Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

LSB #722 "Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 10:27-28; Psalm 23; Psalm 5:8; 121:4-7

John 10:27-28:  "27 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.'"

Psalm 23:  "1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  3 He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

"4 Even 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 overflows.  6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever."

Psalm 5:8:  "Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me."

Psalm 121:4-7:  "4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

"5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.  6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

"7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.  8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."

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The first three cited passages (John 10:27-28, Psalm 23, and Psalm 5:8) appear throughout the first verse and at the ends of the second and third ("For when Your hand is guiding, / In peace I go" and "So take my hand and lead me / Unto the end").

The passage from Psalm 121 appears in the lines "Direct, protect, and feed me / From day to day," specifically the "protect[ing]."  The "feed[ing]" seems to come from Psalm 23:5.

The line "Without Your grace and favor / I go astray" in the first verse may come from the first part of Psalm 119:176 ("I have gone astray like a lost sheep...") or part of Isaiah 53:6 ("All we like sheep have gone astray..."), both of which use the same sheep imagery as Psalm 23 and John 10.

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The line "Close by Your side abiding" in the second verse exhibits internal rhyme, and this provides a sense of the constancy of "abiding."