The Shepherd (Blake) of The Shepherd as Christ is initially found in another Song, The Little Black Boy. Psalm 23 depicts God as a shepherd of mankind, and the capitalization of the word 'Shepherd' in the first and last lines furthers the idea that the Shepherd is a symbol of God. In the bible, a shepherd's presence is representative of guidance. In this poem, the Shepherd can be viewed as the spiritual guide or a savior of the herd, rejoicing in their numbers. Jesus is also referred to in the bible as the Lamb of God. Since the poem depicts The Shepherd as
Psalm 144 Psalm 144 Psalm 144 is the 144th psalm from the Book of Psalms in the Masoretic and modern numbering, corresponding to psalm 143 in the Vulgata Clementina. The text is attributed to David in the Masoretic text. The Septuagint has the additional specification of "David against Goliath", putting the text in the context of the narrative of David's fight against Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. The first verse is rendered in the KJV as "Blessed be the LORD my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight". This translates the Hebrew , where "my strength" renders