Tag: All We Like Sheep

Isaiah 53:6

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

I am privileged to be learning Handel’s Messiah with a group of really wonderful folks in my small town, readying ourselves for our twice yearly performances.   The “All We Like Sheep”  chorus is one of the most challenging of all, simply because the melody lines intertwine in seemingly random fashion, as if our choir were sixty some individual sheep running amok, each in a different direction.    Sheep are skilled  at ignoring boundaries, running over anything in their way, doubling back and retracing their steps and giving in to whim rather than doing what is right and orderly.

It is brilliantly organized musical chaos, as only Handel can create, until the final Adagio, like a shepherd of sorts,  brings all the voices together in one powerful final lament:  the Lord lifts from us the burden of our depravity and takes it upon Himself in the ultimate sacrifice.  We are absolved, sheared of our heavy burden, though unworthy as only a herd of dumb sheep can be.

We are sheep in desperate need of a Shepherd who knows what it is to be the Paschal Lamb.   Worthy is that Lamb.