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 110 the Temple in Jerusalem, the Levites would be saying that "the Lord spoke to my master"—i.e. to David. . However, the King James Version and many subsequent Christian translations capitalize the second word "Lord", intending that it refers to Jesus. As the is speaking to another Lord, Henry postulates that "two distinct divine Persons…are involved"—namely, God and Jesus. Henry further claims that in this psalm, David is acknowledging Christ's sovereignty and his (David's) subservience to him. Jesus himself quoted this verse during his trial before the Sanhedrin (), referring to himself, and states that this verse was fulfilled in the