Lancelot Andrewes: Bishop, Translator, and Man of Prayer
- Ken Kalis
- Sep 25
- 4 min read
When novelist Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007) was once asked who the greatest writer in the English language was, his answer was not Shakespeare, Milton, or Dickens. He pointed instead to the opening lines of Psalm 23 in the King James Bible:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Vonnegut gave the credit for that stately rhythm and enduring beauty to Lancelot Andrewes, the bishop who oversaw and contributed to the translation of the Psalms.
Andrewes a Bishop Among Poets and Scholars
Andrewes (1555–1626) was no ordinary clergyman. He served as Bishop of Winchester, was a friend of Archbishop James Ussher, and moved in the same literary circles as Edmund Spenser, the great poet of The Faerie Queene. His brilliance as a linguist and theologian placed him among the leading translators of the King James Bible, a work whose cadence and clarity still shape English speech four centuries later.
But Andrewes was not only a man of letters — he was a man of God.
A Life of Prayer
It was said that he spent five hours each day in prayer. From these long hours on his knees came a book still treasured by Christians today: The Private Devotions. In it, Andrewes assembled a treasury of prayers drawn from Scripture and the Church Fathers, mingled with his own meditations. His words reflect both a profound humility before God and a steady confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ* (4BC-30AD).
An asterisk* after a name means the person is in my book SPIRITUAL LIVES
Check out more biographies and poetry at my blog here: https://www.kenkalis.com/blog
I have sometimes turned to this devotional guide in my own walk with the Lord, and I have found in it a depth that both instructs and nourishes. Here is the heart of a bishop who believed that scholarship without prayer is empty, and prayer without Scripture is shallow.
Andrewes' Lasting Legacy
Though centuries have passed since Andrewes’ death, his voice still speaks. His craftsmanship helped give us an English Bible that sings with dignity and power. His prayers remind us that theology is not merely for the study, but for the closet of prayer. And his life witnesses to the truth that intimacy with God fuels faithfulness in ministry.
September 26, the Anglican Church remembers him as Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester and Teacher of the Faith (1626). It is a fitting honor for a man who gave so much of his life to the service of God’s Word and God’s people.
A Word for Us Today
For those of us who are Bible-believing Christians, Andrewes’ life holds a challenge and a comfort. The challenge is to let prayer be more than an afterthought — to set aside not just minutes, but hours with God if we are able. The comfort is that God can take our ordinary words, surrendered to Him, and use them in extraordinary ways — perhaps even to bless generations we will never see.
As Psalm 23 reminds us, and as Andrewes helped to preserve in immortal English:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
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My Mom taught me this psalm before I could walk.
I am ever grateful to Lancelot Andrews for turning David's Hebrew into lovely English.
In 2011, the devil tried to kill me withThroat cancer but the Lord gave me this song.
I sang it through every one of my 6-weekly radiation treatments from October through December.
Now I share it with you.
The Lord is my Shepherd
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me down to lie
In pastures green He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
Refrain
His yoke is easy; His burden is light.
I’ve found it so; I’ve found it so.
He leadeth me by day and by night
Where living waters flow.
My soul crieth out: “Restore me again,
And give me the strength to take
The narrow path of righteousness,
E’en for His own Name’s sake.”-Refrain
Yea, tho’ I should walk the valley of death,
Yet why should I fear from ill?
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still. -Refrain
My table Thou hast furnishèd
In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
My dwelling place shall be. -Refrain
Ralph E Hudson, 1885 verses 1-3
Scottish Psalter, 1650 verses 4-5
God gave me this song just before I was stricken with throat cancer. I sang it quietly to myself as I went through treatments and aloud when I could, and it brought great comfort and healing as Jesus, the Good Shepherd sent that living water to me.
He wants to bring it to you!
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