Psalm 23 Explained

A song of abundance

When David was still a teenager, God chose him to be king. The prophet Samuel anointed him king, but it would be another decade or more before David was recognized by Israel. During much of that time, David was a fugitive, hunted by and hiding from King Saul, who was obsessed with taking his life. David fled into the desert, always on the move, living in caves and hiding among the rocks.

He had grown up in Bethlehem, in the hill country west of Jerusalem, where his great grandmother Ruth had met Boaz in the midst of the wheat harvest. Their unique courtship was shaped by her faithfulness to Naomi, Ruth’s widowed mother-in-law, to whose care she had pledged her life. Full of affection and intrigue, the romance still honors the rigid traditions and laws of the community. It is one of the great love stories.

Rich in grain, the very name “Bethlehem” means House of Bread. Bethlehem was a place of fertile fields and flocks. During his long sojourn in the desert, David must have longed for the days of his youth when as a shepherd boy he roamed the grassy hillsides watching his father’s sheep. But David does not fall into despair, despite his exile in the desert, because, even there, he dwells in a place of abundance.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want.

David knows from personal experience the role of a shepherd. He knows the care that the shepherd must exercise to ensure the safety and vitality of the flock. The shepherd must be wise and good, ever vigilant, gentle and strong. David recognizes that the ultimate Good Shepherd knows and meets his every need. He will write songs declaring the strength and protection of God, but here in the desert he finds a more expansive message. In a world of want, a land of scarcity, a time of too little – too little water, too little food, too little rest, too little safety – David finds a Shepherd who is always enough. This shepherd is always more than enough. He is lavish in his provision, extravagant in giving, unrestrained in his love. With the Lord as his shepherd, David abandons the worry of always wanting and enters instead into the confidence of endless abundance.

He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.

These are images of peace and provision. Sheep need two things; grass to eat and water to drink. They can survive on brown stubble and will risk fast water if thirsty enough, but the Shepherd of this psalm brings them to abundance – pastures cool and green, waters clear and calm. Sheep are grazers. They don’t pause to eat a meal. They eat constantly. If you see sheep lying down in the pasture, you may be sure they have eaten their fill. They are satiated and satisfied. A stretch of calm water completes the idyllic scene. A shallow stream murmurs through the tall grass of the meadow and the sheep have neither concern for thirst nor for the danger of drowning. These sheep do not merely survive. They thrive and flourish. There is no scarcity here, only abundance. David has called to mind an image of rich contentment. Even though his outward circumstance is barren and dry, his inner condition is bountiful, plentiful and pleasing because of the relationship he has with God.

He restores my soul.

David now completes this picture of abundant peace and peaceful abundance in a single sentence; He restores my soul. Unlike sheep, whose needs are purely physical, we require sustenance for our souls. If your soul is not at peace, you cannot be at peace, no matter how pleasant your surroundings. When you find yourself in that spiritual desert, no amount of physical indulgence will quench your thirst. Many of the saddest celebrity narratives chronicle a desperate search for a soul refreshed.

There are certainly times and situations when our souls are troubled. Even Jesus, at Gethsemane, as he approaches the cross, declares that his soul is troubled to the point of death. When we consider the human condition, and perhaps even more so as we encounter the brokenness of this world and its impact on our individual lives, it is natural that our souls would be troubled. Over time, the seeming endless repetition of soul damaging experiences can leave us in a place of desperation. We become soul weary; weary of life itself. Some seek to deny their condition with the pursuit of pleasure or power. Others self-medicate with drugs, or alcohol, or the empty rush of brief, intense and empty relationships. Some abandon hope and choose suicide. Many descend into lives of quiet despair, marked by loneliness, bitterness, unforgiveness, gossip, envy and apathy.

The Good Shepherd of our souls keeps bringing us back to wholeness and peace.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

God does more than just keep us in perfect peace. He brings us into harmony with himself. Righteousness means to be right with God and to live a life that is pleasing to Him. Unlike the prior images, this one depicts a journey – into a right relationship with God, guided by the good shepherd, who leads us there because it is His very character to desire us in his presence. It is in this relationship that true abundance is found. The Shepherd leads us to right relationship, to right living, to himself.

Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.

David has been singing about God, but now, as he considers his inevitable journey into the valley of deepest darkness, into regions unknown and unknowable, he turns to God. It is not enough to be one of the many sheep following the path marked by the Good Shepherd. In the deep darkness of this valley, David seeks a more intimate presence. This darkest of valleys is the product of evil, the consequence of sin, the most jagged edge of our broken world. Here, especially, do we succumb to fear and despair. Here, especially, David relies on the Good Shepherd, who is greater than our fear, who knows the bright and beautiful place beyond the darkness, to carry him through.

At the very time when all that we own, all that we have accumulated throughout our lives, fades into the darkness, when the vast emptiness of eternity stretches before us, the Shepherd reveals a promise of abundance. We cast off the tents, ragged and torn, in which we have been dwelling, and take possession of the fine houses that will be our permanent homes. No longer aliens or strangers, we arrive at home – our Father’s house – and enter into his unceasing joy and endless abundance.

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

David’s confidence as he journeys through the dark valley is based on his confidence in the person and power of the Shepherd. He is comforted in the realization of God’s ultimate authority and absolute power, symbolized by the rod of the shepherd. This stout branch was never far from the shepherd’s hand. He was always ready to protect and defend the flock from any predator. As the flock passed beneath the outstretched rod, the shepherd had a means to count and examine closely every animal. Bunched together and milling about, the flock appears to be just a wooly mass, but the good shepherd is keenly interested not just in the flock, but in each individual sheep. His rod is the means by which he singles us out. Safe and known, David is comforted by the rod.

He is similarly comforted by the shepherd’s staff. The long crooked stick so symbolic of the shepherd was used to guide the sheep. A gentle nudge, a blocked turn, a drawing back from danger; all were accomplished by the shepherd with his staff. David knows that if God directs his paths, he will be safe.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

The psalm now shifts images – away from the quiet pastures of green grass and calm waters to the dangerous reality of David’s life. Here he envisions God not as a shepherd, but as a host. David has fled from those who would take his life and found refuge and sanctuary in the camp of a mighty king. Having been invited in as an honored guest, David receives the boundless and bountiful protection and provision of his host. With the army of his enemy arrayed against him, he reclines in perfect peace at the table of his guardian, who has prepared a feast to welcome him.

God does not promise us freedom and safety because he has caused our enemies to disappear. He offers us instead the security of Himself, a guardian and protector greater than any foe. We live our lives in the presence of our enemies. They call to us, to draw us away from God, tempting our lustful eyes and lustful hearts, enticing us to prideful living. They rattle their swords and shields in anticipation of attack and strike our souls with fear. They worry our anxious minds and trouble our deceitful hearts. But David reminds us, as Paul will centuries later, that God is for us and no one can stand against us.

You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows.

David does not allow the scene to depict only the gracious provision and protection of God. Certainly, from his desert hiding place, the idea of reclining there in the tent of the king would have been delightful; free of exposure to the burning sun and freezing nights, free of the fear of hunger and thirst, free of the ever present danger from his enemies. But, God is a God of abundance. He does not merely meet the needs of his guest, he exceeds them. He is lavish in his welcome. Of course, he sees that David’s feet are washed, as would any host, but God goes beyond ordinary politeness. He anoints David’s head with oil. Not only does he fill David’s cup, he fills it to overflowing. Because there is no end to his wealth and no end to his affection, he pours out his abundance upon David. Even as an exile in the desert, hunted and harried, surviving day by day, he discovers God is more than enough. We discover that same secret of contentment, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. We can do all things through him who gives us strength. (Philippians 4:11-13)

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.

David ends this song of praise to his God of abundance with one more image of ceaseless and unlimited grace. God’s goodness and love are not parceled out by the hour or day. His relationship with David is not brief or fleeting. This shepherd is no hired worker who checks out at the end of his shift to leave the flock in the care of another. No, David understands that the goodness and love he has experienced flow from God’s essential character and being. As surely as he is God, his care and provision will certainly secure and sustain us throughout our lives. And because his abundant love knows no measure, neither restricted nor restrained, even by eternity, we will dwell with him forever in full, rich, abundant life.