“I am like a green pine tree; your fruitfulness comes from me.”
Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those who are discerning listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. But sinners stumble and fall along the way.
~ Hosea 14:8-9, New International Version (vs 8), New Living Translation (vs 9)
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
The Enduring Comfort and Promise of The Shepherd’s Psalm
By Denise Noe
Psalm 23, often called The Shepherd’s Psalm, is one of the most dearly loved passages of the Bible.
PSALM 23
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil: my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This description of the deity as a shepherd sets a mood that is reassuring in its ideal of the narrator being conscientiously cared for. The second verse brings to mind splendid images of tranquility in nature.
“He restoreth my soul” indicates how God replenishes the narrator. The second clause of this verse suggests that the narrator hews to morality for love of the “shepherd.”
The fourth verse recalls the nature imagery of the first verse but refers to its opposite in mood. Terror is “the valley of the shadow of death” but the narrator asserts a steadfast confidence, trusting the Lord to protect.
Among the definitions given by for Dictionary.com for “rod” is “an instrument of punishment or correction; figuratively, chastisement.” Chastisement seems absent from the comforting mood of Psalm 23. However, the rod of chastisement can be seen as something that comforts by setting necessary limits to human behavior.
Another definition given of a “rod” is “a wand, staff, or scepter carried as a symbol of office, authority, power, etc.”
Dictionary.com includes a similar definition for a “staff” as “serving as a symbol of office or authority.” It also tells us that a “staff” is something that “supports or sustains.” It is likely that the words in this Psalm are meant to convey a sense that a person’s psychological equilibrium is sustained by a caring divine authority.
Of course, the rod or staff is used by shepherds to herd flocks. It might strike some readers as odd that the narrator takes comfort in being viewed as a sheep. We often use the term “sheep” to refer to people who stupidly follow a leader. However, in the context of Psalm 23, the comparison seems to speak of the trust that sheep place in the shepherd. Dr. James Tedder, pastor of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Church of the Open Door, observes, “Sheep are by nature skittish and part of their security are the protection and assurance of the rod and the staff.”
The image in the fifth verse of a table prepared with a feast again brings us an image of the deity as a source of replenishment.
Then we come to the verse in which the Lord anoints the narrator’s head with oil. This is an act carrying great significance to ancient peoples, which the Bible has brought into our contemporary consciousness even as the specific custom of “anointing” has long since passed. In the era that the Bible was written, people were often officially consecrated to high office by the application of oil. Modern people still experience that “anointing” in a metaphorical sense.
The final verse of Psalm 23 echoes the assurances found in the previous passages and asserts security both in this life and the possible afterlife. “Goodness” in the final verse could refer to pleasant things while also indicating adherence to what the Psalmist regarded as upright moral principles. The Shepherd’s Psalm is dearly cherished by believers because the first part of it holds promises for this life and the second tells of promises for a life after it.