Psalm 23

¹The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
²     He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³     he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.
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.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
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.

To be honest, I wasn’t going to treat this psalm. I feel like people think about it a lot and that I couldn’t really add anything to the discussion or say anything that hasn’t been said. And, maybe I can’t, but here it is anyway.

I’m sure most people, like me, have got this one in their head in the King James Version. But sometimes a different translation makes us think about things differently. For example, verse 1 reads “I lack nothing.” This is then followed by green pastures and quiet waters. I can’t take credit for seeing this on my own (see here for more), but if the Lord is the shepherd and we are the sheep, the next verse is more than establishing an idyllic landscape filled with peaceful imagery. I think that this is emphasized by the phrase “I lack nothing.” Sheep don’t just sit in grass. They eat it. And, while maybe some sheep really like looking at flowing springs, most of them just like drinking from them. So, this is saying much more than that God will give us peace. It is saying that he will literally give us food and water. And he gives these things to us metaphorically too. “But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

I also like that verses 3 and 4 mesh together. Again, there is the image of God directing our paths, but this psalm adds a new twist. Even when those paths go through dark and scary areas, we have no need to fear because God is the one guiding us.

The last two verses reinforce God’s grace in our lives. What do sheep ever do to deserve anything good? I mean, besides being an economic commodity. They sit around doing absolutely nothing. Nothing. When I was in England, we walked parts of Hadrian’s Wall, much of which runs through sheep farms. You can walk right through them and they totally do not care. They just sit there, nomming on grass or just chillin’ (and making the whole place smell really bad). God does the same thing for us. We never do anything that even comes close to meriting salvation. But, God still loves us and takes care of us, even when we happen to stink up the place (metaphorically, of course).