Scripture Verse

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Psalm 23:1–3

Introduction

illustration
Nahum Tate (1652–1715)

Words: Na­hum Tate & Ni­cho­las Bra­dy, A New Ver­sion of the Psalms of Da­vid 1698.

Music: Le­no­al, ar­ranged from J. J. Behr­ens by Lo­well Ma­son, Car­mi­na Sac­ra (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1844), page 92 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Behr­ens’ full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him or Bra­dy,

portrait
Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Lyrics

The Lord Him­self, the migh­ty Lord,
Vouchsafes to be my guide;
The shep­herd, by whose con­stant care
My wants are all sup­plied.

In ten­der grass He makes me feed,
And gent­ly there re­pose;
Then leads me to cool shades, and where
Refreshing wa­ter flows.

He does my wan­der­ing soul re­claim,
And, to His end­less praise,
Instruct with hum­ble zeal to walk
In His most right­eous ways.

I pass the gloomy vale of death,
From fear and dan­ger free;
For there His aid­ing rod and staff
Defend and com­fort me.

Since God doth thus His won­drous love
Through all my life ex­tend,
That life to Him I will de­vote,
And in His tem­ple spend.