The image of The Good Shepherd has spurred many a composition. Next to Christmas and Easter music, I think a close second, in terms of output, are the compositions that are centered around the words of the 23^rd Psalm. Who doesn’t love this Psalm, or the images it evokes? All of thematic elements of God, as the gentle shepherd, are gently embedded in the musical nuance of today’s music.  

The prelude, from one of Bach’s cantatas called Schafe können sicher weiden, is an organ arrangement of a movement originally composed for orchestra and soprano solo. If you listen carefully to the pedal line, you may notice a steady, repeated, thumping-like figure that gets going at the onset and continues throughout. It almost sounds like a heartbeat, but I think Bach was trying to represent a gentle, nudging figure. Actually, I think it represents one of the ways that God “speaks” to us. When we listen for God’s call to us, we can sense a gentle, unrelenting persistence that echoes repeatedly in the depths of our being. This persistent resonance allows us to know where we are to go, what we are to do, and with whom we are to form relationships. The undulating accompaniment figure caresses and corrects the wayward melody played with the left hand. Just like God often corrects our own miscalculations and missteps our own life’s journey. Bach wrote the music in ways that always invite the listener back to the rightness of the intuitive pathway, through its persistent patterns and corrective melodic gestures. It’s amazing how you can actually “hear” God’s shepherd-like guidance pulsing, moving, and nudging you home to safety.

The offertory anthem does many of the same things as the prelude, but with the use of lyricism and melody. The sopranos introduce the melody to us at the onset. What a tender way of introducing the gentle nature of this tune! It’s very much like how God introduces us to new impulses, desires, solutions, ideas, and hunches. It’s usually gentle, in the still small voice – yet profound and very compelling. The melodic structure of this anthem peaks and valleys in the way life’s journeys are echoed in the text of the 23^rd Psalm. The entire path may not always be clear, but the next step always is!

God leads and guides us that very way – one step at a time. And when we stray like sheep, this music reminds us of the gentle, undulating and loving correction of God’s stillness. Many composers have set these words to music, probably because we’ve all been lost like stray sheep at various points in life. But God never leaves us to fend for ourselves. He always welcomes us back, no matter how far off the path we’ve travelled. Music like this gives us something to hold onto. It gives us meaning in our lives, and it allows us to hear the gentle voice of a God, who doesn’t often use words to speak to us. Listen carefully to what’s being communicated in this music, not just in the words themselves, but in the musical figures. These gentle rhythms and melodies can always remind us of God’s unwavering presence, right here and right now. Soli deo Gloria!