Unless otherwise stated, all citations are taken from the New International Version (NIV).
When my wife and I were first married, we lived on a busy street next to the fire department. Cars tore down the road at high speeds. Several times a day a fire truck wailed down the road. The noise was so regular that we failed to notice it after a while. It wasn’t until we had a newborn in the apartment that we noticed the noise! Every car without a muffler woke up our baby, and every siren made us lose sleep. What was formerly white noise became an alarming jolt to our whole household.
For many, Psalm 23 has become white noise. It is so well known and well-loved that it is hard to read it with fresh eyes and hear it with fresh ears. Let this psalm pierce your mind and heart like a siren. Let is wake you up to new levels of trust and confidence in God!
(23:1) The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
“The LORD is my shepherd.” Why did David choose to describe God as a “shepherd”? It’s true that ancient Near Eastern monarch represented themselves as shepherd-kings (see Wilson[1] and Jacobson and Tanner[2]). So, this was a known motif in David’s day. However, this surely cannot be the extent of the metaphor.
Ancient kings might have used this metaphor for different purposes. Perhaps they employed it to show that they were the only intelligent leader in the nation, and the rest were just dumb sheep! Or perhaps they used this metaphor to describe how they could use the people as mere livestock and meat, taking from them as they desired (Ezek. 34; Jer. 23).
David himself was a shepherd, so he understands this occupation. His use of the shepherd imagery provides a striking contrast: The transcendent and all-powerful God identifies himself with a shepherd who lived in the stink and smut of the sheep. He condescends to be with his people in all of their stupidity and their filth. Kidner writes, “The shepherd lives with his flock and is everything to it: guide, physician and protector.”[3] Jacobson and Tanner write, “In terms of subverting human royalty, the metaphor is a powerful polemic arguing that the vocation of the king is to protect, guide, care for, and even give one’s life for the people who have been entrusted to the king… the imagery contains within it a built-in critique of all human privilege and power.”[4]
“The LORD is my shepherd.” Normally, God is depicted as being the Shepherd of all of the people (Ps. 80:1; 100:3). He isn’t just the shepherd. David had a personal relationship with God. He is my shepherd.
“I lack nothing.” Other translations render this as, “I shall not want” (NASB) or “I have all that I need” (NLT). What more do you truly need if you have a relationship with the greatest conceivable being?
God guides us in prosperous times
(23:2) He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters.
“Green pastures… quiet waters.” Israel is generally a dry and arid place. Therefore, shepherds need to lead their sheep to the green grass and clean water. Otherwise, the flock will drop dead in the desert. Without God’s leadership, we are like so many sheep who wander in the desert—hungry and thirsty and confused.
“He makes me lie down.” Sheep don’t lie down when they are hungry or scared. In his book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, W. Phillip Keller writes, “The strange thing about sheep is that because of their very make-up it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down… Owing to their timidity they refuse to lie down unless they are free of all fear. If tormented by flies or parasites, sheep will not lie down. Only when free of these pests can they relax. Lastly, sheep will not lie down as long as they feel in need of finding food. They must be free from hunger… It is only the [shepherd] who can provide release from these anxieties…. When sheep are thirsty they become restless and set out in search of water to satisfy their thirst. If not led to the good water supplies… they will often end up drinking from the polluted pot holes where they pick up… internal parasites.”[5]
Sheep are stupid animals, and God compares us to sheep! USA Today reported, “First one sheep jumped to its death. Then stunned Turkish shepherds… watched as nearly 1,500 others followed, each leaping off the same cliff, Turkish media reported. In the end, 450 dead animals lay on top of one another in a billowy white pile, the Aksam newspaper said. Those who jumped later were saved as the pile got higher and the fall more cushioned, Aksam reported. “There’s nothing we can do. They’re all wasted,” [said] Nevzat Bayhan… whose sheep were grazing together in the herd.”[6]
