Source: http://hwallace.unitingchurch.org.au/WebOTcomments/LentA/Lent4APsalm23.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 08:19:04+00:00

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The fourth Sunday in Easter is traditionally known as ‘Shepherd Sunday’ and Psalm 23 is set each year as the psalm for that day. There it is associated with other readings focusing on the theme of shepherd(ing), especially John 10. It is interesting this week to consider Psalm 23 in the context of Lent. It is not an unusual choice in that the theme of Psalm 23 is that of rest, comfort and security on a journey; a theme most appropriate for our ‘Lenten pilgrimage’.
was sent to anoint him king over Israel (1 Sam 16:11). Thus it is appropriate with today’s Old Testament reading. With its peaceful tone and the varying images of sheep in a pastoral scene, Psalm 23 can be envisioned as written by a poet shepherd, meditating on God’s faithful provision. However, some modern scholars have associated the psalm with the exodus of the people of Israel out of Egypt. Themes from that story are repeated in the psalm. What could have been the poem of a shepherd boy thus becomes the song of the whole people of Israel.
Two images dominate the psalm: that of the shepherd with his/her sheep (vv. 1-4) and that of a banquet with military overtones (v. 5). These images may seem worlds apart to us but they were not in their ancient setting. Right across the ancient Near East kings were referred to as ‘the shepherds’ of their people. So in its ancient setting the shepherd imagery of Psalm 23 already alludes to David, its ‘author’, as king. Moreover, the reference to him as keeping the sheep for his father in 1 Sam 16:11 prefigures the royal calling about to be bestowed on him in that passage.
There is one other division in the psalm. While at the beginning and at the end, the psalmist speaks about the Lord, in vv. 4-5 the psalmist speaks directly to the Lord as ‘you’. This happens precisely at the point of greatest danger. Trust in the Lord’s protection and provision is thus not only something that the psalmist can speak about at a distance; they are part of his/her personal experience. They emanate from an intimate, personal relationship with the Lord. The surpassing peace and trust that the psalmist knows stand against the threats implied behind the scenes of shepherd care. There is here a trust that allows the psalmist not to fear.
The shepherd imagery focuses entirely on the Lord’s provision for the people. The second clause of v. 1, ‘I shall not want’, speaks not about what I might desire, but the complete provision of the Lord’s shepherd-like care. The sense of the Hebrew is that there is nothing else that ‘I’ might need. In v. 2, the shepherd makes the sheep to rest in green pastures where there is ample food. There is also water to assuage thirst, ‘waters of rest’ in the Hebrew, connoting both physical needs met and rest for the spirit.
In v. 3, the psalm continues ‘he restores my soul’, literally in the Hebrew ‘my life’. The implication for the psalmist is that they have been given rest and safe provision after a time of threat and danger. The sheep is also led ‘in right paths’ by the shepherd, whose choice of safe pasture is central to the provision for the sheep. The older King James translation (KJV) of ‘in paths of righteousness’, while possible from the Hebrew, tends to indicate a sense of moral uprightness. That is not the sense of the Hebrew. ‘Safety and sustenance’ are the twin themes in these early verses. All this is done ‘for his name’s sake’, that is, because of who the Lord is. Such protection and provision are an expression of the Lord’s nature.
This psalm has a long history of devotional use in Christian tradition. Many hymns have been based on it. There are two ways in which it has been understood, depending on how certain phrases have been interpreted. The psalm is commonly chosen for funerals. This has been the case when the translation of v. 4 has been something like ‘though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’ as in the KJV. This has been coupled with a translation of the end of v. 6 as ‘for ever’. Thus the psalm has been linked to the hope of resurrection and a steady presence through the frightening landscape of terminal illness. The NRSV translates v. 4 as ‘Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me….’ The image of the ‘darkest valley’ could thus encompass a wider range of human experiences than just the fear of death implied in ‘valley of the shadow of death’. The end of v. 6 is also translated in the NRSV as ‘my whole life long’ or literally from the Hebrew as ‘for length of days’.
In this way the psalm has to do with trust in the days of our lives rather than just through the passage of death. In short, it is more about what Christians would call ‘discipleship’ than it is about death. So in preaching, application could be made to depression or other dark passages of life, illness or broken relationships. In v. 4 the shepherd’s tools of rod and staff are signs of comfort and guidance, means of discipline and direction through the life of faith.
In v. 5, the scene shifts and the Lord is pictured as an hospitable host, preparing a table with food and drink, and anointing the head of the visitor. For the Christian preacher, there are overtones of the Eucharistic meal here, and the anointing of one with Davidic connection may have echoes of the anointing of a king or even a Messiah (see the Old Testament passage, 1 Sam 16:1-13). The statement in Ps 23:6 that ‘goodness and mercy’ (kindness) will follow the psalmist all their life, loses the strength of the Hebrew. The word translated ‘follow’ more properly gives the sense of ‘pursue’ or ‘chase’. The trust of the psalmist throughout their life is more than matched by the persistence of the Lord in the sustenance and care of God’s people. Such is the greatness of the Lord’s mercy and the preacher might want to reflect on that in light of the depth of God’s love pursuing us through the death and resurrection of Christ. The psalm ends with a statement of deep, life-long faith.
Preachers may find in this psalm of trust resonance for our times that includes daily reports of natural disaster, crimes against helpless societies and groups, and threats of terror. In all this they can proclaim the abiding, merciful, and persistent presence of God, our source of lasting comfort and security.
he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

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