Big Idea: The Lord as David’s shepherd watches over him and, with his gentle agents of goodness and mercy, pursues him into the Lord’s house.
Understanding the Text
Psalm 23 is an individual psalm of trust (see the sidebar “Psalms of Trust” in the unit on Ps. 16).[1] Psalms of trust arise out of some trouble that the psalmist has experienced, although we cannot always determine specifically what it was. Yet through this experience the psalmist has learned to trust in the Lord. Sometimes these psalms include a petition (e.g., 4:1, 6) and a vow to praise God (e.g., 16:7), but Psalm 23 contains neither. As Goldingay says, it is “radically a psalm of trust.”2
While we do not want to contrive canonical associations among the psalms, we do want to recognize, even insist, that the psalmists and the editors of the book worked with word and phrase associations, and sometimes a word or phrase was enough to place two psalms next to each other and proclaim a message that the compiler of the book wanted to get across. This is illustrated in the relationship of Psalms 22 and 23. That is, Psalm 22 closes with the vision of a great feast in the kingdom of God (22:29) with a view to proclaiming the Lord’s righteousness (22:31). As a follow-up, Psalm 23 relates that, indeed, the Lord leads in “paths of righteousness” (23:3a ESV; NIV: “right paths”). The festival imagery is picked up in 23:5, both images affirming the present and ongoing reality of the kingdom of God, which in Psalm 22 was still future.
Outline/Structure
This incredibly beautiful poem that has captured the hearts and imaginations of Jews and Christians alike over the centuries has traditionally been divided into two strophes, each controlled by a metaphor. The first likens the Lord to a shepherd and the psalmist to a lamb (23:1–4), and the second describes the Lord as the host and the psalmist as a guest or king (23:5–6).[3] I would prefer to see the first strophe under the metaphor of the divine Shepherd and the lamb, with the second strophe as a reflection on the divine Shepherd and the king, giving us the following simple outline:
1. The divine Shepherd and the lamb (23:1–4)
2. The divine Shepherd and the king (23:5–6)
Historical and Cultural Background
Proposed dates for this psalm have ranged from David’s time to the exile. Delitzsch locates it in the period of Absalom’s rebellion.[4] Understandably, the thought of David’s trust in God being so personal and confident in so troubled a time is certainly attractive. However, the connections are tenuous at best. Perhaps the end of David’s life is more probable. It makes a lot of sense to think of David writing this psalm at the end of his life, when his children’s disloyalty was a distant memory, when the kingdom had been firmly established against the unfriendly nations, when his own personal sins had long been forgiven and almost forgotten, and when he was ready to hand over a peaceful kingdom to his successor, Solomon. Out of that rich legacy of life and faith, he looked back and reflected on the Lord’s goodness.
This king played a significant role in making Jerusalem the worship capital (2 Sam. 24), as he had made it his political capital (2 Sam. 5). Although the tabernacle had likely been destroyed, David transferred the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and established a temporary tent for it. Psalm 23 calls the place of meeting “the house of the Lord” (23:6), which some suggest dates the psalm during the temple period. However, “the house of the Lord” and the “temple of the Lord” are sometimes used interchangeably,[5] but in the story of Samuel, when the worship center was definitely a tent (tabernacle), it is called “house of the Lord” (1 Sam. 3:3).
The application of the metaphor of shepherd to ancient kings and gods was common practice in the ancient Near East. Even Isaiah calls the Persian king Cyrus the Lord’s “shepherd” (Isa. 44:28). The metaphor carried the dual notion of authority and compassion.[6] This psalm not only contains the metaphor but also references the functions and equipment of a shepherd. “Green pastures,” “quiet waters,” “the darkest valley”—these are pictures of security and protection that the shepherd provides for the sheep. The standard picture of the shepherd would also include a rod, attached to a belt, to fight off animals of prey, and a staff in the shepherd’s hand, to provide support and to shake olives from tall trees for the sheep.
