Hymns: The Lord’s My Shepherd (Modern)

I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.

Today’s song is The Lord’s My Shepherd from 1996.

Psalm 23 is probably the most widely known psalm, and I might well have sung hymns based on it more than I’ve sung any other hymn. Back when I was a Roman Catholic, I remember singing The Lord’s My Shepherd in Mass. And when I became an evangelical Christian, we frequently sung it in church, along with The King of Love My Shepherd is, which is also based on Psalm 23.

Sometimes, I get annoyed when people modernize older hymns, but I always liked the Stuart Townend version, and we used to sing it quite frequently in my fellowship in Tipperary. I don’t hear it much nowadays.

I don’t think that I’ve ever seen a shepherd, though I’ve seen plenty of sheep here in Ireland 😀. Things were different back in Bible times. Shepherding was one of the oldest and most common jobs. It required constant vigilance, knowledge of land and weather, and hands‑on care for the flock. And the Bible is full of illustrations about sheep and shepherds. Jesus Himself is often compared to both a sheep and a shepherd. Here are two examples:

John 10:27-30
 ²⁷ My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸ I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹ My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. ³⁰ I and the Father are one.”

John 1:29
²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!

My favourite part of Psalm 23 is the following:

Psalm 23:4
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Like modern sheep, maybe it feels like God just leaves us to ourselves, but He is with us. That’s a tremendous comfort and explains why the Psalm and hymn are so popular.

Here are some other versions of todays hymn: