Good Shepherd Sunday
Good Shepherd Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Easter
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good shepherd of your people;
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him who
calls us each by name, and follow where he leads; who, with
you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever
and ever. Amen.
The Fourth Sunday of Easter is always Good Shepherd Sunday. We sing shepherd hymns, we hear Jesus describe himself as the good shepherd (John 10:11-18), we may say or sing the twenty-third psalm.
Old timers who memorized the twenty-third psalm as children often have little patience with a modern translation of it, and even the children at Holy Nativity Episcopal School learn, a verse a week, the six verses of the King James Version. The contemporary version in the psalter of the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer has it
23 Dominus regit me
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1
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The Lord is my shepherd; *
I shall not be in want.
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2
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He makes me lie down in green pastures *
and leads me beside still waters.
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3
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He revives my soul *
and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.
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4
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Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
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5
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You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me;*
you have anointed my head with oil,
and my cup is running over.
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6
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Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,*
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But the KJV is tucked away at page 476 ready for use if anyone doesn’t carry it around in their mind:
Psalm 23 King James Version
The LORD is my shepherd; *
I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; *
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; *
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
Name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; *
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
mine enemies; *
thou annointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
It’s a comfortable, soothing, assuring metaphor, Jesus the good shepherd, that calls to mind David the shepherd boy and king. And the traditional version is dear to many hearts.
TW+