The metaphors of “shepherd” and “king” are mixed in the second strophe (23:5–6). The divine Shepherd anoints David as king and blesses his reign: the imagery of a feast following victory over David’s enemies (23:5a, “you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”), his coronation as king (23:5b, “you anoint my head with oil”), the success of his reign (23:5c, “my cup overflows”), the Lord’s trailing pursuit of David despite his failures (23:6a, “surely your goodness and love will follow [lit., “pursue”] me”), and his passion for the temple (23:6b, “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”)—these are all reflections on David’s kingship, perhaps in the peaceful time when the Lord had given him rest from his enemies (2 Sam. 7:1).
Interpretive Insights
23:1 The Lord is my shepherd. Yahweh as Shepherd of Israel occurs in Psalms 77:20; 78:52; and 95:7, but here he is David’s Shepherd. (On “I lack nothing,” see “Theological Insights.”)
23:2–3 he leads me . . . he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths. The verb “leads” (nhl) is used to describe Yahweh’s guiding Israel through the wilderness to the promised land, as is also the verb “guides” (nhh; Exod. 15:13; also Ps. 77:20; see “Theological Insights”). The verb “refreshes” may also be rendered “restores” (ESV), which may allude to the shepherd’s retrieval of a stray or endangered lamb. The word (Hebrew causative stem, Polel) occurs also in Isaiah 49:5 to speak of the Lord’s bringing Jacob back to him. While the phrase “right paths” (or “paths of righteousness,” ESV) may have an ethical nuance, its literal meaning is “paths along which one does not lose one’s way.”7
23:4 the darkest valley. The literal meaning of the valley imagery (ge’ tsalmawet, “valley of the shadow of death,” KJV; see NIV footnote) is a valley where the danger of death lurked because of robbers and wild animals. Hakham identifies it geographically as “a path that runs between two cliff embankments.”[8] Job uses the term tsalmawet for death (Job 10:21–22; NIV: “utter darkness”), and the prophet Jeremiah employs it metaphorically for the wilderness that God brought Israel through after the exodus (Jer. 2:6).
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. The conjunction and pronoun “for you” begins the sentence to emphasize the Lord’s presence. The rod was used as a weapon, and the staff for support. Here they stand at the beginning of the clause as a casus pendens (a pending case): “as for your rod and staff, they comfort me.”
23:5 You prepare a table . . . You anoint my head with oil. Form critics understand the word “table” to suggest a liturgical feast at which some victory was celebrated. While Psalm 23 was likely used on more than one occasion, this term, in view of “enemies” and “anoint” (words that were familiar to David as warrior-king), likely alludes to the victory celebration after battle. In Psalm 78:19 it is a metaphor for God’s provision for Israel in the wilderness. “To lay a table for someone” is the act of a gracious host (Prov. 9:1–2).[9] The anointing with oil, while included in times of pleasure and joy (Eccles. 9:8; Ps. 92:10), is here more likely an allusion to David’s elevation to the throne.
23:6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me. The word normally translated “surely” (’ak) carries here the nuance of exclusivity: “Only goodness and love,” excluding the psalmist’s enemies.[10] The word picture is that of “goodness and love,” rather than his enemies, benevolently pursuing (rdp) the psalmist for his whole life. The result is the psalmist’s dwelling in the Lord’s house continually. (On “follow,” see “Teaching the Text.”)
Theological Insights
As one looks at Psalm 23 in the context of the Hebrew Scriptures, the words of this magnificent poem begin to connect to other portions and stories of Israel’s history, the main story being the exodus from Egypt. Just as David’s experience as shepherd (1 Sam. 16:11; 17:20) and king engraved its language on this psalm, the archetypal story of the exodus is also echoed in its language. Psalm 23 is an example of the archetypal story, that is, a large segment of history or biography is represented under symbols and metaphors, while other psalms recount the story in historical language (e.g., Ps. 106:7–8). Verses 2 and 3 share two verbs for “guide” (nhl and nhh) with the strains of the Song of the Sea, and the same word for “pastures”:11
In your unfailing love you will lead [nhh]
the people you have redeemed.
