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1 Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep,
To Thee for help we fly;
Thy little flock in safety keep,
For O, the wolf is nigh!
2 He comes, of hellish malice full,
To scatter, tear, and slay;
He seizes every struggling soul
As his own lawful prey.
3 Us into Thy protection take,
And gather with Thine arm;
Unless the fold we first forsake,
The wolf can never harm.
4 We laugh to scorn his cruel power
While by our Shepherd's side;
The sheep he never can devour
Unless he first divide.
5 O do not suffer him to part
The souls that here agree;
But make us of one mind and heart,
And keep us one in Thee.
6 Together let us sweetly live,
Together let us die,
And each a starry crown receive,
And reign above the sky.
Amen.
Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #312
First Line: | Jesus, great Shepherd of the sheep |
Title: | Safety in Union |
Author: | Charles Wesley |
Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Jesu, Shepherd of the sheep, Thou Thy flock, &c. W. Hammond. [The Good Shepherd.] First published in his Psalms, Hymns & Sacred Songs, 1745, p. 78, in 11 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "Christ the Shepherd." In 1783 R. Hill gave 8 stanzas in his Psalms & Hymns, as No. 49, beginning:—
"Jesus, Shepherd of the sheep,
Gracious is Thine arm to keep."
This was repeated in later collections. In Cotterill's Psalms & Hymns, 1810-1819, another arrangement from Hammond as:—
“Jesus, Shepherd of the sheep,
owerful is Thine arm to keep."
This is usually confounded with R. Hill's arrangement of Hammond's text. It is, however, a distinct cento.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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