrical versions of all 150 Psalms, though unfortunately they were never collected and published in one edition.  Several appeared in The Christian Psalter (1841) and others were published in Poems of Religion and Society (1849).

Of course, this would include a version of the well-known Psalm 23, perhaps the most widelly adapted of all the Psalms.  Adams's version begins:

My Shepherd is the Lord on high,
His hand supplies me still;
In pastures green he makes me lie,
Beside the rippling rill.

His lifelong interest in religion and the Bible made him open to different interpretations of scripture.  He converted from Congregationalism to the Unitarian faith, but, as President, he habitually attended at least two Sunday services, one Unitarian (he had been a founding member of the First Unitarian Church of Washington - now All Souls Unitarian - in 1821) and another, either Episcopalian or Presbyterian.  He once wrote  "I can frequent without scruple the church of any other sect of Christians, and join with cheerfulness the social worship of all without subscribing implicitly to the doctrines of any . . . "  (He was, however, rather bored by his experience at a Quaker meeting, conducted in silence.)

Today's text is his paraphrase of Psalm 65, a song of thankfulness for the bounties of God.

For thee in Zion waiteth praise,
O God, O thou that hearest prayer;
To thee the suppliant voice we raise,
To thee shall humankind repair;
On thee the ends of earth rely,
In thee the distant seas confide;
By thee the mountains brave the sky,
And girded by they strength abide.

Thou speakest in the tempest peace,
The roaring wave obeys thy nod;
The tumults of the people cease,
Earth marvels at the voice of God;
The morning's dawn, the evening's shade
Alike thy pow'r with gladness see;
The fields from thee the rains receive,
And swell with fruitfulness from thee.

Thy river, gracious God, o'erflows,
Its streams for human wants provide;
At thy command the harvest grows,
By thy refreshing show'rs supplied.
Thy bounty clothes the plains with grass,
Thy path grows fruitful as it goes;
And wheresoe'er thy footsteps pass,
The desert blossoms like the rose.

Thy goodness crowns the circling year,
The wilderness repeats thy voice;
The mountains clad with flocks appear,
The hills on every side rejoice.
New harvests from the valleys spring,
The reaper's sickle they employ;
And hark! how hill and valley ring
With universal shouts of joy!

John Quincy Adams, 
Tune: DUANE STREET (L.M.)
George Coles, 1835



Four Years Ago: John Quincy Adams

By Quiet Streams You Lead Me

 As you can see below, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, also known in many churches as Good Shepherd Sunday, has been observed here several times.  And, as promised some years back, we have not yet run out of paraphrases of Psalm 23 to sing.

This one comes from The Psalter (1912) a hymnal that was compiled by and shared among many of the different Presbyterian denomination in the United States at that time.

My Shepherd, you will hold me

Within your tender care,

And with your flock you fold me,

No want shall find me there.

In pastures green you feed me,

With plenty I am blest;

By quiet streams you lead me,

And make me safely rest.

Whatever may befall me,

You will restore and bless;

For your name’s sake you guide me,

In paths of righteousness.

Your rod and staff will cheer me

In death’s enfolding shade,

For you will then be near me;

I shall not be afraid.

My food you will supply me,

In presence of my foes;

With oil you will anoint me,

My cup of bliss o’erflows.

Your goodness, God, shall guide me,

Your mercy cheer my way;

A home you will provide me

Within your house alway.

The Psalter, 1912; alt.

Tune: LLANGLOFFAN (7.6.7.6.) 

Welsh melody

Five Years Ago: My Shepherd, you supply my need

Four Years Ago: Since God is my Shepherd

Three Years Ago: Thou art my Shepherd

Two Years Ago: I shall not want, in deserts wild

One Year Ago:  Beside the still waters

I Drink From Their Plenty

As discussed before, we're back again to Good Shepherd Sunday, celebrated in many churches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter.  If it was observed in your church, you undoubtedly heard Psalm 23, perhaps in more than one format or setting.  It's certainly the most paraphrased psalm I've presented here, and we have not run out of them yet!  This one may not be as complete a paraphrase as some others, but deserves a look anyway.


