THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
February 22, 2022

A. Starting point: Rev. 7:12

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.”
B. Praying from: PSALM 23
Meaning
Psalm 23 has rightly found its place in the hearts of Christian readers. Praying the psalm helps one to express trust in God and to experience calm in the midst of life’s troubles, including imminent death.
Christians cannot read Psalm 23 that explores God as shepherd of his people without thinking of Jesus Christ. After all, Jesus himself announced to his disciples, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). Indeed, Jesus died on the cross to save his people from their guilt, sin and even death. He is the ultimate comfort in life and in death, and just like a shepherd, Jesus comforts his people by revealing, ‘I know my sheep and my sheep know me’ (John 10:14; see also Luke 15:4–7).

Context
Psalm 23 is a song of confidence or trust in the Lord. The psalmist expresses trust in the midst of attack (note the enemies in v. 5b). Traditionally, this psalm has been taken as comfort for those who are nearing death. This specific application arose from the translation of verses 4a–b as: ‘Even though I walk through the shadow of death’, and verse 6c as: ‘I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.’ These renderings are now considered doubtful, with the result that Psalm 23 has a much broader application to all who suffer difficulties in life. Of course, those difficulties include sickness and death, so the psalm is still rightly encouraging to those who struggle with their mortality.

The opening metaphor of the psalm describes God as shepherd and the psalmist as one of his sheep. As noted in the Comment section, the metaphor is more than pastoral; it is also royal. God is the royal shepherd who cares for his people. The psalmist expresses this relationship in an intensely personal and intimate manner. God is a shepherd to him, and, as such, protects and guides the psalmist on the right paths (v. 3b). The second part of the psalm introduces a new metaphor: God as host of a banquet at which the psalmist is an honoured guest. The host metaphor may not completely interrupt the shepherd metaphor, since God the shepherd could be hosting the banquet, although the psalmist is now treated as a human guest, not an animal. The interpretation below will suggest that the personification of God’s goodness and love in verse 6 should be read in the light of the shepherd image.

The psalm’s title associates it with David, who, of course, was a shepherd as a young man (1 Sam. 16:11) and was also called to shepherd the people of Israel as their king (2 Sam. 5:2).

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 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.”

C. Praying Time:
Comment
23:1–4. The Lord is my shepherd
Psalm 23 opens with perhaps the most well-known and well-loved words in the book: The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. The shepherd metaphor is then developed in the following three verses.
The metaphor of God as shepherd is by no means unique to this psalm (Gen. 48:15; 49:24; Pss 28:9; 80:1; Isa. 40:11; Ezek. 34:15; Mic. 7:14). God as shepherd is primarily a pastoral metaphor, but it should be borne in mind that, throughout the Ancient Near East, kings and other leaders were styled as shepherds of their people. In the Old Testament as well, the king was the shepherd of his people. Most often, this metaphor was used in a negative sense of Israel’s leaders. They were shepherds who led their sheep astray (Ezek. 34), but David responded well, though not perfectly, to God’s command that he shepherd God’s people (2 Sam. 5:2). The extensive use of the shepherd metaphor for leaders reveals that Psalm 23 is a royal psalm. The psalmist expresses confidence in the Lord (Yahweh), the shepherd-king.

The psalmist unpacks the metaphor of God as shepherd in the next verses, confessing that, with God as shepherd, he will lack nothing. As the shepherd supplies all the needs of his sheep, so God supplies all the needs of his people. Verses 2–3 contain four poetic cola, each one describing something the shepherd does on behalf of his sheep. Verse 2 describes the idyllic life of the sheep as the shepherd leads them to green pastures where they can feed, and also beside quiet waters where they can drink. The poet masterfully evokes a mental image of beauty and calm. He breaks from the shepherd-sheep metaphor briefly in the first colon of verse 3 (he refreshes my soul). The psalmist finds refreshment in the guidance and provision of God. The final colon in the series again emphasizes God the shepherd’s guidance of his sheep. It has been debated whether the proper understanding of the paths in which God guides his sheep are ‘paths of righteousness’ or right paths (NIV), in the sense of correct or straight paths. In either case, the metaphor of the path is well known from wisdom literature, particularly Proverbs, where the path stands for one’s life journey. According to wisdom, there are two possible paths (Prov. 4:26; 5:21): the straight path that leads to life, and the crooked path that leads to death. Whether right paths or ‘paths of righteousness’, the paths along which God the shepherd leads his sheep are clearly the former. God, like the father in Proverbs, guides his people in paths where they will act with justice and integrity, and this path will lead them to life. Verse 3b ends with a motive clause (for his name’s sake). God functions as the shepherd of his people for the glory of his own name.

