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 36 wrote a setting for four-part choir in English on a French melody, published in his collection "The Whole Booke of Psalmes" in 1621, with the incipit "The wicked with his works unjust". Heinrich Schütz set the psalm in German with the text from the Becker Psalter, "Ich sag's von Grund meins Herzens frei" (I say it freely from the depth of my heart), for choir as his SWV 133. George Garrett set the psalm for the Anglican Church, titled "Psalm 36. Dixit injustus" and the incipit "My heart showeth me the wickedness of the ungodly". Richard Nance set the psalm