Beside the still waters, my Shepherd, my Lord,
There lead me, there feed me, there show me your Word;
There give me your counsel, there grant me your peace,
There make all my sorrows and wanderings cease.

Beside the still waters, oh bountiful store,
I drink from their plenty and thirst nevermore;
No more I am weary when there I may rest,
And feel with your mercy and love I am blessed.

Beside the still waters, your goodness is there,
Protects me from danger, preserves me from care;
For pain has no terror and death has no sting,
While you are so near me, my thanks will I sing.

Inge E. Diekinga, 1896
Tune: BROTHERTON (6.5.6.5.D.)
English folk melody, arr. 1905


This text originally appeared in Uplifting Songs (1896), but with a rather uninteresting tune.  BROTHERTON suits it better, though perhaps it should be played a bit more gently than the sound file here.

I have lost count of all the Psalm 23 paraphrases presented here (more than just the four below) but you may be able to see them by clicking on the "Psalm 23" tag below.

Four Years Ago: My Shepherd, you supply my need

Three Years Ago:  Since God is my Shepherd

Two Years Ago:  Thou art my Shepherd

One Year Ago:  I shall not want, in deserts wild

Streams For Thirsting Souls

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday in many churches and if yours is one of them you have probably already heard more than one version of Psalm 23 either read aloud or sung, and a sermon on top.

There are many hymn texts derived from this psalm; some of which we have already seen here (click on the tag below). Two of the most familiar of them were listed last year on one grouping of "the ten best" hymns. Here's one more for today, and I think I could go on for several more years with one more each year.

I shall not want: in deserts wild
Thou spread’st a table for thy child;
While grace in streams for thirsting souls,
Thro’ earth and heav'n forever rolls.

I shall not want: my longest night
Thy loving smile shall fill with light;
While promises around me bloom,
And cheer me with divine perfume.

I shall not want: thy righteousness
My soul shall clothe with glorious dress;
My heav'nly robe shall be more fair
Than garments kings or angels wear.

I shall not want: whate’er is good,
Of daily bread or angels’ food,
Shall to my longing heart be sure,
So long as earth and heav'n endure.

Charles F. Deems, 1872; alt.
Tune: CANONBURY (L.M.)
Robert Schumann, 1839, adapt.

Charles Force Deems led the Church of the Strangers in New York City when he wrote this hymn. It was a nondenominational Protestant congregation, founded in part by a $50,000 gift fron philanthopist Cornelius Vanderbilt, and its pastor was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the many individual needs of his parishioners. Meditating on those concerns, the words "I shall not want" from the psalm spoke to him most directly and the hymn soon followed.

The tune CANONBURY which still appears in many hymnals is arranged from a melody by the German composer Robert Schumann in his solo piano work Nachtstucke, Opus 23 No. 4.

Two Years Ago: Samuel Webbe

One Year Ago: Austin C. Lovelace

James Montgomery

James Montgomery, born today in 1771, was orphaned at a young age when his missionary parents died in the Caribbean. Young James had been left in the care of the Moravian community in Ireland and he attended their school. Later, intending to study for the ministry at the Fulneck Seminary near Leeds, he was expelled because he spent too much time writing poetry, and was apprenticed to a baker.

Apparently determined to write and not to bake, he ran away in 1787 and eventually traveled to London, looking unsuccessfully for opportunities to publish his poetry. In 1792 he was hired as the assistant to Joseph Gales, who published the Sheffield Register newspaper. Two years later Gales fled the country to avoid prosecution for publishing inflammatory political articles, and Montgomery took over the paper. He renamed it the Sheffield Iris and ran it for the next 33 years. Montgomery further followed in Mr. Gales's footsteps by being prosecuted twice; once for publishing a song in praise of the fall of the Bastille, and again for an article about a riot in Sheffield, which criticized the actions of the police.

His later interest in hymnwriting may have been increased through his friendship with Thomas Cotterill, the vicar of St. Paul's Church in Sheffield. Cotterill also wrote hymns, and had compiled a hymnal for use in his church which was forbidden by his bishop. The controversy over the hymnal lasted for some time, and Montgomery supported Cotterill in his efforts to encourage congregational singing. Cotterill's Se­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, for Public and Private Use, Adapt­ed to the Fes­tiv­als of the Church of Eng­land was finally approved for use in worship in 1820.

