My Shepherd Is the Lord My God

My Shepherd is the Lord my God;
What can I want beside?
He leads me where green pastures are,
And where cool waters hide.

He will refresh my soul again,
When I am faint and sore,
And guide my step for His Name’s sake,
In right paths evermore.

Though I should walk the vale of death,
I should not know a fear.
Thy rod and staff they comfort me:
Thou, Lord, art ever near.

A table Thou hast spread for me
In presence of my foes;
Thou dost anoint my head with oil,
My cup, Lord, overflows.

Thy goodness and Thy mercy, Lord,
Will surely follow me,
And in Thy house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be.

Author: Unknown

This is a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 23 in common meter (CM). No specific author is credited in common sources; it appears in various 19th- and early 20th-century hymnals and psalters as an anonymous or traditional rendering. It is distinct from the well-known versions by Isaac Watts, Henry W. Baker, or the Scottish Psalter.