Scripture Verse

He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4

Introduction

Words: Ade­laide A. Pollard, in Pre­cious Jew­els of Sac­red Song, ed­it­ed by W. How­ard Doane (Lou­is­ville, Ken­tuc­ky: World Pub­lish­ing, 1905).

Music: Ja­mai­ca Bay George C. Steb­bins, 1905 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Poll­ard (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
George C. Stebbins (1846–1945)

Lyrics

illustration
Christ the Shepherd
Bernhard Plockhorst (1825–1907)
Wikimedia Commons

Shepherd of Is­ra­el, keep­ing Thy sheep—
Never for­get­ting in slum­ber or sleep;
Folding them gent­ly when night com­eth on,
Going be­fore them at break of the dawn.

Refrain

Shepherd of Is­ra­el, Shep­herd of love,
Watching Thy flock from the glo­ry above!
Knowing how wea­ry their wil­der­ness way;
Praying for them—ev­er liv­ing to pray!

Shepherd of Is­ra­el, true to Thine own
When the false hire­ling ser­vant hath flown;
Laying Thy life down their par­don to win,
Shedding Thy blood to re­deem them from sin!

Refrain

Shepherd of Is­ra­el, strong is Thine arm;
Shielding Thy flock from each threat­en­ing harm;
Gathering the lambs as they fal­ter and fall,
Safe in Thy bo­som en­fold­ing them all!

Refrain

Shepherd of Is­ra­el, soon to ap­pear,
Soon to de­li­ver Thy lit­tle flock here!
Just to be­hold Thee their rich­est re­ward,
Shepherd of Is­ra­el, Je­sus, their Lord!

Refrain