The shepherd loves his sheep. The little lambs
he leads into the fold caressingly.
The older sheep he calls; they follow him.
The straying lamb, caught in entanglements,
he liberates and saves from wolfish claws.
But willful waywardness he must rebuke
in sterner ways—reluctantly, the rod.
The shepherd knows the need of every sheep.
O Shepherd of the flock of Israel,
so precious in Thy sight is every sheep,
no stricken lamb escapes Thy tender care.
The closeness of Thy love appeared when I
was bowed by false responsibility
and needless fear for all my troubled lambs.
Thy call, "The sheep are Mine," awakened me!
Then one by one I placed within Thine arms
each lamb whose burden I thought mine to bear,
and rested trustingly—in Thee.
And now,
as blessed heir of Thine unlabored grace,
I pray my humble duty to perform
according to Thy pattern, Thy good will—
to love Thee, Shepherd, and to love Thy sheep.
