Wednesday Prayer

My Shepherd will supply my need,

Jehovah is his name;

In pastures fresh he makes me feed

Beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back,

When I forsake his ways;
And leads me for his mercy’s sake,

In paths of truth and grace.

When I walk thro’ the shades of death,

Thy presence is my stay;

A word of thy supporting breath

Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in spite of all my foes,

Doth still my table spread;

My cup with blesgs overflows,

Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God

Attend me all my days;

O may thy house be mine abode,

And all my work be praise!
There would I find a settled rest,

(While others go and come)

No more a stranger or a guest,

But like a child at home.

~Issac Watts parphrase of Psalm 23.

For Julia Spencer-Fleming readers: found at the beginning of her new novel, I Shall Not Want.

Two other Isaac Watts versions here.

The George Herbert version (1633) is here.