Montgomery's own hymns, approximately four hundred (only a fraction of which can be seen here), were published after this time, largely in three books: Songs of Zion, The Christian Psalmist, and The Christian Poet, and were later collected in one volume, Original Hymns for Pub­lic, Pri­vate and So­cial De­vo­tion (1853). Several of his hymns are still sung today, most of which we have already seen here (click on the tag below). This lesser-known text is his paraphrase of Psalm 23.

Thou, Lord, art my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe folded I rest;
Thou leadest my soul where the still waters flow,
Restor'st me when wand’ring, redeem'st when oppressed.

Through valley and shadow of death though I stray,
Since thou art my Guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my Comforter near.

In midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of thy providence more?

Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
Still follow my steps till I meet thee above;
I seek, by the path which my forebears hath trod,
Through land of their sojourn, thy household of love.

James Montgomery, 1822; alt.
Tune: CRADLE SONG (11.11.11.11.)
William J. Kirkpatrick, 1895

I suppose not everyone will want to sing this text to CRADLE SONG by William Kirkpatrick, better known as one of the tunes used at Christmas for Away in a manger. An alternative is the tune assigned by the Cyber Hymnal, GOOD SHEPHERD by Joseph Barnby, but in this case I like the more familiar tune.


Two Years Ago: James Montgomery

Another Birthday Today: Augustus Montague Toplady

Ten Best Hymns (?)

Over at a mega-blog called First Things, these's a post you might want to read titled Are These the Ten Best Hymns of All Time? At least they phrased it as a question rather than a statement.

It's a blog sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Life, "an inter-religious, nonpartisan research and education institute whose purpose is to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society," according to them. Which is fine; I don't have to subscribe to their philosophy to read a few posts. I have a few suspicions about their "interreligious" claim, but we'll get to that later.

The list has only a few surprises, I think.

• The number one hymn does come out of nowhere; I don't ever recall encountering it on any similar list before, though it's certainly a fine text by Isaac Watts. I've written about five others of the ten (#s 4, 5, 7, 9 and 10) and all those seem to be reasonable choices.

• It is a bit odd that anyone would deliberately choose two paraphrases of Psalm 23 (#s 1 and 4) to be included in one top ten list, but there you are.

• Only one of the ten was written in the last hundred years (which may partially account for my never having heard of it), O God beyond all praising by Michael Perry. I'm not sure whether that is truly a text for the ages, or if they were swayed by the tune (THAXTED by Gustav Holst, better known in the UK to the text I vow to thee, my country - a favorite of Princess Diana).

• And whenever someone writes about Christ the Lord is risen today I can't help wondering if they're confusing it with Jesus Christ is risen today -- they aren't the same hymn, though some believe they are (and some hymnals have combined stanzas from each into a conglomerate text).

It's not claiming to be a list of favorite hymns, so I'm not at all bothered that only one on their list (#7) is also on my own top ten list (though definitely lower than I'd put it). There's no real indication of their criteria, or even of how many "editors" contributed to the discussion. And, as we've discussed here before, there's no way you can ever pick just ten! You always remember later that you left one (or more) out.

Back in 1899, The Best Church Hymns produced a list of thirty-two. Comparing their top ten to these ten, only one hymn appears on both: When I survey the wondrous cross (#2 in 1899, #8 today). Christ the Lord is risen today came in at #24 then, and Holy, Holy, Holy was just off the list, "unofficially" ranked at #33. But I do think it's interesting that six of the other places on the list were not taken by newer hymns written since 1899, but by texts that were already being sung back then, though they had yet to gain the broader popularity they enjoy today.

As always, the comments on the post are interesting to read, partly because some of the commenters give away more information than they might intend about their individual biases (and many forget that the list is not supposed to be a list of favorites). But some certainly do have worthwhile possible substitutions, and you might also.

