Thumbing through the August 2015 edition of the Ensign magazine I stumbled onto this simplified rendition of a very special hymn. As a recently returned missionary I attended Ricks College in Rexburg Idaho in the fall of 1996. While on my mission I had discovered the power of music and made a commitment that I would audition for one of the choirs at school. By some miracle I ended up in the Collegiate Singers (an elite 40-voice chamber choir) under the direction of Dr. Kevin Brower. I had never been in an organized choir before and I felt like my audition was not very impressive, but somehow I was invited to be a part of this very talented group.
Early in the semester we went on a weekend retreat to a Ricks College camp not far from the Grand Tetons. Here we bonded as a group and had a chance to learn some of the music that we would be singing. This song was among the first. I still remember standing in that main cabin in that rehearsal and coming to understand the message of this hymn for the first time. I was overcome with emotion as we sang and felt renewed in my testimony that the Savior of the world is my shepherd.
The arrangement by Mac Wilberg has a beautiful flute descant that makes this music a little piece of heaven. Words fail to describe the feeling I have in my mind and in my heart as I contemplate the meaning of these words and the reality of their realization.
If I'm not mistaken this beautiful song was sung at the funeral of President Gordon B Hinckley. And if I may be so presumptuous, it is a song that I would like sung at my own funeral.
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