4-21 Music
Sunday, April 21st, we will sing together three shepherd hymns, to go along with two shepherd-themed scripture readings for, you guessed it, Good Shepherd Sunday. Each of the hymns is a meditation or paraphrase on the familiar words of Psalm 23. We will begin by singing some newer words to a beloved tune, as we pair Marva Dawn's thoughtful Come Away from Rush and Hurry, with the tune BEACH SPRING (Chalice Hymnal 278, 461, 575, & 658). I especially appreciate the invitation to “come away from noise and clamor, life's demands and frenzied pace” as we exist together for an hour of worship.
Come away from rush and hurry to the stillness of God’s peace;
from our vain ambition’s worry, come to Christ and find release.
Come away from noise and clamor, life’s demands and frenzied pace;
come to join the people gathered here to seek and find God’s grace
In the pastures of God’s goodness we lie down to rest our soul,
from the waters of God's mercy we drink deeply, are made whole.
At the table of God's presence all the saints are richly fed.
With the oil of God's anointing into service we are led.
Our second and third hymns are paraphrases of Psalm 23, and I invite you to take notice of how Jacque Jones (b. 1950) and Isaac Watts (1674-1748) treated the same words, some 300 years apart. In The Lord is My Own Shepherd (printed below), Jacque reads “paths of righteousness” as “paths of justice,” that God makes us unafraid to walk. It is paired with the Swedish tune BRED DINA VIDA VINGAR (CH 290, 489). Coincidentally, this is the only Swedish tune I know, so when I was called upon to play at the graveside service for my Grandmother, who was of Swedish descent, I had I Cannot Dance, O Love (CH 290) in my heart and hands.
We will conclude with my very favorite hymn in all of English language hymnody, My Shepherd Will Supply My Need/RESIGNATION (CH 80). If I may be so bold, I think Isaac Watts may state it even better than the Psalmist when he states, “No more a stranger, nor a guest, but like a child at home.”
Recordings:
Come Away from Rush and Worry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4Dcg1LVldQ
BRED DINA VIDA VINGAR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvkbBjt0S9k
My Shepherd Will Supply My Need https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPwz-O3bXEU
Image: Shepherd Boy Playing a Flute. Date: 1831. John Linnell.
https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/YYA0000904/Shepherd-Boy-Playing-a-Flute
