A Psalm of David.
PSALM 23 and the Song “The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want.”
The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
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 have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23 is one of the most popular of the psalms in Scripture. For me, it is my favorite. I learned and memorized this psalm as a teenage member of Girls’ Auxiliary. We would actually demonstrate the psalm when we recited it, etching the words and meaning in an indelible place in my mind and heart. The psalm became a reference point as it identified with a lot of my experiences as a young believer, as well as a great Scripture verse for the inspiration for an adult woman, wife, and mother. This psalm has spoken to me in times when I needed direction and focus, companionship, protection and purpose in life. It is one of the Scripture verses I would say was inscribed on my tabula rasa. It’s never going to go away from me in life. And I like the confidence that gives me.
David, the writer of Psalm 23 was a little shepherd boy who knew a lot about tending the sheep. I speculate he must have experienced a unique relationship with the God of Israel hence his ability to express his understanding of the LORD as his shepherd. He saw God as the shepherd who watched after His flock {humans}, to care for them and to prevent any harm from coming to them making ‘sure that they are safe, nourished, calm and happy at all times.’ This reminds me of the song, “Don’t worry, Be Happy” by Bobby McFerrin.
The theology of the hymn “The Lord’s my Shepherd,” I’ll not want is sound and biblical, to say the least. One would assume that Jesus alluded to this psalm when he asserted, “I am the good Shepherd…” (John 10:11). Throughout the Old Testament, God demonstrated His providential care for His people the way a good shepherd would protect, nourish, chastise, lead and instruct the sheep. God appointed leaders for His people, such as Moses, Samuel; David shepherded Israel. David, the man after God’s heart, led Israel to rout all their enemies and conquer territories, establishing a peaceful kingdom for his son, Solomon. Moses and David were both shepherds who gleaned from their actual flock tending experiences, the meekness and compassion that characterized leadership. Christians have a wonderful assurance of God’s presence as they carry out the Great Commission. The Shepherd, Jesus Christ our LORD, says, “Lo, I am with you always…” (Matthew 28:20) echoing the last verse of Psalm 23 “Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Apart from David’s prowess as a Shepherd boy who would go to any length to protect his flock, David is a young shepherd who first gained fame as a musician and later by killing Goliath. Which is how he came to play the harp to soothe King Saul’s demons (I Sam 17: 36, 37). Needless to say, David was a composer of music and it is very possible that Psalm 23 was a poem that David not only composed but also played on his harp.
Psalm 23 has given inspiration to so many songwriters. “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” was authored by Francis Rous and found in The Psalms of David in Meter (Edinburgh, 1650), though the Scottish Psalter is probably the most popular. ‘Though one of the best examples of a Scottish psalm in meter, the grammatical structure of the text is twisted for the sake of rhyme — the mismatch of textual and musical phrases is especially problematic in stanza 1. But the rugged strength of the verse and the powerful imagery of this Psalm have endeared this Scottish versification to many believers through the centuries.”
The psalm is a Scripture song for liturgical use. This means that it was used for worship and song by the congregation. The most common tune that it was sung to was CRIMOND composed by Jessie Seymour Irvine (1872) to a common meter 8.6.8.6. This song has continued to be the most sung metrical psalm from the Scottish Psalter. Many tunes have been used with this common meter but the most favored tune is the CRIMOND in F Major.
Little wonder that the hymn “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Want” continues to be a traditional classic hymn suitable for congregation singing and compatible to the faith and beliefs of many Christian denominations because of its close correlation with Psalm 23.
