Scripture Verse

He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. Isaiah 40:11

Introduction

portrait
William Havergal (1793–1870)

Words: Will­iam H. Ha­ver­gal, 1840.

Music: Ol­mutz, ar­ranged from a Gre­gor­ian chant by Lo­well Ma­son, 1824 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Written af­ter wit­ness­ing the death of Eli­za­beth Ed­wards, aged 12, of St. Ni­cho­las, Wor­ces­ter, and print­ed as a leaf­let. Pub. in W. C. Wil­son’s Bk. of Ge­ne­ral Psal­mo­dy, 1840; the Wor­ces­ter Ps. & Hys., 1849; Life Ech­oes &c., 1883. The au­thor al­so pub. a Mem­oir of the child.

Julian, p. 498

Lyrics

To praise our shep­herd’s care,
His wis­dom, love, and might,
Your loud­est, lof­ti­est songs pre­pare,
And bid the world unite.

Supremely good and great,
He tends His blood-bought fold;
He stoops, though throned in high­est state,
The feeb­lest to up­hold.

He hears their soft­est plaint;
He sees them when they roam;
And if His mean­est lamb should faint,
His bo­som bears it home.

Kind Shepherd of the sheep!
A wea­ry flock are we;
And snares and foes are nigh; but keep
The lambs who look to Thee.

And if through death’s dark vale
Our feet should ear­ly tread,
Oh, may we reach Thy fold, and hail
The love which us hath led!