The Book of Psalms

Word Study

"the LORD," Hebrew YHWH (יְהוָה), the covenant name of God. The whole psalm rests on its first three words: "The LORD is my shepherd." If the LORD Himself, the almighty covenant God, is my shepherd, then I shall lack nothing I truly need.

"my shepherd," ro'i (רֹעִי) from ra'ah, to shepherd, feed, tend. David, who had kept sheep in the wilderness, knew exactly what a shepherd is to his flock, everything. The sheep is one of the most helpless of animals: it cannot find its own pasture, defend itself, or find its way home; it depends utterly on the shepherd for food, water, guidance, and protection. To say "the LORD is my shepherd" is to confess my own helplessness and His complete sufficiency. And notice the personal "my shepherd"; it is not enough to know the LORD is a shepherd, or the shepherd of Israel; faith says my shepherd, claiming Him personally. The sufficiency is not in the sheep but in the Shepherd.

"want," echsar (אֶחְסָר) from chaser, to lack, be in need. From that confession flows the conclusion: "I shall not want." He will supply pasture, water, rest, guidance, and safety, all of it. This is not a promise that I shall have everything I desire, but that under such a Shepherd I shall never lack any good thing. To have the LORD as your shepherd is to have every need met at its source.

Explanation

Do not miss what it costs to say these words. Remember who is speaking: David, who had himself been a shepherd in the wilderness, and who was now the king of Israel, the shepherd of a whole nation. And this man, who spent his life leading others, opens his most famous song by confessing that he is a sheep. To say "the LORD is my shepherd" you must first admit "I am a sheep", not the strong one, the led one; not the guide, the guided; not the defender, the defenceless. The shepherd-king lays down his crook and takes the lowly place of the flock. And notice how solitary the whole psalm is: from first verse to last it is "my," "me," "I", one Shepherd and one sheep, never a crowd. There is no hiding in the flock here. Each believer must make this confession alone and personal, not "the LORD is Israel's shepherd" but "the LORD is my shepherd", and the moment you do, the great conclusion is already secured: "I shall not want." The self-sufficient never say it; only those humble enough to be sheep discover that under such a Shepherd they lack nothing at all.

Gospel Focus

"The LORD is my shepherd", and the LORD who is our Shepherd came in flesh as Jesus Christ, who said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). This is a precious proof of who Jesus is: the LORD, YHWH, is the Shepherd of Psalm 23, and Jesus declares Himself that very Shepherd, for in Him the one LORD has come to seek and save His sheep. He is the Shepherd promised by Ezekiel, "I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David" (Ezekiel 34:23), and the Shepherd who says, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine" (John 10:14). He proved Himself the good Shepherd not merely by feeding and guiding, but by dying: He laid down His life to rescue the flock, and rose as "that great shepherd of the sheep" (Hebrews 13:20), the "chief Shepherd" who will appear in glory (1 Peter 5:4). Because the Lord Jesus is our Shepherd, we "shall not want", He has met our deepest need at the cross, and He supplies all our needs "according to his riches in glory" (Philippians 4:19). Do you know Him as your shepherd? To follow the voice of Jesus is to lack no good thing, in life or in death.

Word Study

"valley of the shadow of death," Hebrew gei tzalmavet (גֵּיא צַלְמָוֶת), a deep, dark ravine, the deepest darkness. The scene darkens. The path of the sheep sometimes runs through "the valley of the shadow of death", a deep, shadowed ravine where danger lurks and the light scarcely reaches. This is the picture of life's darkest passages, and supremely of death itself. Yet notice three comforts. First, the sheep only "walks through" it; the valley is a passage, not a dwelling, with an exit on the far side.

"fear," ira (אִירָא). Second, "I will fear no evil", and this not because the valley holds no danger. The fear is answered, not by the removal of the threat, but by something else altogether.

"with me," immadi (עִמָּדִי). The reason given is "for thou art with me." Note the change: in the green pastures David spoke of the Shepherd as "he"; now in the dark valley he speaks to Him as "thou." Trouble draws the sheep closer to the Shepherd; the darkness turns description into conversation.

"rod," shevet (שֵׁבֶט), the club to drive off predators. Third, "thy rod and thy staff they comfort me". The rod is the shepherd's club that beats back the wolf.

"staff," mish'enet (מִשְׁעֶנֶת), the crook to guide and rescue the sheep. The staff is the crook that pulls the sheep from the pit, the tool of guidance and rescue rather than of battle.

"comfort," yenachamuni (יְנַחֲמֻנִי). The very instruments that seem hard, discipline and correction, are comforts, because they are in the Shepherd's hand. The secret of the valley is not the absence of danger but the presence of the Shepherd. He does not lead the sheep around the valley but through it, and He goes every step alongside.

