Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us -- Dorothy A. Thrupp

She loved children, and wanted to steer them toward the One who loves them most of all. That, in a nutshell, might have summed up Dorothy Ann Thrupp’s life story, particularly in 1836 when she wrote the words for “Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us”. Despite this objective, she must have had a humility that belied her passion for this life-mission. Perhaps she was merely identifying with the children for whom she cared so much, adopting a meekness befitting a juvenile who is admonished to maintain a low profile in an adult-controlled world. Look at how she modeled this attitude in what we know of her.

Dorothy Thrupp was a lifelong Londoner who spent her musical life thinking about children, and it showed in her words and actions. This 57-year old woman produced compositions that were published in three different collections for the young. It’s notable that her output was in the decade of the 1830s and later, well past the halfway point of her life. Her life up until age 50 must have been well-spent, but little is written of that period. Since she apparently had a soft spot in her heart for children, perhaps she had raised some of her own, although that fact is not included in her biography. We don’t know if she was married, even. But, her few hymns and their inclusion in children’s song collections give us a window into her character, and how she promoted – or rather, did not promote – herself in these songs. A pseudonym or only her initials are associated with many of her compositions, apparently her method to conceal her identity. She was ‘Iota’, and ‘DAT’, telling us she thought of herself as but a speck, no better than the dot on the ‘I’ or at most three letters of the alphabet. But, she knew who valued her, and to whom the youngsters could look for their well-being. By the age of 57, she must have already spent a lot of time thinking about and caring for the younger generation. As she neared the final decade of her life, she knew what she wanted to say, or perhaps it’s truer that she’d already been saying and doing a lot of what would only become more apparent in her published works in the 1830s and beyond. She didn’t need to explicitly associate her signature with her works to achieve her goal. Maybe, in fact, being more anonymous actually helped her achieve the goal she sought.

“Savior Like a Shepherd…” has clues in it that guide us toward Dorothy’s purpose, if only in a few of its words. Invoking the image of a shepherd invites the worshipper to think of himself as a sheep, a childlike identity. Indeed, what children are frightened by sheep? Verses three and four encourage the hearer to devote oneself to Him ‘early’ (in life), no doubt what any believing adult, particularly one with offspring, would wish for his or her progeny. Adults, naturally, can also sing Dorothy’s words. None of us really stop being children to God. And, He doesn’t ever stop treating us as family. Don’t throw aside Dorothy Thrupp’s words. You cannot outlive them.

See more information on the song discussed above in Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990. Also, see The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006. 

To see all four of the original verses, and the composer’s brief biography, see here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/l/a/slaslus.htm

More extensive biography here: http://www.hymnary.org/person/Thrupp_DA