Few songs sacred or secular can claim such unqualified approval
as that accorded the 23rd Psalm.
Few have the permanence which keeps it fresh and timely after
thousands of years of use. It enshrines a message for every
generation for it deals with the deepest thoughts and emotions
of people who are concerned about their lives and their relations
with God.
The Psalmist’s faith and trust in God is described
in memorable words with always topical connotation for what
he describes as his experience of God is a sentiment to be
used by all those who share his faith in God.
The Psalm is used so extensively that our indebtedness to
the Psalmist is incalculable. If we are looking for divinely-inspired
thinking and writing here it is.
The Psalmist is markedly simple, and economical, in his use
of words. Though the Psalm comes out of the mysterious East
and a way of life very different from that of much of the
world the fact that it is applicable to those who believe
in God is to accept that whatever changes there are in the
world the basic needs of people remain constant. Peace of
mind and contentment of soul are always to be sought after.
The Psalmist sees God as the Good Shepherd where others thought
of Him differently - as the great King resplendent in
heaven, “O Lord, you are my God and King,” as
the great judge, “Judge eternal throne in splendour,”
and as the great architect of the universe, “When I
consider the heavens the work of your fingers.”
The Psalmist in his pastoral setting sees how the shepherd
tends his sheep and supplies their every need, and God to
him is the Good Shepherd who cares for him like that and so
he says: “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside the still waters.” In the East at
noon when the sun is at its fullest the shepherd settles his
flock in a green shaded hollow until the intense heat has
passed.
He compares that with how God in the heat and burden of the
day brings him to the quiet place of rest and refreshment,
and keeps him in safety until the heat has abated. Because
the shepherd he sees at work leads his sheep he speaks of
the Good Shepherd leading him. “He restores my soul.”
“He restores my failing health. He helps me to do what
honours Him the most.”
In Hebrew “restore” is to turn back. The Psalmist
says, just as the ever watchful shepherd turns back straying
sheep, God keeps him on the right road, “guarding and
guiding all the way.”
And even should the way lead through “the valley of
the shadow of death,” the glen of gloom and the depth
of despair, he is safe in the company and strength of the
Good Shepherd of whom he says, “You are with me, your
rod and your staff comfort me.”
The shepherd’s weapon of defence against wild beasts
was his rod, a short thick club; the staff was a crook, with
which to pull the sheep to safety from danger. With them he
guards his sheep against attack and from the death which lurks
in the dark in the shape of a wild beast or a human set to
steal or kill them.
Rehbany, the Syrian writer, author of “The Syrian Christ”
tells of Yussuf, a shepherd, and how he defended his sheep.
Yussuf helped him to understand what the Psalmist meant when
he referred to “the valley of the shadow of death.”
Paul echoed the Psalmist when out of his experience he said:
“I know the one in whom I have placed my confidence;
and I am perfectly certain that He is able to keep that which
I have put into His hands.
The Psalmist changes course when he has the Good Shepherd
become the Bountiful Host. “You prepare a table before
me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with
oil, my cup runs over.” The oil and the cup bespeak
the thoughtfulness and generosity of the host. But what of
“in the presence of my enemies.”
The law of the desert decreed that the Bedouin sheik must
give shelter to the fugitive who seeks his protection so that
while he has the sheik’s hospitality his foes will not
harm him. Using that thought the Psalmist says: “Keep
away all you who would do me harm. God is my host and my protector
and I fear not what men may do to me.”
Succour, protection and guidance are God’s gifts to
the Psalmist. In that certainty he rejoices, “Surely
your goodness and love shall be with me as long as I live.
Your house will be my home for ever.”
No image has appealed more to the Christian than that of
Jesus the Good Shepherd, a description He applied to Himself.
For the Christian believes that his faith in Christ guarantees
his safety, salvation and satisfaction; that peace and joy
are found in Him.
The regret of the Christian is that many who speak and sing
the 23rd Psalm lack the Psalmist’s faith in God. They
do not commit themselves to Him to enjoy the benefits of a
relationship which is altogether desirable and necessary.
The Psalm to the Christian is a constantly repeatable statement
of what he believes about God and how he should live with
people because of his faith in God “who loves each one
of us as if there was but one of us to love.”
Rev. Canon Dr. S.E. Long
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