This post followed an earlier one titled Are These the Ten Worst Hymns of All Time? and I think it's here that the editors at First Things might have slightly dented their claim to be "interreligious." The giveaway is that all ten are Roman Catholic "contemporary" worship songs from the last forty years. Either the editors all grew up singing (and apparently hating) these songs, or they're looking at them from the outside and just happened to choose all their "worsts" from the same tradition, in which case they couldn't have looked very hard. No single denomination could reasonably be said to have a monopoly on bad hymns, and there were certainly bad hymns written more than forty years ago. Also, I've sung several of these ten, and I have to say that a few of them are really very effective in the right setting and people love to sing them. So whose standards are being used to condemn them?

But, as I may have said before, I don't generally write here about "worsts" or hymns I might consider "bad." Sure, there are texts and tunes I don't particularly like, but I think it's better to focus on the good hymns (or at least, on the interesting ones). Everyone has favorites, and there's little point in stepping on them.

Thanks to the blog One Eternal Day (blog title also taken from a hymn) for pointing me to these posts at First Things.

One Year Ago: Thomas Kelly

Joseph Addison

Joseph Addison, born today in 1672, was better known as a playwright, journalist, and politician, but he also wrote some religious poetry that was later sung as hymns, a few lasting until the present day.

His father, Lancelot, a member of the clergy, became Dean of Lichfield Cathedral, and Joseph grew up there. Apparently with no intention of following his father into the clergy, he became a classics scholar at Oxford, studying and translating Latin poets, and writing about earlier English poets. His own poetic efforts also began in college.

In 1704 he was commissioned to write a poem about the Battle of Blenheim; the resulting poem was sufficiently well-regarded as to lead to his appointment to a government post. He continued to advance in government, and was a member of the Irish House of Commons from 1708 until his death in 1719.

During his time in government he continued to write poetry and contribute to journals of the day. He was interested in the theatre, first writing the libretto to Rosamund, an opera which was not produced in his lifetime, and then other more successful plays. His play Cato, a Tragedy (1712) is interesting in that it was also popular in the American colonies for many years, and appears to have been known to several important figures in the American Revolution.

Addison and his friend Richard Steele founded a newspaper called The Spectator in 1711. Amid his various articles for this paper, much of his religious poetry also appeared, including the verses we now know as hymns. One of my own Top Ten hymns is by Addison; The spacious firmament on high was first published in The Spectator on August 23, 1712. We were just talking about the many paraphrases of Psalm 23; Addison's Spectator version appeared a month earlier on July 26: The Lord my pasture shall prepare. In between these two we find today's hymn, from The Spectator of August 9, 1712, the one by Addison that has probably appeared in the most hymnals, even up to the present.

When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported by the view, I’m lost
In wonder, love and praise.

Unnumbered comforts to my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flowed.

When worn with sickness, oft hast thou
With health renewed my face;
And, when in sins and sorrows sunk,
Revived my soul with grace.

Thy bounteous hand with worldly bliss
Hath made my cup run o’er;
And, in a kind and faithful Friend,
Hath doubled all my store.

O how shall words with equal warmth
The gratitude declare,
That glows within my ravished heart?
But thou canst read it there.

When nature fails, and day and night
Divide thy works no more,
My ever grateful heart, O God,
Thy mercy shall adore.

Through all eternity to thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
For, oh, eternity’s too short
To utter all thy praise!

Joseph Addison, 1712; alt.
Tune: ST. PETER (C.M.)
Alexander Reinagle, 1836

Addison wrote thirteen stanzas in all, though most modern hymnals only print four or so, so many would consider even these seven here to be excessive. I'd guess that the first and last stanzas are the most familiar, and different editors choose different ones in between from the eleven remaining. Several different tunes have also been used, including TALLIS' ORDINAL, CONTEMPLATION, and BANGOR (which I also like).

Addison's first stanza concludes with “lost, in wonder, love and praise.” I think it's no accident that Charles Wesley's great hymn Love divine, all loves excelling (also one of my Top Ten), written in 1747, concludes its final stanza with that exact phrase. Wesley was assuming his audience was familiar with John Dryden's ode to England Fairest isle, all isles excelling, and probably with Addison's poem as well.