In your strength you will guide [nhl] them
to your holy dwelling [lit., “your holy pasture”].12(Exod. 15:13)
The “quiet waters” (lit., “waters of rest”) of 23:2 may recall the “place of rest” to which the ark of the covenant guided Israel (Num. 10:33); and “I lack nothing” in 23:1 is the same verb (hsr) that recounts Israel’s lack of nothing during the forty years in the wilderness (Deut. 2:7). The table that God spread for David in the presence of his enemies is reminiscent of the Lord’s provision for Israel in the wilderness, which they at first doubted (Ps. 78:18–19). Finally, the purpose of God’s guidance of the psalmist, “for his name’s sake” (23:3), is synonymous with God’s saving Israel from Egypt “for his name’s sake” (Ps. 106:8). The language of the Torah functioned for the psalmists as a dialect of faith, from which they drew their vocabulary and imagery.[13] Ezekiel too drew on this same thought as he reflected on Israel’s deliverance from Egypt (Ezek. 20:9).
We should remember that the exodus was the time of God’s great presence and guidance in Israel’s history. The very suggestion that Yahweh as David’s Shepherd would lead him personally, as he had led Israel out of Egypt and through the wilderness, supports the position that ancient Israel, even as early as David’s day, had a sense of individual personality, not merely corporate. God looked on Israel as a corporate people, and on individuals as persons, and his concern encompassed both. There is a Jewish saying that all Jews should celebrate the Passover as if the Lord took each Jew by the hand and led him or her out of Egypt. Christians have inherited this marvelous view of personhood from Judaism—that it was both corporate and individual—and to celebrate our personal redemption at Calvary, we can sing, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”14
David’s hope to dwell in the house of the Lord “forever” (lit., “for length of days”; 23:6b) is parallel to “all the days of my life” in the first half of the verse (23:6a) and should be understood in that sense. The fact that Christians have given this phrase an eschatological meaning calls not so much for a reprimand of our exegesis as it does a commendation of our hope. If, then, we take seriously the allusions to the exodus from Egypt, David’s dwelling in the “house of the Lord” is nothing short of the imagery of the promised land when that hope became a reality, a reality for a permanent house and a permanent dwelling, in distinction from the mobile tabernacle that moved from place to place. Thus, when Psalm 23 is held up to the light of Israel’s history, the picture of the journey from Egypt to the promised land is stamped on it like a watermark.
The theology of this psalm arises out of the practice of life, the practice of the lowliest of occupations, shepherding sheep. In the broad outline of biblical theology, it is not an exaggeration to say that this imagery is a hint of the incarnation of God in human flesh. That God would condescend to the level of a shepherd is remarkably assuring, and a clue that he would humble himself and take the form of a servant (Phil. 2:5–11). Isaiah too saw the shepherding aspect of Yahweh’s nature and reassured Israel that “he will feed his flock like a shepherd, he will gather the lambs in his arms, he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Isa. 40:11 RSV). In the context of the Old Testament, the imagery of the Lord as Shepherd generally carries the corporate notion that he is Israel’s Shepherd (Pss. 77:20; 78:52; 95:7), but in Psalm 23 the Lord is David’s personal Shepherd.
The New Testament picks up the imagery of God as Shepherd, and Jesus applies this image to himself in John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd.” While this application may be more closely connected to Ezekiel 34 than Psalm 23, the significance is that the image belongs to the language of the incarnation and the loving care of God in Jesus Christ. The writer to the Hebrews remembers Christ as “that great Shepherd of the sheep” (Heb. 13:20), and Peter calls him “the Chief Shepherd” (1 Pet. 5:4).
Teaching the Text
As we look at this psalm we see two pictures of the way God guides our lives. The first is found in that memorable clause, “he leads me beside quiet waters” (23:2b). In that picture, metaphorically speaking, the shepherd is in front, and the sheep are following him to the quiet waters. That is a common picture of the shepherd leading the sheep, the shepherd in front and the sheep following.
