Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 789)
1 Savior, like a shepherd lead us;
Much we need your tender care.
In your pleasant pastures feed us,
For our use your fold prepare.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
You have bought us; we are yours.
2 We are yours; in love befriend us,
Be the guardian of our way;
Keep your flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Hear us children when we pray.
3 You have promised to receive us,
Poor and sinful though we be;
You have mercy to relieve us,
Grace to cleanse, and pow’r to free.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Early let us turn to you.
4 Early let us seek your favor,
Early let us do your will;
Blessed Lord and only Savior,
With your love our spirits fill.
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
You have loved us, loved us still.
Text: Dorothy A. Thrupp; Music: William B. Bradbury; Public Domain
Devotion
Stanzas three and four are a beautiful affirmative prayer based on the author’s faith in the promises of Jesus. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus promises: “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus clarifies the mystery of the kingdom. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). But some Christians believe the kingdom is only in the life to come. The kingdom comes through our surrender to God and the transformation of our hearts and minds. We don’t have to wait until after we are dead to experience the kingdom of God: “For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:20-21).
This hymn reminds us that we will know the blessings of the kingdom “on earth as it is in heaven” if in Jesus’ we “do God’s will” and are receptive to how “Jesus has loved us, and loves us still.”
Prayer
Lord, we are grateful for the promise of the blessings of the kingdom. May we truly love God, and our neighbor as ourselves, so we experience the abundance of the kingdom on earth as in heaven. In Jesus’ name. Amen.