Consequently, sheep need a shepherd to watch over them, lead them, and care for them. Again, W. Phillip Keller writes, “Sheep do not ‘just take care of themselves’ as some might suppose. They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care… A ‘cast’ sheep is a very pathetic sight. Lying on its back, its feet in the air, it flays away frantically struggling to stand up, without success. Sometimes it will bleat a little for help, but generally it lies there lashing about in frightened frustration. If the owner does not arrive on the scene within a reasonably short time, the sheep will die. The way it happens is this. A heavy, fat, or long-fleeced sheep will lie down comfortably in some little hollow or depression in the ground. It may roll on its side slightly to stretch out or relax. Suddenly the center of gravity in the body shifts so that it turns on its back far enough, and the feet no longer touch the ground. It may feel a sense of panic and start to paw frantically. Frequently this only makes things worse. It rolls over even further. Now it is quite impossible for it to regain its feet. As it lies there struggling, gases begin to build up in the rumen. As these expand they tend to retard and cut off blood circulation to extremities of the body, especially the legs. If the weather is very hot and sunny a cast sheep can die in a few hours. If it is cool and cloudy and rainy it may survive in this position for several days. There is something intensely personal, intensely tender, intensely endearing, yet intensely fraught with danger in the picture. On the one hand there is the sheep so hopeless, so utterly immobilized though otherwise strong, healthy and flourishing; while on the other hand there is the attentive owner quick and ready to come to its rescue—ever patient and tender and helpful. Many people have the idea that when a child of God falls, when he is frustrated and helpless in a spiritual dilemma, God becomes disgusted, fed up and even furious with him. This simply is not so… He comes quietly, gently, reassuringly to me no matter when or where or how I may be cast down.”[7]
(23:3) He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
“He refreshes my soul.” Kidner[8] states that the term “refreshes” (šûb) could refer to both the “retrieving or reviving” of the sheep by the good shepherd. Indeed, this is the typical term for how a sinner turns back to God. However, God is the one who “turns” (šûb) David’s soul back to himself. On the other hand, the term is also the same term used in “restoring” (šûb) from sin (Ps. 60:1; Isa. 49:5; Hos. 14:1; Joel 2:12). It is used of a subjective, refreshing of the soul (Prov. 25:13).
“Right paths.” Other translations render this as “the paths of righteousness.” On this reading, God is keeping David on a moral path. In context, however, David uses the metaphor of a shepherd leading sheep to the right destination to provide for them. The NIV is correct in saying that the shepherd is guiding them where they need to go—on the “right paths.”
“For his name’s sake.” God can no more break from leading us than he can deny his own name. The foundation for our assurance is his own character.
God guides us in dark times
(23:4) Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
“The darkest valley” (ṣalmāwet) comes from the root words “shadow” (ṣel) and “death” (mawet). Thus, the term literally means “the shadow of death.”[9] Job compares this term to “the gates of death” (Job 38:17), and Jeremiah compares this darkness to a “barren desert” (Jer. 2:6). Kidner comments, “‘Death’ could be a kind of superlative, as in NEB’s rendering here, ‘dark as death’, and in the term ‘deep darkness’, used by RSV elsewhere.”[10]
Carson points out that in modern literature “valleys” are happy places. Not so in the ancient world! The valleys were dark and dangerous places. Wild animals roamed the valleys, and bandits attacked travelers in the dark valleys.
“I will fear no evil.” How can someone walk through a terrifying path of danger and death but not be afraid? A person would need something incredibly powerful and secure to keep them stable and secure.
“You are with me.” This is the key to courage in the face of evil, danger, and death. These words are at the center of this psalm.[11] Often, God tells us, “I am with you.” It’s important to repeat this back to God, speaking these words of faith.
Our loved ones can surround us at our deathbed. But when we die, they stay in the hospital, and we’re on our own. If we don’t have the Good Shepherd as “my shepherd” (v.1), then we make the trip from this life to the next all alone. Kidner writes, “Only the Lord can lead a man through death; all other guides turn back, and the traveller must go on alone.”[12]
“Your rod” (šebeṭ) is a “shorter, mace-like implement that could be used as a striking weapon for raining heavy blows against enemy or attacking beast.”[13]
“Your staff” (mišʿenet) normally refers to a “longer, supporting staff and is associated on occasion with the support of the sick or elderly.”[14] David used his rod and staff to protect his sheep (1 Sam. 17:35).