But we have to admit that sometimes we do not follow very well. As sheep are wont to do, we get distracted by things on the right and on the left, rather than looking at the Shepherd. That is where the second picture is so important, and so graphic. “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life” (23:6). The verb “follow” translates the Hebrew root rdp (“pursue”). The KJV translates it “shall follow me,” but it means “follow me” in pursuit. And that puts a different hue on the landscape. We may stress the shift in the metaphor. Something has distracted the sheep, and the Shepherd, personified by “goodness and love,” has dropped behind them, and they pursue us “all the days” of our life. A Scottish preacher said, “The Lord is my Shepherd, aye, and he has two fine collie dogs, goodness and mercy. They will see us safely home.”15
Isaiah uses this kind of imagery too. He speaks of Israel on her way home from Babylonian exile. They arrived in Babylonia in the first place by meandering from side to side along the moral path, and not keeping their eyes on the Shepherd. When the Lord brought them back home (about 536 BC), they could hear him behind them saying, “This is the way; walk in it” (Isa. 30:21)—more pursued than led. Isaiah combines the two metaphors in 52:12 to describe that awesome and treacherous journey of the exiles on their way home, and he promises that the Lord will go “before you” and will also be “your rear guard.” In this case the Lord was their Vanguard and Rear Guard.
We may emphasize the fact that life’s circumstances sometimes force us to follow God where we would not normally have gone, and those circumstances turn out to be the voice of the Lord as he drops behind us, to use the metaphor, and “goodness and love” gently drive us home, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Illustrating the Text
Overcome by the shadow of death
Biography: Donald Grey Barnhouse. Billy Graham shares a story about the great American preacher Dr. Donald Grey Barnhouse, whose first wife died of cancer, leaving him with three children under the age of twelve. On the day of the funeral, Barnhouse and his family were driving to the service when a truck passed them, casting a large shadow across their car as it went by. Turning to his oldest daughter, who was deeply grieving the loss of her mother, Barnhouse asked, “Tell me, sweetheart, would you rather be run over by that truck or its shadow?” Looking at her father, she replied, “By the shadow, I guess. It can’t hurt you.” Speaking to all his children, he said, “Your mother has not been overridden by death, but by the shadow of death. That is nothing to fear.”[16] This response of Dr. Barnhouse is a great reminder to all of us that as Christians we have nothing to fear in death. Jesus has overcome the grave; he has conquered death and sin. His victory is our victory!
God’s goodness and mercy pursue us.
Poetry: “The Hound of Heaven,” by Francis Thompson. Thompson’s poem, published in 1893, tells the tale of a person who has wandered away from God’s path, and like a hound, the Lord graciously and lovingly follows until the person turns back to God. The poem begins with the words “I fled Him, down the nights and down the days; I fled him, down the arches of the years.” And then Thompson completes his poem with these words: “I am He Whom thou seekest! Thou dravest love from thee, who dravest Me.”[17] If possible, you might want to share how you have experienced God as “the hound of heaven.” That is, how has God pursued you? You might also want to project one or more of the twenty-three paintings by the American painter R. H. Ives Gammell, who painted a pictorial sequence based on Thompson’s poem.
The leading of the Shepherd
Church History: Calvin tells his own story in the preface to his Commentary on the Psalms and informs us of how God led him to Geneva against his will. At age twenty-six he had already published the first edition of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, one of the greatest theological works of the Christian church, and he was on his way to Germany, where he intended to isolate himself in study and writing. En route, however, he stopped to spend the night in Geneva. When William Farel, a leader of the fledgling Reformation church in Geneva, heard that Calvin was in town, he went to see him and asked that he remain in Geneva to help the fledgling Reformation church. Calvin resisted, and he tells the story like this:
And after having learned that my heart was set upon devoting myself to private studies for which I wished to keep myself free from other pursuits, and finding that he [Farel] gained nothing by entreaties, he proceeded to utter an imprecation that God would curse my retirement and the tranquillity of the studies which I sought if I should withdraw and refuse to give assistance when the necessity was so urgent.18
Thankfully Calvin did stay in Geneva, pursued by God’s “goodness and love,” and changed the history of the church and the history of Western civilization.