I’ve shared before that I struggle with anxiety. Like many, it’s been a constant part of my life, and when I don’t handle it well, it can severely hinder my growth.

Picture yourself on a small boat, waves swelling around you, wind tearing at the sails. Fear creeps in—until suddenly, the storm stills. The quiet after the chaos is unforgettable. I’ve felt something like that after long, exhausting weeks on the road for work—when the meetings are finally over, the airports fade behind me, and I step back into the quiet of home. In that stillness, I’m reminded how the Savior calms not just seas, but hearts.

There’s a line from today’s hymn that captures that feeling perfectly:

“Because He calmed the storm, I’m not afraid.”

This line from Shawna Edwards’s hymn Because reminds us that even though storms still rise in our lives, we are not alone. The One who spoke peace to the sea speaks peace to us.

When Shawna Edwards returned to college at age forty-five to finish her music degree, she didn’t expect her first songwriting assignment to produce a hymn that would reach so many. But when asked to write a song on any subject, her choice was immediate and clear: she wanted to write about Jesus Christ. The result was Because—a hymn that testifies of the blessings that flow from the Savior’s life, His atoning sacrifice, and His love.

https://youtu.be/fsCnuFCEgD4?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss

Shawna Belt Edwards is a Christian songwriter whose music has become beloved across the Latter-day Saint community and beyond. A wife, mother, and grandmother from Orem, Utah, she returned to Brigham Young University in her mid-forties to complete a degree in Commercial Music, graduating in 2009.

Her hymns and gospel songs—including Because—have reached millions worldwide. Her YouTube channel, Shawna Edwards Music, features lyric videos and performances that together have earned more than 60 million views. With a strong following online and thousands of monthly listeners on streaming platforms, her songs are sung in churches, schools, and homes across the globe.

Edwards describes herself simply as a disciple of Jesus Christ. She writes music to share her faith and to help others feel closer to Him. Whether through Easter anthems, Christmas carols, or hymns of gratitude, her work consistently points to the Savior as the source of hope, love, and life.

The verses of Because came to Edwards quickly. Each one draws a parallel between something the Savior did and the comfort or guidance we receive in our lives:

The chorus becomes an expression of everlasting gratitude: He gave us “ev’rything He had to give.” Yet when it came time to close the song, Edwards found herself struggling. How could she summarize the all-encompassing blessings that come through Jesus Christ?

The solution was found in the simplest of phrases:

“I breathe, I see, I hope, I love, I live.”

Because He walked the path, I know the way.

Because He calmed the storm, I’m not afraid.

Because He made the lame to walk and caused the blind to see

And blessed the children one by one, I feel His love for me.

And I will praise forever

The Savior of the world,

And I will sing together

With all the Saints on earth.

Because He gave to me ev’rything

He had to give,

I breathe, I see, I hope, I love, I live.

2.

Because He died for me, I’ll live again.

Because He is my Friend, I’ll follow Him.

Because He fills the world with light, I’m filled with hope and peace.

And when He comes to earth again, I’ll kneel before His feet.

And I will praise forever

The Savior of the world,

And I will sing together

With all the Saints on earth.

Because He gave to me ev’rything

He had to give,

I breathe, I see, I hope, I love, I live.

At its core, Because is a hymn of testimony. It proclaims that our strength, our hope, and even the most ordinary aspects of life are gifts that come because of Him.

Three principles are highlighted alongside the hymn:

The structure of the hymn reinforces these truths. Each verse begins with “Because,” reminding us that everything we are and everything we have ties back to the Savior’s acts of love.

While the music is not analyzed in technical terms in the provided account, the literary qualities of the text stand out. The repetition of “Because” sets a rhythm that feels like testimony bearing. The progression from specific scriptural events—walking the path, calming the storm—to the elemental blessings of life itself creates a sweeping movement from story to eternity.

The hymn ends with a striking simplicity: not abstract doctrine, but the physical and emotional realities of being alive. Breath, sight, hope, love, life—every gift is traced to Him.

The message of Because resonates deeply with scripture:

These passages reflect the same conviction Edwards captured in her song: every blessing in mortality and eternity comes because of Jesus Christ.

What makes Because powerful is not just its origin story but its application in daily life. The hymn encourages us to connect our everyday experiences—walking, breathing, hoping, loving—with the Savior’s sustaining presence.

It also points outward. If our faith and love are grounded in Him, then discipleship means helping others to learn of Jesus Christ. Sharing His love, much like sharing a song, becomes a natural expression of gratitude.