God ultimately guides us to a royal celebration
After all of that travelling as a sheep under the guidance of the Good Shepherd, the scene shifts to a banquet. Indeed, this is a “victory celebration.”[15]
(23:5) You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
“You prepare a table before me.” At the end of history, God will prepare a banquet for all of us. Isaiah writes, “On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine—the best of meats and the finest of wines” (Isa. 25:6). Jesus will personally serve us this meal. Jesus taught, “The servants who are ready and waiting for his return will be rewarded. I tell you the truth, he himself will seat them, put on an apron, and serve them as they sit and eat!” (Lk. 12:37 NLT)
“In the presence of my enemies.” Like a defanged predator, all of the people we found so terrifying in the valley of the shadow of death will be harmless at this meal.
“You anoint my head with oil.” This was a sign of blessing in the ancient world. This is how you’d take care of your guest (Lk. 7:46).
“My cup overflows.” This likely refers to the superabundance of reward we will receive on this day.
(23:6) Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life.” Joe Focht says that people search for love their whole lives. But for the believer in Jesus, God chases us with his goodness and love for our entire lives.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Jesus laid down his life for the sheep (Jn. 10; Ezek. 34). This kind of Shepherd would never lose his flock—not even in death (Rom. 8:35-39). Wilson writes, “To dwell with God is a potent image of eternal security and ongoing relationship.”[16] Jacobson and Tanner summarize the conclusion to this psalm well when they write, “The point of the metaphor is that the destination that one reaches after being led along the paths of righteousness, the destination one reaches at the end of the days of my life, the destination toward which one is shepherded and indeed toward which one is harried by God’s pursuing goodness and hesed is none other than God’s very self. God is the psalmist’s destination.”[17]
But Jesus is more than just the shepherd; he’s the sacrificial sheep (Jn. 1:29).
Paraphrase of Psalm 23
“I am like a shepherd who guides you, protects you, and provides for you. What do you really need in life when I am your shepherd? In the midst of a desert, you don’t know where to find food and water, but I do. I’ll guide you and watch over you. One day, you’ll walk through dangerous and deadly circumstances. This isn’t a matter of if, but of when. In these moments, I’ll be right there with you, guarding and guiding you. With Me by your side, you’ll have no reason to fear. And at the end of the travel, I’ll take you to a banquet that you can’t even imagine! All of those scary enemies will be there, but you’ll see them for who they really are: harmless, insecure, and weak people. You will be with me forever!”
[1] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 431.
[2] Jacobson and Tanner write, “‘The Laws of Hammurabi,’ epilogue, where Hammurabi claims that Marduk had entrusted the ‘shepherding’ of the people to him and offers a blessing that a future king “may shepherd his people in justice.” Rolf A. Jacobson and Beth Tanner, “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41,” in The Book of Psalms, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 240.
[3] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 127.
[4] Rolf A. Jacobson and Beth Tanner, “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41,” in The Book of Psalms, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 245.
[5] Keller, W. Phillip. A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1970. 35-36, 50.
[6] USA Today, “450 sheep jump to their deaths in Turkey” Associated Press, 7/9/2005.
[7] Keller, W. Phillip. A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Pub. House, 1970. 20-21, 61-64.
[8] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 128.
[9] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 128.
[10] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 128.
[11] Rolf A. Jacobson and Beth Tanner, “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41,” in The Book of Psalms, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 239.
[12] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 129.
[13] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 435.
[14] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 435.
[15] Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 15, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973), 129.
[16] Gerald H. Wilson, Psalms, vol. 1, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 437.
[17] Rolf A. Jacobson and Beth Tanner, “Book One of the Psalter: Psalms 1–41,” in The Book of Psalms, ed. E. J. Young, R. K. Harrison, and Robert L. Hubbard Jr., The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014), 245.