The Lord my shepherd rules my life

For this best-known of all Psalms, unrivalled in its deep serenity and unspoiled by its continuing popularity (in some form) at both weddings and funerals, Praise! includes 3 versions of which this is the newest. Christopher Idle wrote it at Limehouse in 1977, originally with a 6th-stz doxology, as first published in Jesus Praise, 1982. Praise! becomes at least the 20th book to include it. In draft form an alternative 1st line was ‘The Lord my shepherd knows my name’; the Jubilate group preferred this text, which reflects the biblical theme of the shepherd as ruler, and the Lat opening Dominus regit me. Purists have sometimes argued that this Psalm is not appropriate for funerals since the Hebrew does not include the word ‘death’ (cf the next 2 versions); but while it is ‘a Psalm for the whole of life, not just the end of it’, there seems no reason for banning it from such occasions. However, it is vital not to sentimentalise the figure of the shepherd; in the language of Ezekial 34 (and John 10) he does not merely cuddle the lambs—he rules the people. This version, which is not an updating of the following item, has been set to several tunes including two specially composed for it. Like CRIMOND which the author first had in mind (see below), BROTHER JAMES’ AIR is a natural choice, as it shares metre and mood with 23B. It comes at the end of The great peace: being a New Year’s greeting to our Motherland and the nations at present in conflict … (etc), by James Leith Macbeth Bain, published in London, 1915. Possibly for copyright reasons, and in spite of its popularity through frequent recording and broadcasting, it was surprisingly slow to make its way into 20th-c hymnals. Carl Daw’s 1986 paraphrase, The Lord my shepherd guards me well, was also written for this tune; among many other approaches is Christopher Walker’s Because the Lord is my shepherd (words and music 1985, in Songs from the Psalms 1990 etc). For a critical assessment of the tune, see Bernard Massey in HSB228, July 2001; this happens to be the issue to which he (as editor) contributes a 4- page review of Praise!—probably the first full review to appear; see section 1 of this handbook.

b Bromley, Kent 1938. Eltham Coll, St Peter’s Coll Oxford (BA, English), Clifton Theol Coll Bristol; ordained in 1965 to a Barrow-in-Furness curacy. He spent 30 years in CofE parish ministry, some in rural Suffolk, mainly in inner London (Peckham, Poplar and Limehouse). Author of over 300 hymn texts, mainly Scripture based, collected in Light upon the River (1998) and Walking by the River (2008), Trees along the River (2018), and now appearing in some 300 books and other publications; see also the dedication of EP1 (p3) to his late wife Marjorie. He served on 5 editorial groups from Psalm Praise (1973) to Praise!; his writing includes ‘Grove’ booklets Hymns in Today’s Language (1982) and Real Hymns, Real Hymn Books (2000), and The Word we preach, the words we sing (Reform, 1998). He edited the quarterly News of Hymnody for 10 years, and briefly the Bulletin of the Hymn Society, on whose committee he served at various times between 1984 and 2006; and addressed British and American Hymn Socs. Until 1996 he often exchanged draft texts with Michael Perry (qv) for mutual criticism and encouragement. From 1995 he was engaged in educational work and writing from home in Peckham, SE London, until retirement in 2003; following his return to Bromley after a gap of 40 years, he has attended Holy Trinity Ch Bromley Common and Hayes Lane Baptist Ch. Owing much to the Proclamation Trust, he also belongs to the Anglican societies Crosslinks and Reform, together with CND and the Christian pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation. A former governor of 4 primary schools, he has also written songs for school assemblies set to familiar tunes, and (in 2004) Grandpa’s Amazing Poems and Awful Pictures. His bungalow is smoke-free, alcohol-free, car-free, gun-free and TV-free. Nos.13, 18, 21, 23A, 24B, 27B, 28, 31, 35, 36, 37, 48, 50, 68, 78, 79, 80, 81, 83, 85, 89, 92, 95, 102, 108, 109, 114, 118, 119A, 121A, 125, 128, 131, 145B, 157, 176, 177, 193*, 313*, 333, 339, 388, 392, 420, 428, 450, 451, 463, 478, 506, 514, 537, 548, 551, 572, 594, 597, 620, 621, 622, 636, 668, 669, 693, 747, 763, 819, 914, 917, 920, 945, 954, 956, 968, 976, 1003, 1012, 1084, 1098, 1138, 1151, 1158, 1159, 1178, 1179, 1181, 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205, 1209, 1210, 1211, 1212, 1221, 1227, 1236, 1237, 1244, 1247, 5017, 5018, 5019, 5020.