This hymn was the collaboration of two well-known gospel music writers, John W. Peterson and Alfred B. Smith. In 1958, the two men collaborated to write a song based on Psalm 23.
Smith later recalled, “It was written after receiving a
letter from a country schoolteacher who was teaching her class the 23rd Psalm.
When the part ‘surely goodness and mercy’ was reached, a young boy thought it
said, ‘surely good Miss Murphy shall follow me all the days of my life.’ This
little incident focused our thoughts on the phrase which became the heart and
title of the song.”
According to Peterson, “One day while improvising at the
piano in my Montrose, PA studio, Alfred B. Smith, with whom I was associated at
the time, walked in. For no particular reason that I can remember, we started
to develop a new song. I would come up with a thought, then Al. In a short time
‘Surely Goodness and Mercy’ was born. I had never worked with another writer in
such a manner to compose a song. Later Al and I wrote two or three other
numbers like that.”
John Willard Petersen was born in Lindsborg, Kansas in 1921,
into a musical Swedish family. During WWII, he served in the Air Force as a
pilot, flying the notorious "China Hump" route over the Himalayas.
Following the war, he received his musical training at the Moody
Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music. He has since received
honorary doctorate degrees from the Western Conservative Baptist Seminary and
from John Brown University.
Alfred Barney Smith was born in 1916 in a small Holland
Dutch community in northern New Jersey. Smiths’ early years were filled with
loving care from a father and mother who loved the Lord. His mother was a
stay-at-home mother who was able to spend her time encouraging and teaching her
son in the three “R’s,” reading, writing, and arithmetic, to which she added
the fourth "R," religion.
At an early age Smith learned the stories of David and Goliath,
Daniel in the Lion’s Den, Noah and the Ark and best of all the story of Jesus.
Though his mother had never received any extensive musical training she did
love to sing. The first song she taught young Smith was “Jesus loves me this I
know, for the Bible tells me so.”
Music would be one of the most important ingredients in his
childhood home. A Symphonic model phonograph manufactured by Thomas Alva Edison
was purchased. With the phonograph came twenty-five records chosen by the
company. At the time, little did the young parents realize how much the
included records would affect the future of their young son.
When Smith was eight and a half years of age his mother
began to see that her son was developing an interest in the violin. He began
taking lessons on the violin and made great progress. Soon he was performing in
concerts in various parts of the east including solos with various symphony
orchestras.
At fourteen he was invited to a tent meeting in Hawthorne,
New Jersey, where he accepted Christ as Savior. He was thrilled upon hearing
the one hundred and fifty people in the tent singing “Saved, Saved, Saved” and
“One Day.” That day he fell in love with Gospel music It was a love that never
left him.
Smith graduated from Moody Bible Institute and attended The
Philadelphia School of the Bible. He was offered a scholarship to Wheaton
College. He became acquainted with Billy Graham and worked with him, Graham preaching,
and Smith coordinating the music. He participated in the ministries of Singspiration
and Youth for Christ.
Smith married Nancy Wilbur and they raised four children. In
his later years he battled cancer. Despite this he continued to travel and
minister in song and story to countless numbers, his last concert was to an
audience of over 2000 people.
Studylight.org, Clarke’s Commentary: Our Lord had called Himself the Door of the sheep, as being the sole way to glory, and entrance into eternal life; here He changes the thought, and calls Himself the Good Shepherd, because of what He was to do for them that believe in Him, in order to prepare them for eternal glory.
Studylight.org, Clarke’s Commentary: Because Thou art merciful; because Thou hast shown mercy to all who have truly turned to Thee and believed in Thee; everyone who fears Thee, and hears of this, shall pray unto Thee in an acceptable time, when Thou mayest be found; in the time of finding. When the heart is softened and the conscience alarmed, that is a time of finding.
Studylight.org, Gill’s Exposition of the Whole Bible: The psalmist desires the Lord would lead him in the way of truth and paths of righteousness, according to His Word; and guide him with His counsel, and by His Spirit, that so he might walk in the way in which he should go; and this he entreats he would do “for His name’s sake” not for any merit or worthiness in him; but for the glory of His own name, and for the honor of His free grace and mercy, for which the Lord often does many things; He defers His anger, He purges away the sins of His people, He forgives their transgressions, and remembers their sins no more, for His name’s sale.
BlueletterBible.org, David Guzik: The heart for God’s house provided wisdom and strength for the life lived away from God’s house. A difficult place (such as the Valley of Baca) was transformed into a spring, complete with rain and pools of water.
Studylight.org, Contending for the Faith: Obeying the above traits [unity of faith, encourager, one mind, peace] will ensure that God, our Creator of love and peace, will always be with us.
Studylight.org, Dr Constable’s Expository Notes: Jesus continued to use the meal in the Pharisee’s house to teach about the messianic banquet and the kingdom to come. He had taught the importance of humbling oneself to participate and had justified that requirement. Now He invited His hearers to humble themselves so they could participate and warned those who rejected His invitation of their fate.
Enduringword.com, David Guzik: Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God! The man spoke of the goodness and blessedness of the great banquet with the Messiah that was spoken of many times in the Old Testament and is known in the New Testament as the marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!
BlueletterBible.org: David Guzik: We should go into the house of the LORD. It is good and important for us to gather with God’s people for prayers, worship, and receiving of God’s Word. The gathering should be formal and ordered enough so that it is regarded as a gathering of God’s house — not everyone doing their own thing, but God’s people coming together for His glory and their benefit in His house.
Studylight.org, Bridgeway Bible Commentary: God’s rule has been clearly demonstrated in the destruction of the anti-Christian world system and the triumph of his persecuted people. That triumph is now pictured in a heavenly wedding feast in which the redeemed are seen as the bride of Christ. They are clothed in pure white to indicate their heavenly purity. The symbolism then changes. The redeemed, though pictured collectively as a bride, are pictured individually as those invited to share the wedding feast with Christ. John, overcome by the vision, is tempted to worship the angel who explained it to him. He is reminded that Jesus, not the angel, is the source of all these revelations.
We are reminded through this hymn that just as David, we are
all pilgrims through the journey of life. Charles Spurgeon wrote “The sweetest
word of the whole is that monosyllable ‘my.’ If He is a Shepherd to no one
else, He is a Shepherd to me. He cares for me, watches over me, and preserves
me. The words are in the present tense. Whatever the believer’s position, he is
even now under the pastoral care of Jehovah.”
