Shepherd Boy

Chris Tomlin's “Shepherd Boy” is a worship song told from the viewpoint of someone who feels small. The first line admits he is no hero of the faith and not as strong as he once thought. He is just a shepherd boy, singing to a choir of burning lights, a picture of the night sky above a field.

The chorus turns the humble image into a mission. He is just singing over you, and he invites listeners to come and lay their troubles down, because love is breaking through. The song says he was born to lift a song of hope and to see the heavens open up. A bridge uses the imagery of the young man facing a giant, with a plea to take the armor lest he die and take the crown so he can fly. The singer then moves from “I” to “we,” saying that we are just singing out to you, that our hearts are yours forever and that your love is breaking through. The last line describes love as a fire. The song is simple and builds slowly, which gives a congregation room to join. It fits a night of worship, a time of prayer for people who feel overlooked, or a Christmas season set since shepherds also appear in the nativity story. The message is that God works through ordinary people, and their praise does not need to be impressive to matter.

The youngest son tending sheep is in 1 Samuel 16:11. David facing the giant is 1 Samuel 17:45, and the Lord as shepherd is Psalm 23:1.