Hymn of the Week: July 18
by David Sinden,
Organist and Director of Music
St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Ladue
Proper 11B - July 18, 2021
Hymn 343: "Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless"
In the introduction to his The Christian Psalmist, James Montgomery writes:
"[a hymn] should have a distinct subject, and that subject should be simple, not complicated so that whatever skill or labour might be required in the author to develope [sic] his plan, there should be little or none required on the part of the reader to understand it. Consequently, a hymn must have a beginning, middle, and end. There should be a manifest gradation in the thoughts, and their mutual dependence should be so perceptible, that they could not be transposed without injuring the unity of the piece; every line carrying forward the connection, and every verse adding a well-proportioned limb to a symmetrical body."
Based on Montgomery's theory of hymn writing, one presumes he would have been satisfied with the beginning, middle, and especially the end of Hymn 343: "Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless."
The sentiment of this hymn brings to mind the familiar line from Eucharistic Prayer C: "Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal."
Despite the ascription given in the Hymnal 1982, the first two stanzas of the hymn are not by Montgomery; they are anonymous. These first two stanzas were first published in A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the Protestant Church of the United Brethren, Philadelphia in 1832. The unknown author or authors of these stanzas were likely Moravian. (All the hymns in this particular hymnal are anonymous.)
The final two stanzas, however, are the work of James Montgomery. They were first published in The Christian Psalmist as a hymn of only two stanzas under the title "The Family Table."
This composite hymn first appeared in Episcopal Church with the 1874 revision of the hymnal, paired with the hymn tune St. Agnes. John Bacchus Dykes composed this tune for the hymn "Jesus the very thought of thee."
Here is a recording of the hymn sung at Trinity, Wall Street, New York:
Shepherd of souls, refresh and bless
thy chosen pilgrim flock
with manna in the wilderness,
with water from the rock.
We would not live by bread alone,
but by thy word of grace,
in strength of which we travel on
to our abiding-place.
Be known to us in breaking bread,
and do not then depart;
Savior, abide with us, and spread
thy table in our heart.
Lord, sup with us in love divine
thy Body and thy Blood,
that living bread, that heavenly wine,
be our immortal food.
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