Psalm 23

This is not something that I've done up to this point, however, I have seen a few expositions on Psalm 23, quite a few of which are basically modern nonsense, and I think some real clarity and Biblical perspective is called for.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

Psalm 23:3 He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Psalm 23:4 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.

Psalm 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Psalm 23:6 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.

Of course this is a favorite scripture of a great many people, and no wonder, but what about the imagery?

In some ways it's pretty simple, but all the more beautiful for it. Most of the imagery would have been very easy to understand at the time, and even now amongst people who have sheep, but for the rest of us, we can use some help understanding. Some of this comes from my Sunday School teacher, Rick, who is also our Church's School Administrator, so, a thank you to him.

The Lord is my shepherd.

First of all, I think it's significant that David here basically calls himself a sheep, which is true in a Spiritual sense, but it's tough to say because sheep are dumb, and I mean really dumb. Sheep are among the dumbest animals that God created, and David, having been a Shepherd himself, would have known and understood this far better than we can today. Sheep constantly need to be watched over, guided and cared for, and hey, look at that, so do we.

I shall not want.

This refers to the fact that Shepherds take care of their sheep, they don't make the sheep go off and fend for themselves. This does not imply that God will give us everything we want in life, it speaks of Him meeting our needs, not fulfilling every desire of our human nature.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.

Sheep are very skittish and excitable creatures, and can be very difficult to calm down when something gets them going, so a Shepherd will take the sheep and lay it down on the ground, and hold it to the ground with both hands until it calms down, and stops being overly excited. I think this refers to us casting all our cares upon Him, but sometimes we don't, and we need Him to make us calm down, and though He certainly could use His own hands to do this, He will likely use other Christians to bring us back to reality.

He leadeth me beside the still waters.

Again, sheep are very skittish, and if they are lead near a raging river, or a stream that is choppy from going over rocks and such, they will get scared and run off, and be in need of being made to lie down in green pastures, so a Shepherd would take them someplace where the waters are calm, and not going to set the sheep off.

He restoreth my soul.

Sheep are very needy. They need to be reassured, and it does them good to know that the Shepherd is there, and loves them, and cares about them, and will take care of them and make sure their needs are met.

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Sheep don't really know where to go on their own, they need to be lead, and the Shepherd will take them where it is safe to go, avoiding the paths that are fraught with peril, in favor of the good paths. This is something that we need in life just as much as sheep do. On our own we will go to places that God wouldn't want us to go, and if we follow Him, He will lead us to where we need to go, where it is safe for us, Spiritually, so that we won't be placed in undue temptation.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Once again, sheep are very skittish, but, they can walk through scary places if the Shepherd is there with them. It will make them feel safe, just being in his presence.

Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me.

The shepherds staff, as most of us who grew up in Church learned long ago, is a long stick with a hook on the end that the shepherd uses to guide the sheep, and uses the hook to lift sheep who have fallen into holes or off of embankments and such. The rod is a much shorter stick, much more akin to a club for fending off wolves and other predators.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.

When a shepherd would bring his sheep to a field where they would feed, before allowing the sheep to start feeding, he would use his staff to move the grass in order to search for vipers, and if he found any he would pour some oil around the holes that the vipers lived it so that they couldn't get out of the hole, or, at least it would be very difficult for them, so the vipers would be able to watch the sheep eating, but not be able to get to them.

Thou annointest my head with oil.

There are two possible meanings here. Given the context it likely refers to the shepherd putting oil on the head/neck area of the sheep so that they would smell to the vipers the same as the oil around the holes, if the vipers did happen to get out, it would be a bad smell of warning to them, and they would leave the sheep alone. The other meaning could be a reference to the treatment for "scab" a common ailment amongst sheep, which would be treated by oil mixed with spices, and needs to be treated quickly lest is spread throughout the entire flock. So, it could be about God's protection, or about God taking away our blemishes, or it could be both, as both are true.

My cup runneth over.

I'm not sure about a reference to sheep here, but if anyone else does, please let me know. I do think though that this still talks about the blessings of God.

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.

When being cared for by a shepherd, a sheep doesn't have a half bad life. Again, this isn't about personal prosperity, it is about following God leading to a fulfilling life in Him, and Him giving us a home forever.