Meditation on Psalm 23

The Twenty-Third Psalm is doubtless the best-known and most-loved Psalm in all Christendom. Many children learn it at a young age; I memorized it in the King James version probably by the time I was in Kindergarten. I didn’t know why at the time, but the Church gave me the clear message that this Psalm was important. 

It is a psalm of David, the King, and he likely wrote it during the rebellion of Absalom, David’s treacherous son who usurped, for a time, the kingdom. David had to retreat from the holy city. This psalm articulates his confidence that YHWH will care for him throughout the ordeal and deliver him from his enemies. Most importantly, though, is David’s yearning to return to the house of the LORD – that is the desire of his heart. “I will dwell in the house of the LORD” is translated literally by a seemingly-odd expression: “I shall return in the house of YHWH.” It is that “return” that reflects David’s current state of exile; and when understood in that context, we see that David is not wishing for a far-off heaven, but the desire of his heart is to be restored to Jerusalem and worship God in His tabernacle.

Now we have emphasized throughout our journey through the Psalms thus far the Christological content of the Psalms – namely, that Jesus is at the center of the Psalms and their meaning for us. That is true in this psalm, but in a different way than, say, the previous psalm (22), where we see the suffering Christ vividly portrayed: pierced, parched, mocked, his enemies casting lots for His clothes, His God forsaking Him. Jesus is not just the interpretative key of that psalm, He is its subject.

In Ps. 23, however, Jesus is not the subject, David is; and by extension, we are, all disciples of Jesus are. Jesus is the shepherd, and we are the sheep, as the Holy Scriptures make so very clear. Thus the LORD—YHWH—in this psalm is Christ, who said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

But there is a very comforting image in the way the Psalm puts it, that shows the active nature of Christ’s care for us. “The LORD is my Shepherd” expresses an identity, a relationship between us and Him; but the way the Hebrew renders it shows more directly His constant tending of us during our times of greatest need: “YHWH is shepherding me,” and the Hebrew here articulates an ongoing activity, so that we should understand, “YHWH is shepherding and keeps on shepherding me, and because of this, I lack nothing.” “Want” is old English, but I don’t think it gets the meaning across. I want a new car, I want the Twins to win the World Series, I have been really wanting some new, very expensive modules for my computer Bible program. Sometimes the things we want are wholesome in themselves, but God has not granted them; sometimes what we want is bad for us; but in any event, Holy Scripture does not promise us that we will always get everything we want. What is promised, though, is that we will have everything we need for salvation. If we have YHWH, then we have all good things, and lack nothing. Consequently we can trust in the LORD each day for our daily bread; having food and clothing, with these we will be content.

Believing that, we can go through even the valley of the shadow of death without fear. The actual Hebrew expression is “deep darkness”; picture David on the run, with his son Absalom on his throne. He is wandering through the Middle Eastern wilderness, with danger lurking in every shadow: danger from bandits, danger from animals, and danger from falling; for David, death looms. One slip around the crevices in these narrow passes around mountains, and you could plummet into what seemed like hell itself. Despite all this, with YHWH as Shepherd, David confidently confesses: there is no need to fear.

From there, David’s vision, given by the Holy Spirit, moves from the LORD as his Shepherd to the LORD as his Host in a banquet hall. There, before enemies put to silence, he believed that God would pour oil on his head and fill his cup to the brim with the finest of wines. From there, David moves to the deepest longing of his soul: the Tabernacle, the altar of God. I will return there, and spend all the length of days, even eternity, in the presence of YHWH, the LORD.

So what does this mean for us? As David moves from his vision of a field with still water, to banquet hall, to temple, so we spiritually move in our application of the psalm from the water of Baptism, to the banquet hall of the Eucharist, to eternity in the new creation where God Himself dwells with us and we in His house. For both David and us, the psalm moves from tribulation to death to resurrection.

We may not be chased from our home or disowned by our family, but our lives now the deep darkness, the fear, the betrayal, the disappointment, the depression. We have enemies, we have predators, we have dangers. But through it all, our LORD promises that He is shepherding us. Christ your Good Shepherd has performed the ultimate sacrifice of a shepherd, laying down His life for you. Be at peace, then, dear child of God, for you lack no good thing. He has led you to the quiet waters of regeneration; He has filled your cup with His own blood, pouring into your body His own life; and you will at the last day rise from the dead and dwell in the house of the LORD for an unending length of days. +INJ+

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