In the name of the Risen ☩ Lord. Amen.
The Lord is my shepherd…. I’m sure that many of us could recite the rest of Psalm 23 from memory. It truly is a wonderful part of Scripture and I’m glad it has entered into the hearts of so many Christians because, at its core, the 23rd Psalm is about God’s love, which is something we all need to be encompassed by. At the same time, familiarity can often lead to shallow and sentimental interpretations. So this morning, let’s get deeper into this profound poem of faith.
One historian has said that Psalm 23 is a staple of American civil religion. More than possibly any other piece of Scripture, Psalm 23 can be found in picture frames, on cross-stitch patterns, or children’s Bibles. Even if someone isn’t a member of a religious community, Psalm 23 and its references to green pastures, still waters, the valley of the shadow of death, and cups running over are known throughout our culture. This psalm is one of the most beautiful and deeply comforting passages in Scripture, but it ought not to be treated as sentimentally as it often is. While we can’t be certain of the exact historical context in which it was written, we can be sure of the emotional context that produced the psalm.
What leads to this proclamation of God’s shepherding is suffering, strife, and separation. As we walk through the psalm, that will become more apparent. But the overall emotions that we encounter here are that of relief and gratitude, suggesting that there was some sort of trial that led the author to experience the grace of God. The psalm isn’t about a vague abstraction about how God provides for us, it is rooted in a very real and personal experience of a time when God saved someone from the brink of death. And in the same way, what is proclaimed isn’t that God is with you in an imprecise or general way, but rather that God’s salvation to you is specific and rooted in your daily life. So bear in mind that this psalm wasn’t written as a theological treatise on the nature of God, it is a response to the experience of God’s saving love.
The place that you’ll most likely encounter Psalm 23 within the Church is at a funeral. And this makes sense, as what we’re yearning for upon the death of a loved one is comfort, which the psalm effectively provides. But the unintended consequence of hearing this psalm almost exclusively in the liturgical context of a funeral is that it robs it of its power. This psalm is not primarily about the comforting presence of God in our deaths, but rather in our lives. As we are in the Easter season, it is imperative to keep in mind that the Resurrection of Jesus Christ transforms our lives, not merely our deaths. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. This is a metaphor for the living. So also bear in mind that this psalm is about God’s saving grace not only in death, but even more so in the midst of life.
The psalm begins with the metaphor of a shepherd. Though you’ll sometimes hear shepherds described as social outcasts because of their work with dirty sheep, in the religious consciousness of Judaism, the figure of the shepherd was associated with royalty and divinity. The job of a shepherd is a precise one – if the shepherd is too strong in guiding, the sheep will see the shepherd as a threat. Sure, the shepherd could kick the sheep until they move, but that isn’t the way a good shepherd functions. But the reverse is also true, if the shepherd is too passive and lets the sheep wander wherever it wants, as sheep are prone to do, then a scarecrow would be just as useful. The shepherd is both strong and gentle – so don’t be surprised if sometimes God seems to be demanding while at other times far away. In either case, know that you are always within sight of the Good Shepherd who intends peace and goodness for you.
The psalmist proclaims because the Lord is our shepherd, that there is nothing that we lack. It’s instructive that this realization comes before the acknowledgment of God’s providence of green pastures and still waters. If we can trust that God’s got the whole world in his hands, that all shall be well, that Jesus is our Good Shepherd, then we can come to experience the fact that we already have enough. When we trust God to provide, indeed, we will not be in want. When we’re always worried about having enough then we just might overlook that the answer is “Yes. Yes, we do have enough.”
This provision of God is described as green pastures and still waters. But it’s the verbs that catch my attention in this verse. The first is that the Good Shepherd makes us to lie down, that is, to rest. How much of our lives do we spend worshipping at the altar of productivity? How much emotional and mental energy do we spend by always being busy? This psalm is a reminder that because we have a Good Shepherd, we can rest.
The second verb is “leads,” which reminds us that faith is a journey. So don’t be surprised if God takes you to new places. The Good Shepherd is going to lead you to the places where you will find still waters; waters where it is safe to drink from and find refreshment. Faith is dynamic, not static. There will be change, there will be movement, there will be new, even unfamiliar, surroundings. Now we can certainly choose to stay in the same place, but it may mean that the gentle waters turn into a rushing torrent, it may mean that the waters dry up. The Good Shepherd will usher us to still waters, but we’ve got to pick up our feet.