P.S. The portrait of Addison is by Sir Godfrey Kneller, a German artist (originally Gottfried Kniller) who moved to England in 1674 and eventually became Principal Painter to the Crown, preserving the likenesses of many notable Britons of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

One Year Ago: Saint Philip and Saint James

Safe By Thy Side I Go

The Fourth Sunday of Easter, as we have observed before, is also called Good Shepherd Sunday in some traditions. Psalm 23, undoubtedly the best known and best-loved of all the one hundred-fifty Psalms is always among the readings, as are other scripture lessons that use this metaphor for Jesus.

There are surely many hymns that speak of Jesus as a Shepherd tending a flock, and a good subset of these are actual paraphrases of Psalm 23. We have already seen four different ones of these over the last three years, and here is one more. I don't think we will run out of them for quite a while.

Thou art my Shepherd,
Caring in every need,
Thy loving lamb to feed,
Trusting thee still.
In the green pastures low,
Where living waters flow,
Safe by thy side I go,
Fearing no ill.

Or if my way lie
Where storms are raging nigh,
Nothing can terrify,
I trust thee still.
How can I be afraid,
While softly on my head
Thy tender hand is laid?
I fear no ill.

Goodness and mercy
Ever shall follow me,
Till by thy grace I see
Thy holy hill;
Christ, in that home with thee,
Joyful eternally,
Folded thy flock shall be,
Safe from all ill.

Elsie Thalheimer, c. 1866
st. 3, Margaret S. Haycraft; alt.
Tune: LYNDE
Thuringian folk tune,
arr.John Baptist Cramer, 19th cent.

One Year Ago: Saint Mark

Another Birthday Today: John Keble

Sir Henry Williams Baker

Henry Williams Baker was born on this day in 1821. His father was both a rear admiral and a baronet. Henry was ordained in the Church of England in 1846, and succeeded to his father's title in 1859.

However, in the words of Edwin Hatfield, writing in The Poets of the Church (1884), Sir Henry distinguished himself principally in the line of hymnology. This was perhaps a bit of an understatement, as Baker is now considered to be instrumental in the development of the popular Hymns Ancient and Modern, the hymnal whose various editions have sold more than sixty million copies.

Baker's first hymn texts were written in 1852, and he was sufficiently known in the field that he was invited to serve as secretary to the committee that was compiling Hymns Ancient & Modern. His role as "secretary" turned out to be very influential in the task of forming the collection. It was Baker's idea to solicit suggestions and submissions for the hymnal through advertisements to the clergy; he believed that giving many people the chance to participate would predispose them in favor of the final product and lead them to purchase it, perhaps even to adopt it for their congregations.

The hymnal appeared in late 1860 (in time for Advent, followed by the musical edition a few months later). It was seen as a broad, ecumenical collection, both theologically and musically. Its supporters and its detractors both cited the same reasons for their opinions (the fine line between "plenty" and "too many"). Though the only name that appeared on the title page was musical editor William Monk, it eventually became known that Baker was the de facto editor-in-chief (no longer simply secretary to the committee).

Sir Henry remained with Hymns Ancient and Modern until his death in 1877, seeing it through supplements and new editions. He had contributed his own texts, several translations of Latin hymns, and even some tunes. This original hymn, yet another paraphrase of Psalm 23, is probably his most well-known.

The God of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never,
I nothing lack if I am thine
And thou art mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow
My ransomed soul thou leadest,
And where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedest.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love thou sought'st me,
And on thy shoulder gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought'st me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill
With thee, dear God, beside me;
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spread’st a table in my sight;
Thy unction grace bestoweth;
And O, what transport of delight
From thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never;
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.

Henry Williams Baker, 1868; alt.
Tune: ST. COLUMBA (8.7.8.7.)
Traditional Irish melody
arr. Charles V. Stanford, c.1906

Though overall I prefer this tune (surprisingly hard to find in an online version played correctly), I also have a certain fondness for the tune DOMINUS REGIT ME by John Bacchus Dykes that is still used in some denominations, and was written for Baker's text when it first appeared in Hymns Ancient & Modern in the 1868 supplement.

