“A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” -Psalm 23:title–6
It would be imprudent to analyze and contemplate this beautiful and beloved Psalm in its parts without first contemplating the whole. But a couple thoughts are in order by way of introduction.
First, we must not make the mistake of turning this Psalm into a clichéd quote to cross stitch onto a throw pillow. And this is the kind of thing we tend to do with such familiar passages. The depth and vividness of the imagery stirs our emotions—as it should—but there is something of our intellect that must process this Psalm as well. In other words, while it is beautiful and touching, it is also formidable and awesome!
The Psalm begins and ends with the Lord (YWHW), the sacred Tetragrammaton sometimes referred to in rabbinic literature as HaShem (The Name), because it was too holy to say out loud. As a matter of fact, this is where the name for the Lord, Jehovah comes from. Because YWHW was too holy to say our loud, Jews used the vowels from Adonai, placed them between YWHW, and arrived at Jehovah.
Second, the very center of the Psalm (think in terms of a chiastic poem) is verse 4: “Even 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.”
We are helped if we keep this structure in mind as we contemplate the Twenty-third Psalm.