Reading… and Thinking

The Lord is my shepherd.
    I am never in need.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
    He leads me beside peaceful waters.
He renews my soul.
    He guides me along the paths of righteousness
        for the sake of his name.
Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,
    because you are with me, I fear no harm.
        Your rod and your staff give me courage.
You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch.
    You anoint my head with oil.
        My cup overflows.
Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,
    and I will remain in the Lord’s house for days without end.

— Psalm 23 (GWT)

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar passages in the whole Bible. Many can recite it from memory. The very familiarity may cause us to slide over it, not really concentrate on what it’s saying. I’ve quoted from a version many may not be familiar with, just to get it into some slightly different words, so it looks fresher to our eyes.

The part that everyone remembers is the very beginning. David declares how God leads him, and leads him in very pleasant places, gives him renewal. I think that many folks kind of stop there. We shouldn’t.

The next sentence says that God guides him along paths of righteousness. What does that mean? He is saying that God’s providence guides him, and helps him to do right. And perhaps something more. Think about some of the most upright people in the Bible: Job, Joseph, Elijah (and Jeremiah and many of the prophets), the apostles, and in particular the Lord Jesus. These men walked in paths of righteousness – and as a direct result, they endured hardship, suffering, persecution, even death. Doesn’t sound like green pastures and still waters!

David’s next section makes it very clear that he’s thinking on these lines. He himself walked in righteousness, and suffered for it. “Even though I walk through the dark valley of death…” He did walk there, often. Saul tried to kill him a number of times, plus he frequently went out in battle. But, David’s point is that even there he felt the Lord’s presence with him. The Shepherd’s rod and staff nudging him in the right direction, or perhaps sometimes administering a whack, when that’s what was needed.

How does this mesh with the green pastures and peaceful waters? The answer lies in the word renew (or restore in some translations). That peaceful time is provided by God for renewal, for recharging. The first verses of this psalm should not create in us an expectation that we’ll always have it easy! If we turn our lives over to the Shepherd, He is going to lead us in paths of righteousness, and that might not be such a picnic. And, sometimes, He will lead us into the dark valley of death.

And then out again! Coming out of the dark valley, victorious, God presents David with a banquet. And David expresses his confidence in God’s goodness and His mercy, and confidence that he will live eternally in God’s presence, in His Kingdom. (The phrase “days without end” is usually translated “forever”. David is talking about receiving eternal life.) Is this the way we react to really serious trouble in our lives?

Whenever we read the Psalms, we should look for how they apply to Jesus. The New Testament makes it clear through many examples that we should read them this way. Jesus tells us that he is the good shepherd (as always, showing us what the Father is like), but he also took direction from the Father, as he repeatedly conveyed to both followers and opponents. There were precious few moments of green pastures, of renewal time. But certainly he was led by God in the paths of righteousness, and just as certainly walked all the way into the dark valley of death. And out of it again, at his resurrection!

Along the way he was given courage by the Father, his Shepherd. And very surely there will be a huge banquet, from which his enemies are excluded – in the Revelation it is called the marriage supper of the lamb. And he will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Jesus won’t be the only person at the marriage supper! All the faithful ones from all the ages will be there – they make up the “bride”. If we remain true to him, walking in those paths of righteousness, letting ourselves be shepherded, we too will dwell there, with him, forever!