Psalms 23 Footnotes

Ps 23 This well-known psalm is a psalm of confidence. The meditation uses the settings of the shepherd in the field (vv. 1-4), the host in the banquet hall (v. 5), and finally the sanctuary itself (v. 6).

23:1 The metaphor of the shepherd was a common figure for religious and political leaders of antiquity (2:9). It therefore became a powerful image for the coming Messiah (74:1-4; 80:1; Is 40:11; Ezk 34; Mic 7:14). The NT confirms that passages like this point to the ministry of Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd who lays down his life (Jn 10:14), the great Shepherd who equips the saints (Heb 13:20), and the chief Shepherd who comes in glory (1Pt 5:4). The descriptions of the shepherd here portray how the Lord teaches, heals, guides, and protects.

23:4 The “darkest valley” (sometimes translated the “valley of the shadow of death”) does not mean that the psalmist died, only that he might find himself in a situation where death was a distinct possibility. The phrase the darkest valley alludes to the deep canyons in the wilderness into which one might fall and not escape unless God intervened.