Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.
It’s hard to believe I’ve never written a song based on Psalm 23. (Unless you count this and this.) Perhaps I felt it was such low-hanging fruit that I moved on to other Psalms, or maybe there are so many beautiful Psalm 23 songs that I felt I didn’t have anything to add.
In any case, FAWM 2022 and a beautiful text by Michael Morgan were the push I needed to write my own setting. And while I don’t expect it will ever displace “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” in anyone’s heart, I’m still pleased with how mine came out. It is simple, using a pentatonic scale in the melody and unadorned harmonies. This serves Michael’s modest, beautiful text well.
1. God is our shepherd, so faithful and sure,
whose care and affection forever endure;
boundless in giving, God meets every need:
streams to refresh us, and pastures to feed.
2. Lord, your great spirit our souls will restore;
your vow is to ransom, and ours to adore.
Paths of contentment, vales of despair,
we will not waver – salvation is here!
3. Fed at your table, and warmed by your face;
blest with sweet oil and redeemed by your grace;
goodness and mercy are ours for always;
heaven is filled with rejoicing and praise!
