From Elder Thurber:
O SHEPHERD DIVINE
"And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock and one Shepherd." John 10:16
Herbert Work Herbert work
1. O Shepherd divine, I know Thou art mine;
Thy search in the night was for me.
This bleak world is cold, but warm is Thy fold;
My shepherd I follow Thee.
Thy beautiful lamp shineth bright o'er my way,
Thy glorious light unto Thy perfect day.
Thro' pastures serene, Thro' valleys of green My Shepherd will follow Thee.
2. O Shepherd divine I know Thou art mine;
Thy great heart was broken for me.
Thy grace and Thy law I picture in awe;
They kissed upon Calvary.
Ah! Life that was given to ransom my soul,
Ah! Heart that was broken to make sinners whole,
This world is but loss In view of the cross, My shepherd, I follow Thee.
3. O Shepherd divine I know Thou art mine;
I hear Thee say, "Follow thou Me."
Thy message today Illumines my way;
The Spirit of prophecy.
I thrill at Thy marvelous love to Thy sheep,
The way Thou dost lead to the still waters deep,
One staff and one rod, One fold and one God, My Shepherd I follow Thee.
Herbert Work wrote this Hymn while sitting on a large rock in the woods behind St. Helena Hospital, California. He always thought he had a marvelous Shepherd to write about. In 1932 he read "The Marked Bible" and "The Bible Made Plain" While in Philadelphia he searched and found the Seventh-Day Adventist Conference Office. He said to the girl at the desk, "Are you a Seventh-Day Adventist"? "Yes." He said, "Well, I have 32 questions to ask you, and if you answer them to my satisfaction I"ll join your church." Flustered, she said. "O, if you'll wait 15 minutes, my Dad will be back." But Work asked, "You are an Adventist, aren't you?" "Well yes, I am." she said. "Then you can answer what I want to know," Seventeen year-old Dorothy Vandeman (later Lemon) answered all the questions to his satisfaction. Work was baptized into the S. D. A. church in June 1933. His long and much appreciated career of teaching music in many places, including, P.U.C.- S.W.U.C.- proved a real blessing to our youth. Modesto Academy was where he served the longest. In 1954 he published a booklet, of 16 Sanctuary Songs. His largest work, the cantata "Abel", he work with Ella Robinson the eldest granddaughter of E. G. White. She wrote the lyrics based on Scripture. He was born (1904 died 1982).
S.D.A. Hymnal No. 192 - John Thurber 2012