The King Of Love My Shepherd Is

The King of love my Shepherd is,

Whose goodness faileth never;

I nothing lack if I am His,

And He is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,

My ransomed soul He leadeth,

And where the verdant pastures grow,

With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed,

But yet in love He sought me,

And on His shoulder gently laid,

And home, rejoicing, brought me.

In death’s dark vale I fear no ill

With Thee, dear Lord, 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 (1821–1877)

THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM has been sung in hundreds of different forms since King David wrote the words some three thousand years ago. The version from the 1650 Scottish Psalter, “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” (January 5), has certainly stood the test of time. But when Henry Baker, an Anglican clergyman, was asked to compile a new hymnal for his church, he added this hymn, a paraphrase of Psalm 23, to the appendix of the hymnal. The fact that his hymnal sold more than sixty million copies indicates that he did his job well.

As Baker was dying, his last words came from the third stanza of this hymn: “Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, but yet in love He sought me.”

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23:4-6