In the third verse, as often happens in translation, the nuance of the text is obscured. What we heard was “He revives my soul,” but the situation is more dire than that. You might think of it in terms of the Good Shepherd performing CPR. The notion behind this verse isn’t “He makes me feel better” or “He gives me a sense of peace,” but rather “When I was about to die, when I was laying there without breath, the breathed new life into me and resuscitated me.” Sometimes I worry that we aren’t bold enough in our faith, that we ask and expect too little of God. Certainly, you can read this verse metaphorically – God does give us peace in the midst of chaos. But that’s not all that God does for us. God really can breathe new life into dead situations, God really does heal us, God really does shepherd us. This psalm reminds us that we can ask the Good Shepherd to actually be good and to actually be our shepherd.
This psalm is also one of grace – as it says “He guides me along right pathways for his Name’s sake.” It’s been suggested that perhaps why people are so fond of this psalm is that it is very undemanding. It doesn’t talk about our sin, it doesn’t put any burdens of responsibility on us, it isn’t offensive to anyone. It’s not a psalm about what we do, rather it’s a psalm about what God does for us as our Good Shepherd. This gracious goodness is for “his name’s sake,” not for the sake of our righteousness, not our merits, not our asking. It is in the very nature of God to be the Good Shepherd and it is in our very nature to need a Good Shepherd. Sounds like a match made in heaven.
Sometimes these paths of righteousness along which we are led will go through dark valleys. The great preacher of the 1980s, William Sloane Coffin once said that what God gives us is maximum support with minimum protection. Again, that’s the balance of being a shepherd – guiding without burdening. The Good Shepherd is equipped with a rod and a staff and is always with us. God counters the evil we experience, but it may not be that the evil is eliminated. While love can redeem anything infected by evil, love does not conquer violence with more violence.
What we see in the Cross and validated on Easter is that Jesus is not the undefeated champion, he is the suffering servant. The victory of Easter is rooted not in brute strength or a winning strategy, but rather in God’s unwavering and constant love in the face of sin and death. The Good Shepherd is always with you.
And this divine presence is one of hospitality and abundance. The psalmist proclaims that even in the midst of trouble, a table is set for us. The metaphor has shifted from God as a shepherd to God as a host; and in that shift, we hear of God’s lavish love towards us. Oil, a sign of health and vitality, anoints us. Our cup is not merely filled, but it is running over. Though, if we’re used to filling our cup with other things, it might be that we don’t turn to God to fill our cups or we don’t have space to receive anything into them.
The psalm’s final verse is another in which the translation obscures the good news being proclaimed here. It’s not that God’s goodness and mercy shall “follow” us, but rather that they shall “pursue” us. It’s not that “follow” is wrong, it’s just not strong enough. God isn’t like a puppy that follows us around, rather God is a hound dog who relentlessly pursues us. The Jewish theologian Abraham Heschel has noted that so often we get the equation backwards. Faith is not about our search for God, it is about God’s search for us.
The Good Shepherd is pursuing you, wanting to lead you into the abundant life intended for you. The question is whether or not you’ll allow yourself to be caught. Will God’s goodness and mercy direct your life, or will something else? Do you embrace or resist the Good Shepherd’s claim on you?
Maybe you don’t have the confidence, or the trust, or the belief that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. This psalm though reminds us that faith and memory are always linked together. Maybe you’re not able to proclaim that Jesus is your Good Shepherd, maybe you have some doubts, maybe you have some fears. But you’re here this morning. I didn’t see any of you get dragged here. Reflect on what has brought you here. Reflect on moments in the past where you’ve encountered the Good Shepherd’s providing for you, or reviving you, or being with you in the dark valley, or giving you abundant hospitality, or when you encountered goodness and mercy. You might not feel those things right now, but think about how you’ve experienced the Good Shepherd in the past. You might just stop running and let goodness and mercy catch you.
What Psalm 23 proclaims is that God is in front of us, alongside us, and after us as our Good Shepherd. In Easter, we especially celebrate that this Good Shepherd is the Crucified and Risen Jesus Christ. Each of us are at a different place in our faith, but what unites us is that we are all members of the Good Shepherd’s flock. This week, I commend Psalm 23 to you as a way of spending some time with the Good Shepherd.
