Psalm 23:1 ¶ «A Psalm of David.» 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.
This was my father’s favorite Psalm. David acknowledges that God
is his shepherd, implying, in all contradiction to the usual narcissistic
pretentions of a king, that David is one of God’s sheep. This also lends the
lie to the popular mythology that the shepherds abiding their flocks in Luke’s
gospel were despised. David himself had been a shepherd and he likened God to
one. The Jews would have carried that in their collective memory.
The LORD, Jehovah, is David’s shepherd.
Psalm 77:20 Thou leddest
thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Psalm 80:1 ¶ «To the chief
Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.» Give ear, O Shepherd of
Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the
cherubims, shine forth.
But, in other places we also see this statement of God as the
shepherd of Israel.
Isaiah
40:10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come
with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with
him, and his work before him. 11 He
shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm,
and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.
I shall not want refers to going without, to
not having what one needs. See how want is contrasted with lacking and being
hungry.
Psalm 34:10 The young lions
do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good
thing.
In verse 2 the still waters significance is that David is
saying that God leads His sheep to drink, not of turbulent and agitated water
that would scare them as sheep do not drink from torrents, but from calm, quiet
waters.
General knowledge of sheep notes that, “sheep prefer
to drink still water as opposed to water from a moving stream. It is
generally recommended that streams be fenced off and that livestock not be
allowed to drink from natural water sources.”[1]
Think of what Isaiah will say later;
Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in
thee.
In verse 3 David acknowledges that God restores his soul, revives
him. It is God that leads him in right things, things commended and demanded by
God. And that is because of who God is. He is not a God who wants to destroy
David but to show him the way to live before Him.
In verses 4 through 6 David reveals the Israelites’ expectation
based on God’s promises. It was an assurance that if they obeyed God they would
triumph over their enemies and glory in that triumph over the heathen round
about.
The house of the Lord is something that David has
referenced previously.
Psalm 5:7 ¶ But as for me,
I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will
I worship toward thy holy temple.
Remember, though, that Shiloh was the central place for worship
until Solomon built the temple.
1Samuel 1:24 And when she
had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of
flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in
Shiloh: and the child was young.
The context suggests that all the days of my life and for
ever are synonymous phrases for David so this is a very temporal, earthly
statement. David knows the tabernacle at Shiloh as the house of the Lord and
God’s temple is in Heaven.
Psalm 11:4 The LORD is in
his holy temple, the LORD’S throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids
try, the children of men.
Habbakuk 2:20 But the LORD
is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Prophetically, these verses can be ascribed to Christ. Just
remember that Christ is likened to David, the king, as the King of Israel in
prophecy although there are those who say that David will be resurrected to
perform things linked to him in the era beyond his life on earth. Some of these
verses will be directly about Christ’s millennial reign.
Genesis 49:24 But his bow
abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of
the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
Isaiah 40:10 Behold, the
Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold,
his reward is with him, and his work before him. 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he
shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall
gently lead those that are with young.
Ezekiel 34:23 And I will
set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David;
he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
Compare Ezekiel 37:24
And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have
one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes,
and do them.
With John 10:11 I am the
good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Compare Zechariah 13:7 ¶
Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be
scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
With Matthew 26:31 Then
saith Jesus unto them, All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for
it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be
scattered abroad.
1Peter 2:25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now
returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
1Peter 5:4 And when the
chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not
away.
Christ restores that fellowship with God that Adam lost. It is
only through Christ, who is righteousness embodied, that people can draw near
to God and be justified in His sight. We should go back to the last Psalm to
see some evidence of this.
Psalm 22:30 A seed shall
serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. 31 They shall come, and shall declare his
righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.
Those saved believers who will have the Marriage Supper of the
Lamb with Christ and those who will spend eternity in the shadow of our Creator
can be said to fulfill the remainder of this Psalm.
Revelation 19:9 And he
saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
John 10:28 And I give unto
them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck
them out of my hand.
For ever in the prophetic sense is for eternity. They will dwell
with God in His house.
Revelation 21:3 And I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself
shall be with them, and be their God.
Personally, besides our destiny in eternity with our Creator, we
can see this Psalm as my Dad did, a comfort in our times of trouble and a
confidence that God is protecting us, looking out for us. It can be recited or
just brought to mind in the worst of times and in the best of times. Certainly,
we can’t take it all literally as there are applications in context and
prophetically that we are not looking for when we appropriate a passage to
ourselves. This is one of the great comforts and assurances of the Bible. We
are fortunate that David left this for us. What does it bring to your mind when
you read it?
[1] Susan Schoenian, “A Beginner’s
Guide to Raising Sheep,” Sheep201, http://www.sheep101.info/201/feedwaterequip.html#:~:text=Sheep%20prefer%20to%20drink%20still%20water%20as%20opposed,be%20allowed%20to%20drink%20from%20natural%20water%20sources. (accessed on 12.20.2022)
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