Scripture Verse

Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep. Hebrews 13:20

Introduction

portrait
Charles Wesley
1707–1788

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems 1749.

Music: Ev­an Will­iam H. Ha­ver­gal, 1847. Ar­ranged by Lo­well Ma­son in New Car­mi­na Sac­ra (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: 1850) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

illustration
Christ the Shepherd
Bernhard Plockhorst
1825–1907
Wikimedia Commons

Lyrics

Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep,
To Thee for help we fly;
Thy little flock in safety keep,
For O! the wolf is nigh.

He comes of hellish malice full,
To scatter, tear and slay;
He seizes every straggling soul,
As his own lawful prey.

Us into Thy protection take,
And gather with Thine arm;
Unless the fold we first forsake,
The wolf can never harm.

We laugh to scorn his cruel power,
While by our shepherd’s side;
The sheep he never can devour
Unless he first divide.

O do not suffer him to part
The souls that here agree;
But make us of one mind and heart,
And keep us one in Thee!

Together let us sweetly live,
Together let us die;
And each a starry crown receive,
And reign above the sky.

Keep us till then in perfect peace,
And call us each to prove
An endless age of heavenly bliss,
An endless age of love.