A text – Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want on my life’s journey.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Only goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life,
and I shall turn toward the house of the Lord my whole life long.
A reflection:
As I prepared this devotion, I read a commentary by an Old Testament scholar who noted that, as it has been translated from ancient Hebrew over and over, scholars have been changing words over hundreds of years. The problem is, in our culture Psalm 23 in the King James phrasing has become iconic, and changing words feels like breaking the law! Still, for the sake of learning something new and not being locked into the meanings from the year 1611, let’s try it.
Suppose the psalm is about the semi-annual journey of taking the sheep to graze. Suppose the shepherd and his/her flock have to travel through challenging landscapes that might present perils like drought or wolves or thieves. Suppose all kinds of danger pursues this little group of journey-ers from home to the summer pasture. This sort of sheep journey was a well-known image to the 1000 BC folks David was writing for. but it isn’t familiar to most people today. So we might try thinking of it as people, not sheep, going on an adventurous tour of Rome or of Yellowstone. The amazing guide stays with us each day and night and knows where the pickpockets are or where the geysers can spring up out of nowhere and where wolves hunt their natural prey in the National Park.
We are the sheep/tourists and Jesus is the shepherd/tour guide, so we needn’t ever be afraid – we will lack for nothing. We’ll have plenty of safe and comfortable places to take breaks and sit down. We’ll be able to eat and drink something. We’ll be able to let go of nervousness and anxiety and have our souls restored, appreciating the beauty and the breezes around us. Our shepherd/guide has come up with this route because he/she has a reputation to keep up (a loving and practical shepherd/a savvy tour guide). Even in places of danger, the guide/shepherd is with us. He/she has maps, GPS, and contacts who can provide the latest reports. We can trust this leader to be good at guiding.
Eating and drinking are important. So are safety and honor. All of us sheep/tourists will be well-provided-for, and everyone watching us will see that fact. Our shepherd’s reputation overflows onto us. We are not pursued by thieves or predators. The only things pursuing us are goodness and mercy. And so? We will follow the lead of this shepherd/tour guide whenever we go out, for many journeys yet to come.
OK. What did you think? The psalm is about journeying all through the length of years, not getting to heaven, as we all like to think when we hear this psalm at a funeral. I’m persuaded that whenever we journey, we would do well to get ourselves a shepherd. We would appreciate so much more when we trust the guide and relax and look around us. This is the fullness of travel and the fullness of life: shalom.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for David’s psalm about the divine shepherd. Help us to rely on you more than we do, so that we can take the time to relax and enjoy the journey we are on. Amen.