Where Living Waters Flow

Good Shepherd Sunday, observed in some Catholic and Protestant traditions, falls on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. Sheep and shepherd references abound, and the readings generally include Psalm 23. That particular psalm, a favorite of many people, is also a popular subject for hymn texts. Already on the blog we have seen two different ones (here and here) and today we have a third, a gospel song which adds a refrain partially taken from Matthew 11: 28-30. There are many more paraphrases of Psalm 23, spanning several centuries and musical styles, so I'm sure we'll get to more of them.

Since God is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
God maketh me down to lie
In pastures green God leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

Refrain
God's yoke is easy; God's burden is light.
I’ve found it so; I’ve found it so.
God leadeth me by day and by night
Where living waters flow.

My soul crieth out: “Restore me again,
And give me the strength to take
The narrow path of righteousness,
E’en for thine own Name’s sake.”
Refrain

Yea, tho’ I should walk the valley of death,
Yet why should I fear from ill?
For thou art with me, and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
Refrain

Ralph E. Hudson, 1885; alt.
Tune: GOD'S YOKE IS EASY (Irregular with refrain)

Ralph Erskine Hudson was a Methodist minister who began his own publishing firm to produce hymnals and songbooks, many containing his own texts and tunes. He became a popular traveling evangelist, promoting his company's output.

Jessie Seymour Irvine

Born on this day in 1836, Jessie Irvine was the daughter of a Scottish clergyman. As a young student of the organ, she wrote a tune which was later published in the Northern Psalter (1872) called CRIMOND, harmonized by David Grant. The tune was assumed to be Grant's for many years, and it was not until the Scottish Psalter of 1929 that Irvine was finally credited as the composer. I've found no reference to any other compositions by her.

Though it was not the original text used for this tune, this paraphrase of Psalm 23 is now the most widely used for CRIMOND.

Thou art my Shepherd, I’ll not want.
Thou makest me down to lie
In pastures green; thou leadest me
The quiet waters by.

My soul thou dost restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
Even for thine own Name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk in death’s sad vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For thou art with me; and thy rod
And staff my comfort still.

My table thou hast furnishèd
In presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.

Scottish Psalter, 1650; adapt. 1990
Tune: CRIMOND (C.M.)
Jessie Seymour Irvine; harm, David Grant, 1872

This hymn is believed to be a favorite of Queen Elizabeth; it was sung at her wedding in 1947. It has appeared in many hymnals, and as I've said before, appears to be the oldest hymn tune written by a woman that remains in wide use today.

Beside the Living Stream

The Fourth Sunday of Easter is also known as Good Shepherd Sunday in some traditions. Readings include the Twenty-Third Psalm and other references to Christ as Shepherd. There are plenty of appropriate anthems and hymns that follow this theme. You could have all five (or four, or three?) of the hymns in your worship service be different paraphrases of Psalm 23, all in different musical styles. I'll choose just one for today, an English text from the eighteenth century joined with an American Southern Harmony tune from the nineteenth.

My Shepherd, you supply my need,
Redeemer is your name;
In pastures fresh you make me feed
Beside the living stream.
You bring my wand'ring spirit back
When I forsake your ways;
And lead me, for your mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death
Your presence is my stay,
One word of your supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Your hand, in sight of all my foes,
Will still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Your oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may God's house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

Isaac Watts, 1719; alt.
Tune: RESIGNATION (C.M.D.)
Southern Harmony, 1855

It's actually a little odd to use a psalm paraphrase by Isaac Watts, as Watts believed that hymns shouldn't be exclusively drawn from the psalms and from Scripture, as they had been in the Calvinist tradition. When he expressed this opinion to his father, he was challenged to write something better.

So he did.

Now, not all of his approximately 750 hymns (697 listed at cyberhymnal.org) are better than the earlier psalm paraphrases, but just about any hymnal index you examine will still contain a good number of his texts, more than 200 years later. The good stuff endures.
As I said, there are plenty of other good hymns and anthems for today. A less appropriate musical selection would be Handel's All we like sheep from Messiah, which does not actually refer to Christ as Shepherd but concludes with "And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." Have not Lent's long shadows departed? But that's what we're singing today. Guess it seemed like a good idea last summer when the music for the year was being chosen.


Baaaaaaaa.