Psalm 23:2-4

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,^[a]I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 23:2-4 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 23

\\<>\\. Thus psalm was written by David, either when he was in distressed circumstances, being persecuted by Saul, and was in the forest of Hareth, 1Sa 22:5; as some think {r}; wherefore he comforts himself with the Lord's being his shepherd, so that he should not want; nor would he fear, was he in worse circumstances than he at present was; or rather, when he was settled upon the throne of Israel, and in the most prosperous and flourishing state of his reign, as the latter part of the psalm shows; he speaks not in his own person only, but in the name of all believers; for Christ, who is the shepherd spoken of, is a common shepherd to all the saints, who are all the sheep of his pasture, as well as David; and the prophet here makes use of similes very familiar with him; he having been a shepherd himself, and knew what it was to do all the parts of that office, which are herein expressed; and very pertinently does this psalm follow the former; for as there Christ is prophesied of as laying down his life for the sheep, as the good shepherd does; and of his being brought again from the dead, as the great shepherd of the sheep, as Christ has been; so here of his performing his office as such, in all its parts, to the great comfort, refreshment, and safety of his people. {r} Jarchi & Kimchi.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 36:8; Psalms 46:4; Ezekiel 34:14; Revelation 7:17
• 2. S Psalms 19:7
• 3. Psalms 25:9; Psalms 73:24; Isaiah 42:16
• 4. S Psalms 5:8; Psalms 85:13
• 5. Psalms 25:11; Psalms 31:3; Psalms 79:9; Psalms 106:8; Psalms 109:21; Psalms 143:11
• 6. S Job 3:5; Psalms 107:14; Job 10:21-22
• 7. Psalms 3:6; Psalms 27:1
• 8. Psalms 16:8; Isaiah 43:2

Footnotes

• [a] Or "the valley of the shadow of death"