Explanation

Stand this verse in the middle of the psalm and you will see it is no accident that the darkest line falls at the very centre. Psalm 23 climbs down into "the valley of the shadow of death" exactly at its heart, and there, at the turning point of the whole song, sits its shortest, strongest phrase: "for thou art with me." Everything before it, the pastures, the still waters, the paths, has been leading down toward this valley; everything after it, the table, the oil, the overflowing cup, flows out from it. The hinge of the entire psalm is not a place or a provision but a presence. Two small things sharpen the comfort. First, the sheep walks through, it does not run in panic or freeze in terror, but keeps an unhurried pace, the very gait of faith, because Someone is beside it. Second, in this whole psalm crowded with good things, "evil" appears only once, right here (v4), and it appears only to be disarmed: "I will fear no evil." The single shadow in the song is named just so it can be un-feared. The valley is real, the danger is real, but the Presence at the centre swallows the fear.

Gospel Focus

"Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me", the believer can walk the dark valley without fear because Jesus Christ has walked it first and walks it still with His own. The Good Shepherd went down into the deepest valley of all, into death itself, laying down His life for the sheep, and rose again, so that for those who are His, death is now a valley to pass through, not a pit to perish in. He "hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Timothy 1:10). Because He is risen, "them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him" (1 Thessalonians 4:14). And His promise holds through every dark passage: "lo, I am with you alway" (Matthew 28:20); "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). The presence that turned David's fear to peace is the abiding presence of the risen Christ, our Shepherd, who goes with us step by step. So the child of God can face the last enemy and say, "O death, where is thy sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55), for the Shepherd who conquered death is at our side. Fear no evil; He is with you, and the valley opens at last into the house of the LORD.

Word Study

"surely," Hebrew akh (אַךְ), an emphatic "only, surely." The psalm ends in settled assurance. "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life." The little word is emphatic, an "only, surely" that leaves no room for doubt about what is coming after him.

"goodness," tov (טוֹב). It is not enemies who pursue David; it is God's own goodness, chasing after him every day of his life.

"mercy," chesed (חֶסֶד), steadfast covenant love. With that goodness runs God's steadfast covenant mercy. What a picture: the sheep is not only led by the Shepherd in front but pursued by His goodness and mercy behind, hemmed in on every side by the kindness of God, so that he cannot escape the love that hunts him.

"follow," yirdefuni (יִרְדְּפוּנִי) from radaph, to pursue, chase after. The word for "follow," radaph, is stronger than a gentle following; it means to pursue, to chase after, the word used of enemies hunting a man down. "All the days of my life", not just the sunny days, but every day, including the valley.

"dwell," veshavti (וְשַׁבְתִּי). And the destination is home: "I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." The word is not of a visit but of a settled abiding.

"house of the LORD," beit-YHWH (בֵּית־יְהוָה). The sheep that the Shepherd leads and goodness pursues will arrive at last in the Father's house, to dwell there not for a night but "for ever."

"for ever," le'orekh yamim (לְאֹרֶךְ יָמִים), literally "for length of days." The psalm that began with "the LORD is my shepherd" ends in the LORD's own house forever, the goal of all the leading, the safe fold at the end of every valley.

Explanation

There is a deep irony in the word "follow," and it would not have been lost on David. The verb is radaph, to pursue, to hunt down, and it is the word that stalked David through much of his life: Saul pursued him from cave to cave, Absalom's army pursued him across the Jordan, enemies "hunted" his soul for years. He knew what it was to be chased. And now, at the end of the psalm, the pursuit has been turned completely inside out. Something still hunts him, still tracks him every day, still will not let him go, but it is no longer Saul, no longer any foe; it is "goodness and mercy", God's own kind provision and His covenant love, running him down all the days of his life. The man once hunted to be destroyed is now hunted to be blessed. And watch how the chase ends. A pursuit usually ends when the quarry is caught or killed; this one ends when the fugitive comes home: "I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever." The goodness and mercy that followed him all his days finally catch up with him at the door of the Father's house and move in to stay, no longer escorts on the road but housemates for ever. For the sheep of this Shepherd, even the hunt is grace, and it runs all the way to home.

Gospel Focus

"I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever", the Good Shepherd leads His sheep all the way to the Father's house, and has gone ahead to prepare a place for them. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions... I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:2-3). The goodness and mercy that pursue us all our days are the very goodness and mercy of God poured out in Christ, who will lose none of His sheep: "they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:28). The dwelling for ever in God's house is the eternal life the Shepherd purchased, where the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne "shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes" (Revelation 7:17), Psalm 23 fulfilled in glory, the Shepherd feeding and leading His flock beside the living waters for evermore. So the best-loved psalm ends where the gospel ends: safe home, in the house of the LORD, for ever, all because the Good Shepherd sought us, died for us, rose for us, and will bring us to be where He is. Follow His voice now, and dwell with Him for ever.