“Because He walked the path, I know the way.”

That line invites us to consider our own path and how we might walk it more faithfully by following Him.

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Hear Hymn – The Lord’s My Shepherd

As I write, my heart is with my own family. My sister-in-law and my brother are grieving the loss of her sister, who passed away just yesterday. Their sorrow is fresh, and I find myself turning again to words that have comforted countless mourners across the centuries.

If there is a single scripture that seems to appear in nearly every film or television scene of a funeral, it is Psalm 23. The moment is almost familiar: mourners gathered, heads bowed, and the words spoken in the timeless cadence of the King James Bible.

It has become almost a cultural shorthand for grief, but rightly so. Psalm 23 may be one of the most read and recited passages in all of scripture. It speaks to the living as well as the dying, offering assurance of God’s presence in every valley.

Here it is in full, from the King James Version:

Psalm 23 (KJV)

These verses hold together both sides of human experience: the still waters of peace and the shadow of death, the paths of righteousness and the presence of enemies. In every setting, the Good Shepherd remains close.

Few passages of scripture are as beloved or as widely recognized as Psalm 23. Its opening words—“The Lord is my shepherd”—have carried peace to worshipers for centuries. Set to song in countless traditions, this psalm has been both a private prayer and a public hymn of faith.

In The Lord’s My Shepherd, the words of Psalm 23 are joined to a tune of quiet assurance, creating a hymn that links seventeenth-century Scotland with modern worshipers across the world.

The text of this hymn comes from the Scottish Psalter of 1650, a landmark collection that sought to translate the psalms faithfully from Hebrew while making them singable in English. Accuracy mattered more than poetic flourish, yet the translators still needed to shape the language into rhyming, metrical lines.

Sometimes that required unusual word order. For instance, verse 3 of this hymn reads “me comfort still” instead of the more familiar “still comfort me,” chosen to rhyme with the previous phrase “fear no ill.” These adjustments kept the psalms close to their original meaning without layering on extra commentary.

The result was a text that is direct, spare, and faithful—a psalm in song form, ready for congregational voices.

What Is the Scottish Psalter?

The Scottish Psalter of 1650 is a collection of the 150 Biblical Psalms translated into metrical, rhyming English verse for congregational singing. It was the result of a prolonged process of revision initiated by the Westminster Assembly and refined by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, with the goal of aligning the text as closely as possible to the original Hebrew. Shaftesbury Sq RPC+14The 1650 Psalter+14gracechapeltn.com+14

In essence: the Scottish Psalter is a historically rooted, singable version of the Psalms designed for fidelity to the Bible and ease of corporate worship—and it continues to be valued across centuries for both its accuracy and accessibility.

Two and a half centuries later, as World War I spread across Europe, Scottish minister and composer James Leith Macbeth Bain turned again to Psalm 23. Having grown up singing from the Scottish Psalter, he found its message of calm and safety especially poignant in a time of conflict and suffering.

In 1915, Bain composed a new melody for the familiar words. The tune, soon known as Brother James’s Air, matched the psalm’s gentle assurance with flowing, peaceful lines. It offered comfort in an age shadowed by loss and uncertainty.

This tune has since carried the words of Psalm 23 into new generations, reminding listeners of divine guidance even in the darkest valleys.

The Lord’s My Shepherd now appears for the first time in a Church-published hymnal, Hymns—For Home and Church. Its inclusion signals both the enduring strength of Psalm 23 and the lasting value of Bain’s musical setting.

The hymn teaches eternal truths with clarity:

“If we follow our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, He will lead us back to the Father.”

Brother James’s Air is gentle and lyrical, its rising and falling lines suggesting both movement and rest. The melody never overwhelms; instead, it underscores the psalm’s assurance of safety. In congregational singing, it carries the text in a way that feels both intimate and communal—an invitation to trust.

The words of Psalm 23 extend far beyond one hymn tune. They have become woven into the fabric of Western culture:

This wide embrace shows how Psalm 23 transcends time, genre, and even faith tradition, offering language of comfort that resonates far beyond its original setting.

Today, singing The Lord’s My Shepherd can bring the same peace it offered to worshipers in 1650 and to those enduring the trenches of 1915. In our own valleys—whether of grief, anxiety, or uncertainty—the Good Shepherd’s presence is steady.

As you listen or sing this hymn, consider:

Scripture references provided.

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