And let's not forget music. Yeah, I'm back on that again. The enduring songs are the good ones. And those Christian pieces that will last for eternity started there, and came to us via the songbook to end all songbooks, commonly called the Book of Psalms.

David wrote at least half of them. Old King Saul, the daughters of Jerusalem, the sheep on a Bethlehem pasture, they all loved David's tunes. Like his most famous, Psalm 23. Do you have any idea how many times that poem has been plagiarized? In a good sense, of course.

I was trying to think of all the songs that have come from Psalm 23, without checking an index somewhere. I mean if I check an index, there's no room for all the songs in this blog. I'm pushin' things as it is. But take a gander at the precious creations, based on the original, which I will place at the end. Enjoy. Take a praise break.

Isaac Watts, 1719:

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 through the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay;
One word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.

The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.

Early 1800's, James Montgomery:

The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe-folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wandering, redeems when oppressed.

Through the valley and shadow of death tho' I stray,
Since thou art my Guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall with my Comforter near.

In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o'er;
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of thy providence more?

Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God,
Still follow my steps till I meet thee above:
I seek by the path which my forefathers trod,
Thro' the land of their sojourn, Thy kingdom of love.

From the Scottish Psalter of 1650:

The Lord's my shepherd, I'll not want;
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; he leadeth me
The quiet waters by.

My soul he doth restore again,
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
E'en for his own name's sake.

Yea, though I walk in death's dark vale,
Yet will I fear no ill:
For thou art with me, and thy rod
And staff me comfort still.

My table thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head thou dost with oil anoint
And my cup overflows.

Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God's house for evermore
My dwelling-place shall be.

Henry Baker, 1868:

The King of love my shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am his
And he is mine forever.

Where streams of living water flow,
My ransomed soul he leadeth
And, where the verdant pastures grow,
With food celestial feedeth.

Perverse and foolish oft I strayed,
But yet in love he sought me
And on his shoulder gently laid
And home rejoicing brought me.

In death's dark vale I fear no ill
With thee, dear Lord, beside me,
Thy rod and staff my comfort still,
Thy cross before to guide me.

Thou spreadst a table in my sight;
Thine unction grace bestoweth;
And, oh, what transport of delight
From thy pure chalice floweth!

And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never.
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house forever.

Then there's this much more modern one, sung my Macrae/Stafford on their "Whispering Hope" album...

The Lord is my shepherd, and though I often stray, His goodness and mercy are always with me every day... Though my way seems dark and drear, and there is none to love, I'm safe within my Shepherd's care, where love comes from above... In shady pastures green and fair, he bids me come and rest... My heart is filled with happiness, He grants my each request... The Lord is my shepherd, as on through life I go, He'll never forsake me, for he loves me, this I know.

And, David's ancient lines, translated from the Hebrew into the King James version of the Bible: