The Lord's My Shepherd Hymn
Words from Scottish Psalter, 1650, Composer Jessie S. Irvine, 1872
Sep 19, 2008
The Book of Psalms is considered the oldest hymnal. Throughout history Christians have wanted to obey the biblical injunction to worship and praise God by using "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs."
In particular, Psalm 23 is one of the most loved of all the chapters and known to Christians as "The Shepherd Psalm."
John Calvin, a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation who founded the Reformed Theology or Calvinism, once quoted Augustine, who wrote, "We shall not find better songs nor more fitting for the purpose than the Psalms of David, which the Holy Spirit spoke … when we sing them, we are certain that God puts in our mouths these, as if He Himself were singing in us to exalt His glory."
Since the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew, when translated, they don't typically have the rhyme for easy singing.
Translation of Francis Rouse
In the early 1640s, an American Puritan, Francis Rouse, produced all 150 Psalms from the Hebrew into metrical English. Meeting in Edinburgh, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland took the translation of Rouse and submitted it to revision committees.
These committees spent six years comparing the metered Psalms with the original Hebrew, seeking to develop a translation that can be sung, at the same time accurate to the original Hebrew.
Scottish Psalter
In 1650, the Scottish Psalter was released and approved for congregations of the Church of Scotland.
There are alternate tunes of "The Lord's My Shepherd" (with composers and arrangers) as follows:
- Belmont, William Gardiner, 1812
- Evan, William H. Havergal, 1847 (arranged by Lowell Mason, 1850)
- Martyrdom, Hugh Wilson, 1800 (arranged by Ralph E. Hudson, c. 1885)
- Orlington, John Campbell, 1807-1860 (repeats third line of each verse)
- Wiltshire, George T. Smart, 1795
The Scottish Psalter of 1650 is a great treasure of the hymnody, the portion widely sung beyond Scotland is its beautiful and most comforting rendition of Psalm 23, set to the tune "Crimond."
First and the Fourth Stanzas of "The Lord's My Shepherd"
1.
The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want;
He makes me down to lie
in pastures green;He leadeth me
the quiet waters by.
4.
My table Thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Words and Music:
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