Editor’s note: “The Spoken Word” is shared by Lloyd Newell each Sunday during the weekly Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square broadcast. This was recorded in Wales in June 2022. It will be given Sunday, May 7, 2023.
Three times as many sheep as people live here in the beautiful country of Wales! (see “Sheep now outnumber people three to one in Wales,” Independent, Dec. 19, 2016, independent.co.uk). Sheep are simply part of the landscape. Most every day, on the hillsides and along the roads, sheep follow their shepherds, a few of them wandering astray perhaps, but all of them — hopefully — finding their way back to the fold. Gazing at the Welsh countryside, you can’t help but ponder on the symbolism of sheep, green pastures and the Good Shepherd.
It would be wonderful if life were always as green and nourishing as these pastures. Unfortunately, our journey takes us through barren deserts and cold winters. As the scriptures correctly observe, “all we like sheep have gone astray” (see Isaiah 53:6). But it’s also true that all we, like sheep, have a shepherd. With His gentle, familiar voice, (see John 10:27) the Good Shepherd leads us “beside the still waters” (Psalm 23:2).
The words of the great English poet William Blake seem to fit perfectly in this beautiful setting:
Little lamb, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee,
Gave thee life and bid thee feed
By the stream and o’er the mead;
Gave thee clothing of delight,
Softest clothing, woolly, bright;
Gave thee such a tender voice
Making all the vales rejoice?
(See “The Lamb,” in “Songs of Innocence and Experience,” by by William Blake, published in 1866.)
And when we do wander off, the Good Shepherd comes to our rescue, for He cares as much about the one who strays as He does about the 90 and nine who stay. He never gives up on us. And when we are found, He carries us to safety, rejoicing in our recovery and welcoming us back to the fold (see Luke 15:3-7). What does He ask in return for such goodness and grace? He invites us to feed His sheep (see John 21:16), to help others find their way home too (see Hebrews 12:12).
What makes this invitation even more meaningful is the fact that our Good Shepherd is also the Lamb of God. He knows the way to peace and safety because He has walked, as we must, “through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4) and emerged victorious. He knows what it’s like to be a lamb like us.
William Blake’s poem says it this way:
Little lamb, who made thee? …
Little lamb I’ll tell thee.
He is called by thy name,
For He calls himself a Lamb.
Tuning in …
The “Music & the Spoken Word” broadcast is available on KSL-TV, KSL Radio 1160AM/102.7FM, KSL.com, BYUtv, BYUradio, Dish and DirectTV, SiriusXM Radio (Ch. 143), the tabernaclechoir.org, youtube.com/TheTabernacleChoir and Amazon Alexa (must enable skill). The program is aired live on Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on many of these outlets. Look up broadcast information by state and city at musicandthespokenword.com/viewers-listeners/airing-schedules.