Verse 4 envisions God’s guidance through a time of utmost distress. Continuing the path metaphor, the psalmist imagines the path leading through the darkest valley or, according to another translation, ‘the valley of the shadow of death’. The latter more traditional rendering derives from splitting the Hebrew word ṣalmāwet (deep darkness) into two words: ṣēl māwet (shadow of death). The former rendering has been considered more likely, however, since a cognate word was found at Ugarit. The traditional rendering continues, though, because the psalm is often used to console those who are nearing death. Of course, the translation ‘darkest valley’ simply broadens its application, certainly not excluding the difficult time of facing death.

The rest of verse 4 makes it clear where the psalmist finds confidence in the midst of his trouble, namely in the intimate presence of God. He does not fear evil because you are with me, a promise God makes in his covenant relationship with Israel. Returning to the shepherd metaphor by means of the metonymy of the rod and staff, the psalmist ends the first stanza by reaffirming God’s comfort in the midst of his trouble. The rod and the staff are implements that the shepherd uses to fend off predators and to goad the sheep in the right direction and towards provision.
23:5–6. The Lord is my host
The second stanza shifts its focus from the shepherd metaphor to the host metaphor. Of course, it is not at all impossible that the host here is the shepherd, but neither is such continuity necessary for the poet to make the point that God not only provides what is necessary, but provides in abundance.

God, the host, generously treats the psalmist as his guest. He prepares food for him, anoints his head with refreshing oil to wipe away the dust and grime, and fills his cup to overflowing. The preparation of the table reminds the reader of the image of Woman Wisdom preparing a feast for those who accept her invitation to dine (Prov. 9:1–6). Eating with someone implies entering into an intimate relationship with them. The overflowing cup connects with the theme of the cup of blessing or salvation (Pss. 16:5; 116:13; 1 Cor. 10:16), the opposite of the cup of judgment (Isa. 51:17, 22; Jer. 25:15–16; Ezek. 23:31–34; Mark 14:36). God treats the psalmist as his honoured guest in the presence of my enemies (23:5). Although trouble had been hinted at in verse 4, verse 5 mentions enemies for the first time. Thus, we discover that the psalmist expresses confidence in God not during a moment of tranquility, but rather when being pressed by enemies. Through his presence and provision, God demonstrates to the enemies whose side he is on.

Verse 6a personifies God’s covenant attributes of goodness (ṭôb) and love or loyalty (ḥesed), picturing them as following the psalmist. A better translation of the verb might be ‘pursuing’, and if so, and if the shepherd metaphor does extend into the second stanza, then goodness and love act like the shepherd’s sheepdogs, helping the shepherd to keep the sheep going in the right direction.

The NIV renders the final colon of the psalm: I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. The house of the Lord, of course, is the temple, and no-one actually lived there. The temple, though, was where God made his presence known among his people. The psalmist thus proclaims that he will live in the light of God’s presence.

The translation for ever gives a wrong impression, at least when the psalm is read in its original Old Testament context. The phrase is literally rendered ‘for length of days’, that is, for the duration of the psalmist’s life. After all, the teaching about the afterlife developed during the late Old Testament (Dan. 12:1–3) into the intertestamental period and blossomed in the New Testament. Reading Psalm 23 in the light of the New Testament indicates that it is true that the psalmist and others who put their trust in God will live in his presence forever.

D. THE A-MEN OF ROMANS 16:20, 24, 27
16:20 “And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. A-men.”