In some bibles this is Psalm 22 while in other bibles it's called Psalm 23. A number of bibles combine Psalms 9 and 10 which can throw the subsequent numbering this way or that. There's more online if anyone's interested.
Living on this planet means living with contrasts. Some folks don't like that - they want everything to be black or white. "You're in or you're out," they say. We'll see in this psalm that God allows for contrasts, even as to how we think of God or address God.
Verse 1: Notice here how personal the psalm is, "The Lord is my shepherd." Religion speaks of us and our, but this psalm is individualized and close: MY.
Living on this planet means living with contrasts. Some folks don't like that - they want everything to be black or white. "You're in or you're out," they say. We'll see in this psalm that God allows for contrasts, even as to how we think of God or address God.
Verse 1: Notice here how personal the psalm is, "The Lord is my shepherd." Religion speaks of us and our, but this psalm is individualized and close: MY.
God's name is ineffable (too great to be expressed or described in words) we shouldn't even speak God it. And so Israel found name substitutes. Lord is one of those divine words. It is a head-bowing word, a hushed word, full of courtesy.
Then, after calling God, Lord, God is called Shepherd. We might see the contrast with the depiction of God in Psalm 2 where God sits in heaven laughing the enemies to scorn. Then the psalmist speaks of God's anger, God's rage striking the enemies with terror. My goodness, in Psalm 2 God carries a rod of iron that will break the enemies like a clay jar!
But maybe Israel was getting tired of this image of a terminator God - exhausted with all the striking, shattering, burning and wiping off the face of the earth. Here in Psalm 22, the psalmist seems to step away from all of that and the rod of iron becomes a shepherd's crook. The terminator God becomes the gentle leader, the safe-keeper who is so aware of me in my struggles and who knows what I need: "There is nothing I shall want."
Then, after calling God, Lord, God is called Shepherd. We might see the contrast with the depiction of God in Psalm 2 where God sits in heaven laughing the enemies to scorn. Then the psalmist speaks of God's anger, God's rage striking the enemies with terror. My goodness, in Psalm 2 God carries a rod of iron that will break the enemies like a clay jar!
But maybe Israel was getting tired of this image of a terminator God - exhausted with all the striking, shattering, burning and wiping off the face of the earth. Here in Psalm 22, the psalmist seems to step away from all of that and the rod of iron becomes a shepherd's crook. The terminator God becomes the gentle leader, the safe-keeper who is so aware of me in my struggles and who knows what I need: "There is nothing I shall want."
Verses 2,3: Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Fresh and green! What an alive image - especially for people who live in a desert-y climate. Can you name that for yourself? Some life experience where you felt God's presence, such that you'd liken it to fresh and green?
The psalmist isn't finished: Near restful waters he leads me, to revive my drooping spirit. We all know what a drooping spirit feels like. The shepherd's promise is revival. God leads me to life again!
The shepherd also guides me along right paths. Lots of Christians have been taught that the right path means the sinless way. Oh, it's so much more than that! I'd suggest right path means God can lead me out of a too small vision of life, an un-fulfilling, unimaginative life-path, a self-degrading life-path, an all-in-the-head-no heart life-path, a life-path of divisions and barriers.
The Shepherd-God is true to his name. God can't be otherwise. If God is called Shepherd - then God is going to be a shepherd. We're the ones who wear masks and false personas, or who hide behind desks, labels, protocols, false smiles, hidden agenda. God understands us and shows a better way.
Verse 4: If I were to walk in a ravine as dark as death, I don't need to be gripped with fear - I can feel God at my side. No harm can come to me. A person who struggles with addiction or depression might understand this. The family which is falling apart can name this. The mid-life crisis guy (it's real!) can understand this. The person who just got a terrible diagnosis can understand this. The friendless person, the homeless person, the reduced-to-poverty person can understand this. A ravine as dark as death!
This psalm is the favorite all around the world because every person knows what it is to walk through danger and to feel the re-assurance of a divine companion.
We should take note that some translations say, even though I walk through the valley of darkness, and not just walk in. Walking through contains a sense of progress. Walk in could mean I'm just walking in circles. How patient God is, walking with me through it all, the advances and setbacks, the twists and turns. The stumbling.
The shepherd doesn't carry a staff to beat me - but to lend support in an environment where for heat and lack of water a human person is likely to stumble and faint. How considerate God is.
Verse 5: You prepare a table for me. An image of a God who delights in offering hospitality, especially when I am feeling oppressed. And again, can we think of enemy as an inner "thing" - not some person who makes trouble for me, who is a pain in the neck or a national rival. The inner enemy: maybe that is what AA calls my "stinking thinking." Christians know that stinking thinking isn't good for us - stealing away time, energy and creativity. When I find myself lost in a haze of stinking thinking, I don't obsess, but I pray, "Oh Jesus, such thoughts; have mercy."
You anoint my head with oil. Have you ever had poison ivy or been stung by bees, had those winter cracks in the corners of your thumbs or cut yourself shaving - and you found some healing stuff to use that takes away the discomfort. God doesn't want us pained and stressed of mind and soul. God wants us on our feet, happy about living. I'm thinking of the minister and his wife whose daughter was killed in the Texas church massacre recently. They ponder the words of this psalm and look for every sign of comfort and healing God might be sending. Usually that comfort and healing comes through the supportive love of other people - even strangers.
My cup brims over. We might know wonder-moments that seem to say: "This is just too good to be true," or "Who am I to have been given this?" A cup overflowing.
Verse 6: Surely goodness, kindness and faithful love follow me every day of my life. A senior parishioner shared with me her morning prayer practice which I have made my own. She said, "Every morning, as soon as I open my eyes, I don't get out of bed until I have said the Our Father - slowly and mindfully." God's kind awareness of me, God keeping me in mind through the night time to the new day. I want to acknowledge that thought, treasure it and begin the new day with the first steps into gratitude.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
The Lord's house doesn't mean temple, mosque or church. The house of the Lord - that's my heart. I want to live in my heart with God. "Come into my heart, Lord Jesus" the little First Communicants sing in May. "You're all in your head" we might say to someone who's a thinker type. We have to train passing our thoughts through our hearts. Social media can be the enemy of this - inviting us to weigh in on every topic and subject, responding to every thing we see and hear. But there's the challenge: It's the heart!
