Christian Pure

Psalm 23 Explained Verse by Verse: The Lord Is My Shepherd

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Psalm 23 is David’s song of trust in God as a shepherd who feeds, leads and guards his sheep, and as a host who sets a table for his guest.
  • David knew the work himself: he was keeping his father’s sheep when Samuel came to anoint him, and he went after a lion and a bear to save a lamb.
  • “I shall not want” means that in the Shepherd’s care we will not lack what we need: rest, a restored soul, a right path, company in the dark, a table and a home.
  • In the valley of the shadow of death the psalm turns from speaking about God to speaking to him: “for thou art with me.”
  • The table is laid in the presence of enemies, and what pursues the psalmist all his life is God’s goodness and mercy.
  • In Bibles that follow the Greek and Latin numbering, such as the Douay-Rheims, it is Psalm 22.
  • Jesus calls himself the good shepherd who gives his life for the sheep, and Revelation ends with the Lamb leading his people to living fountains of waters.

Psalm 23 is David’s song of trust in God, first as a shepherd who feeds, leads and guards his sheep, then as a host who sets a table for his guest. It says that with the Lord we lack nothing we need, fear nothing in the dark, and have a home with him for ever. Listen to how the voice changes as the psalm goes on. In the first three verses David talks about God: “he maketh me,” “he leadeth…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • The Holy Bible, King James Version (public domain), via BibleGateway: Psalm 23 (whole); 1 Samuel 16:11; 1 Samuel 17:35; Psalm 78:70; Genesis 48:15; Psalm 80:1; Ezekiel 34:15; 1 Peter 2:25; Luke 15:5; John 10:11, 14, 28; Luke 7:46; Hebrews 13:20; Matthew 27:46; Revelation 7:17. Douay-Rheims Bible, 1899 American edition (public domain), via BibleGateway: Psalm 22 (Psalm 23 in Hebrew numbering).
  • Charles H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Psalm 23, The Spurgeon Archive.
  • Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lecture 22 (On the Mysteries IV), sections 7–8, tr. E. H. Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, vol. 7, New Advent.
  • John Chapman, “St. Cyril of Jerusalem,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4 (1908), New Advent.
  • Walter Drum, “Psalms,” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12 (1911), on the numbering of the psalms, New Advent.
  • Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, NAS Exhaustive Concordance and Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew lexicon, via Bible Hub: tsalmaveth (6757), shebet (7626), mish’enah (4938), radaph (7291), hesed (2617).

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