The King of Love My Shepherd Is (LSB 709)
Easter 3 (1 year)
The hymn of the day for Good Shepherd Sunday is a hymn on a hymn! When Jesus sang hymns with his disciples, they would have been singing from their hymnal, the Psalms—Psalm 23 included. Since this hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 23, Christians have been singing these words for more than three thousand years!
King David wrote Psalm 23, perhaps the most beloved of all the Psalms. Our hymn pictures Jesus as the answer to David’s hymn. It shows Jesus loving us; Jesus leading us to good water; Jesus shepherding us when we go astray; Jesus walking through the valley of the shadow of death with and for us; Jesus feeding us a meal in the wilderness of this life; and Jesus bringing us to eternal life.
Its place in the middle of the Easter season shows the Good Shepherd rounding up his scattered church after his resurrection. One will call to mind Jesus shepherding the disciples on the road to Emmaus, bringing the Apostles and particularly Thomas back to the fold, opening Mary’s tear filled eyes to see that he is the Risen One, curing Peter’s broken conscience and restoring him, appearing to his brother James and many others as the Shepherd who loves them. Even now he gathers the scattered through the preaching of the Word and restores the lost into the fold through the great “peace be to you,” of the absolution.
With High Delight Let Us Unite (LSB 483)
Easter 3 (3 year)
The hymn of the day for Jubilate (Show great happiness, rejoice) Sunday is indeed filled with joy and makes the heart happy to sing. The tune by Martin Frazmann matches the text written by the Moravian Georg Vetter, which was written some fifty or so years after the Reformation. Its confession of faith proves a zeal for evangelism is not unique to our age. Rather happiness in the task is especially seen in those followers who came after Jon Hus. The hymn shows the great importance the Moravians held in having both pastors and people joining together in proclaiming the resurrection of Christ. The hymn embodies this even in its opening phrase, “With high delight let us unite in songs of great jubilation.”
Primarily a commentary on the words of Mark 16:15, “And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.” Our hymn contains phrases such as: “To all earth’s ends,” “every nation, every land,” and again “every nation.” Whatever suffering and hardships comes to the followers of Jesus, “With high delight” impresses on the hearts and minds of all who sing it that the Gospel grants our work to be a task in which we can continually rejoice, “letting praising ring, giving thanks” as we sing forth Christ’s “victory” and “death’s undoing.”
Rev. Adrian N. Sherrill serves Trinity Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado.