Psalm 23
BSB
The LORD Is My Shepherd
(Ezekiel 34:11–24; John 10:1–21)
A Psalm of David.
1The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
for the sake of His name.
4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6Surely goodness and mercy will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.
Introduction
Psalms 23
Many of David's psalms are full of complaints, but this is full of comforts, and the expressions of delight in God's great goodness and dependence upon him. It is a psalm which has been sung by good Christians, and will be while the world stands, with a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. I. The psalmist here claims relation to God, as his shepherd (Psa 23:1). II. He recounts his experience of the kind things God had done for him as his shepherd (Psa 23:2, Psa 23:3, Psa 23:5). III. Hence he infers that he should want no good (Psa 23:1), that he needed to fear no evil (Psa 23:4), that God would never leave nor forsake him in a way of mercy; and therefore he resolves never to leave nor forsake God in a way of duty (Psa 23:6). In this he had certainly an eye, not only to the blessings of God's providence, which made his outward condition prosperous, but to the communications of God's grace, received by a lively faith, and returned in a warm devotion, which filled his soul with joy unspeakable. And, as in the foregoing psalm he represented Christ dying for his sheep, so here he represents Christians receiving the benefit of all the care and tenderness of that great and good shepherd.
A psalm of David.
Cross-references: Ps 23:1 · Ps 23:2 · Ps 23:3 · Ps 23:5 · Ps 23:4 · Ps 23:6