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Psalm 23 – A Life that Lives and Thrives
Among believers this Psalm is most often used in funerals, which is a tragic loss. While capable of consoling at a time of personal loss, this Hebrew poem is not about death – it is about life; about one who lives and thrives through relationships, peace, gratitude, contentment, confidence, and security. The relationship is between a man and His Shepherd God, active, dependent, and personal – The LORD is My Shepherd. Psalm 23 is about peace, yet one that is uneasy to some because the painful truth is we cannot truly appreciate and understand peace except through experienced pain. The sheep’s peace is during troubling times; very real security in the midst of very real adversity. There is a restoration, implying rescue or need. There is evil, which is not to be feared. There is a valley of death, of deep darkness, to be walked through and out of. There are enemies in which a table is prepared. Never able to control what happens to us much of the time, we can always control how we respond because of our Shepherd. With the Good Shepherd, we can always have peace regardless of pain. David’s inspired peek into his soul is about gratitude and contentment. There are green pastures; still waters; a table; and an overflowing cup. No sense of self-entitlement or self-dependency. Hunted and hiding, David is amazingly calm, collected and content. Finally, Psalm 23 is about unconventional confidence, not in things, but in the Shepherd. God gave bears claws and strength; birds, wings to flee; snakes, venom and camouflage, all for self-defense. Sheep only have their shepherd for survival. The shepherd is the sheep’s self-defense. We are sheep. Our confidence can never be ourselves, but only in our Good Shepherd. All this leads to an unconventional life that despite life lives and thrives.
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