Psalm 23

Summary

Psalm 23 is a six-verse song of trust, headed in the Hebrew Psalter as a psalm of David and placed in the first book of Psalms, between the anguished cry of Psalm 22 and the processional hymn of Psalm 24. Its speaker never asks for anything. Instead he declares who the LORD is and what follows from it: because the LORD is his shepherd, he shall not want. The first three verses describe God in the third person as the shepherd who leads his flock to green pastures and still waters, restores the soul, and guides it along right paths for the sake of his own name, so that God's reputation is bound up with the safety of the sheep. At verse 4 the psalm turns. The speaker imagines walking through the valley of the shadow of death and, at that darkest point, begins to address God directly: thou art with me, and the shepherd's rod and staff comfort him. Verse 5 changes the picture from pasture to banquet. God becomes a host who sets a table in full view of the speaker's enemies, anoints his head with oil as an honored guest, and fills his cup until it overflows. The last verse reverses the idea of pursuit: instead of enemies, goodness and mercy shall follow him all his days, and he will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. The Hebrew behind the shadow of death can also mean deep darkness, and the final phrase can be read as returning to the LORD's house for length of days; the King James wording, however, is the form that has shaped English devotion for four centuries. Jews and Christians have prayed the psalm in sickness, war and mourning. The church has long read it beside Jesus's words in John 10 about the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and it is among the texts most often read at Christian funerals. Metrical versions, above all the 1650 Scottish Psalter's The Lord's my shepherd, remain standard hymns.

Top Lessons

• Trust stated, not requested

  Psalm 23 contains no petition at all. The speaker simply names the LORD as shepherd and draws the conclusion that he shall not want. The psalm teaches that confidence in God can be voiced as a confession of fact before any need is met.

• Company in the valley

  The psalm does not promise that the speaker will avoid the valley of the shadow of death. It promises presence inside it, and the grammar marks the point: in verse 4 he stops speaking about God and speaks to him. Comfort here comes from a person, not from the removal of danger.

• From flock to guest

  Verse 5 turns the sheep into a guest at a feast, with oil on the head and an overflowing cup. The enemies are not destroyed; they watch. The psalm teaches that God's favor can be enjoyed in the presence of opposition rather than only after it has ended.

Verified Quotes

Medical Lens

Psalm 23 has no medical content, but it has long been one of the texts most often read to the dying and at funerals in English-speaking Christianity, and chaplains and nurses have used it at the bedside for centuries. For a history-of-medicine reader it is a fixed point in the religious care of the dying that ran alongside, and often preceded, medical care.

• Psalm 23:4

  The valley of the shadow of death verse, the part of the psalm most often spoken at deathbeds and in bereavement.