By NICK VILLALOBOS, Editor in Chief
The alarm goes off and the sun is yet to break out over the horizon.
As I lay there on my bed trying to hold my eyes open after turning the alarm off, I slip my headphones on and begin to play the song, “Shepherd” by Crowder.
The reason I choose this song each morning is because I find it to be not only a pretty powerful praise to the good Lord above, but great motivation to start the day with.
The song is based heavily out of Psalm 23, which is not necessarily the chapter that comes to us during the brightest of times, meaning it’s usually the one that is spoken at most funerals.
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“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell[a] in the house of the Lord
Forever.”
When it comes to this particular chapter, it’s not necessarily the chapter that comes to us during the brightest of times, meaning it’s usually the one that is spoken at most funerals.
It’s unfortunate that the chapter usually only makes an appearance during those because in all reality it’s one of the most beautiful chapters I’ve ever read, but that’s just the way people perceive it.
In this little article I want to share with you a couple of my favorite parts in the song, “Shepherd” and then the reason why they are my favorite.
Instead of looking at the full song, I am really only going to use the song’s opening verse, which reads,
“The Lord my portion I shall not want
The Lord my comfort
I shall not fear
Yea, though I walk through the valley low
Yeah, though the path gets steep
Surely goodness will follow me
Every promise will be light to my feet
When my heart is prone to wandering
Jesus You shepherd me.”
The first piece of this song that I find absolutely awesome is the word shepherd.
When we think of a shepherd, even if it isn’t in Bible terms, we think of someone who stands a little ways off to watch over a herd of sheep with the little shepherd’s cane.
In this song, however, Crowder and his co-writers does something absolutely phenomenal in that they take that word shepherd from its regular noun form that we are used to seeing it in and switch it to a verb form, making it seem like Christ is right there with us keeping watch over us instead of looking from afar.
Lastly, in the “surely goodness will follow me” part of the song, is where we find my next area of favoritism.
The reason I find that piece of the song to be my favorite is because you can look at it in one of two ways; either in a way that puts it as a declaration, or in the flipside which puts it as a plea.
What I mean by the declaration part is that there is always that really confident Christian that is certain that goodness, and mercy to add that portion of the chapter in there as well, will follow them no matter what circumstance he or she finds themselves in.
Then on the flipside, what I mean by the plea part is that while there is always that confident Christian there is always that Christian who is at their weakest point in their walk of faith. They find themselves on their knees, spiritually and physically just worn out, and they doubtingly say, “surely goodness [and mercy] will follow me.”
To borrow a line from Hank Bentley, one of the songs cowriters, for me, that portion of the song is “as much of a declaration as it is a plea,” and that’s speaking out of my own personal experience in both of those situations.
So, to wrap this up, “Shepherd” by Crowder is a powerful and great way to start your day each and every morning. If you have not listened to the song, I encourage you to do so.