Monday, April 12, 2021

Quote of the Week

In my doctoral research on 18th-century hymnography, I came across this set of lines from Philip Doddridge, a pastor and hymn-writer. I got a kick out of it, because we interpret the words he uses differently than he intended: where he speaks of God raising up "inferior pastors," what he means is something like "under-shepherds" of the great Shepherd, but it sounds to us like he's talking about substandard pastors (of which we've probably all known a few, God bless them, and which I myself often feel like).

Shepherd of Israel, Thou dost keep
With constant care Thy humble sheep;
By Thee inferior pastors rise
To feed our souls and bless our eyes.

- Philip Doddridge, from his hymn "Shepherd of Israel"