He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
Psalm 23 – a song of calm confidence
Many of us know it well. Perhaps we even recite the six verses of Psalm 23 even as I learned in the melodic flow of the King James Version of the Bible.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
David’s focus introduces his encounters with death. Believers and unbelievers alike frequently hear his psalm in the context of a life already lain down in the stillness of death.
No more want then…
So why would today’s want worry me today?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil:
Questions from fear
These are the words of Psalm 23 we know so well, yet in our DOUBT we do fear the death casting a deep shadow upon our days ahead.
We walk quickly along in our quickened last days of a mortal life spent yet not finished, an ending of struggle along a ledge between Light and complete darkness.
- Have I missed the table which the LORD hath prepared for me?
- Hath the LORD anointed me with prosperity?
- Doth the LORD overfill my cup with abundance?
Goodness and Mercy?
Surely goodness and mercy seem NOT to have followed me in these last days of my mortal life!
Certainly the LORD did bless King David all the days of his life, BUT what is missing in mine?
I walk in the shadow looking to my end in the valley, yet David seemed rested even before those somber last words:
May he rest in peace.
- WHAT have I missed that David seems to sing in this 23rd Psalm?
- REST and PEACE along this treacherous path toward the VALLEY of the SHADOW of DEATH.
He Leadeth Me
The reaffirming metaphor of the still waters assumes the still waters assumes the same role as that of the green pastures. Just as the grass of the green pastures is deep enoughto lie in, so also we must understand that still waters rund deem. Any deep experience with the Shephers can only be accomplished by time spent with the Shepherd, as the words lie down indicate.
King James Bible Commentary Psalm 23, p534
In addition to my memory of Psalm 23 in the King James, a 19th century hymn sung frequently by our local church encourages believers both corporately and individually.
Many may sing He Leadeth Me from the shadowed hillsides of our own valleys.
“He leadeth me, he leadeth me, for by his hand he leadeth me..
YET in our DOUBT and FEAR, let us remember the place of peace by which we may have quickly passed in Psalm 23.
for Thou art with me
I cannot cross into the Light with you.
The lonely lament of this shepherd so accustomed to the place of darkness in many fields of so many sheep among wolves does not lift me.
David was a king 3000 years distant from my own walk in the fields of death’s fear. He does not comfort me and my most beloved ones cannot go to the place where I must go in a time unknown to any of us.
Yet David’s Psalm was not addressed to ME, but to the LORD as well as his own beating mortal heart.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃
Yᵊhōvâ LORD rāʿâ my shepherd
תְהִלִּים (Psalm) 23:1
It is THE LORD who David asks to lead him.
And how?
By the LORD’s own actions this mortal shepherd will follow and obey the Shepherd of shepherds and the LORD of Lords.
We all like sheep have gone astray.
So ask Him: Where will He lead you?
Like me, you may have missed this:
He maketh, he leadeth, He restoreth, he leadeth
Do you see a tread of connection here in David’s Psalm?
He, THE LORD, leads — that is, IF we will humbly allow Him. BUT like sheep WE don’t particularly like to follow any lead other than our own.
AND we may have missed yet another comfort to David due to our own rebellion again the leadership of God (or anyone else, for that matter).
thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
OUCH!
Authority? Bowing down humbly to the LORD because HE IS more powerful than YOU?
Yet in death as in life, we remain powerless.
THY ROD speaks more to our relationship as people of the Shepherd than to the power and authority capable of beating us into obedience (which is not like the Lord who called us).
His staff which pulled you into mortality will lead you into eternity.
Therefore David concludes his Psalm from the valley of the shadow of death with a first person assurance with the LORD.
Where is the house of the Lord?
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thank you Lord.
thou anointest my head with oil;
Thank you Lord.
my cup runneth over.
Thank you Lord.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
David concludes with confidence of good in God’s mercy — why he trusts in the LORD and does not fear the evil of death — death before the Lord’s own appointed time. His confidence speaks forward to where he shall dwell once the LORD does raise him up from the valley of the shadow of death into the Light of the LORD’s own presence.
Where are YOUR still waters when you consider the valley of DEATH?
How do you envision this place beyond the deep waters and above the highest heavens of this temporal mortal place?
Who do you trust to lead you into the house of the LORD, forever?
Please SHARE your COMMENT or Questions about Psalm 23 AND Look for my Part 2 New Testament take on Christians humbly helping each other to navigate this shadowy path where sheep of the Lord should fear no evil.
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