Nothing I Lack Beside Quiet Waters-Psalm 23:1-2

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

In 2019 we prayed to see Jesus more clearly (Mk 8:25); in 2020 we pray to hear the voice of our good shepherd (Jn 10:3). The shepherd imagery is found throughout the Bible. Jacob before he died says, “…the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day” (Gen 48:15). David says, “The Lord is my shepherd” (Ps 23:1). Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd” (Jn 10:11). Finally, Peter says, “Be shepherds of God’s flock” (1 Pet 5:4). I pray that we desire to know our good shepherd and hear his voice in 2020. Today, the opening verses of Psalm 23 peotically expresses that life with our good shepherd looking after us is described as lacking nothing beside quiet waters (Ps 23:1-2).

The famous good shepherd psalm Ps 23 is intimidating for its richness with centuries of awed devotion to the Lord, who “is my shepherd” (Ps 23:1) and who is “with me/us” even in the deep shadows of death (Ps 23:4). There’s also 2 millennia of loyalty to Jesus the good shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep (Jn 10:11). Kenneth Bailey came up with a parody of the 23rd psalm, called…

The 23rd Channel

  • The TV (PS4, Xbox) is my shepherd; I shall not want. It makes me lie down in the reclining chair. It leads me away from truth, beauty and goodness; It destroys my soul. It leads me in paths of sex and violence for the sponsor’s sake.
  • Yea, though I walk in the shadow far from faith, there will be no interruption. For the TV is with me. The cable and its remote control they comfort me. It prepares a commercial before me in the presence of my worldliness. It anoints my head with materialism. My covetousness runneth over.
  • Surely laziness and passivity shall follow me all the days of my life. And I shall dwell in my house forever mesmerized by the TV … and by Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Xfinity, HBO and recently by the new Disney channel.

Psalm 23 has 7 units, the building blocks of the psalm. The author of ring composition [chiasm, inverted parallelism] often connects the beginning, center and end of the text. The 1st person I makes that connection in this text. The shift to 3rd person he appears in the 2nd and 3rd units. In units 5 and 6, God “walks on stage” and the conversation between God and David becomes highly personal. Units 1, 4 and 7 are so closely connected that if the psalm were composed of those three units alone, it’d still make sense.

A 2nd feature of ring composition is that there is often a point of turning just past the center, where the text begins to repeat ideas backwards. At that spot something critical to the entire passage can appear. This particular feature occurs here. The phrase “you are with me” (incarnation) is placed at this pivotal point in the psalm and stands out as a result.

  • 1. Lord/shepherd/No wants (Ps 23:1) [First person/I]
  • 2. Food & Drink (Ps 23:2) [Third person/he]
  • 3. Rescue/security (Ps 23:3) [Third person/he]
  • 4. Dead/evil/no fear (Ps 23:4a) [First person/I]
  • 5. Security/comfort (Ps 23:4b) [Second person/you]
  • 6. Food & Drink (Ps 23:5) [Second person/you]
  • 7. Goodness & Mercy/Lord/house all my days [First person/I]

“Homeland security” ring to the images for God are used throughout the Psalter with dominant metaphors for God such as:

  • Shield
  • High tower
  • Fortress
  • High place
  • Refuge
  • Rock
  • Stronghold
  • Horn of salvation

Ps 18:1-3 presents these images together with a powerful cumulative effect. After the generic phrase “O LORD, my strength” 7 images explain the nature of that strength. The list (in order) includes rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, horn of salvation and stronghold. At the end there is a 2nd non-metaphorical affirmation using the words “I call upon the LORD . . .” For security reasons, in the ancient Middle East people naturally felt a compelling need to reside in a well-fortified enclosure on the top of a hill.

Countercultural options. Homeland security images made perfect sense for the authors and the original readers of the psalms. When a town was attacked by Bedouin raiders or an invading army, the people needed fortified space on high ground to live or take refuge. But overuse of such language could produce paranoia and a siege mentality. Thus, the Psalms offer 3 countercultural options for understanding the nature of God:

  1. God is a Shepherd.“The LORD is my shepherd” (Ps 23).
  2. The Lord is like a mother. “I have calmed and quieted my soul, / like a weaned child with its mother, / like a weaned child is my soul within me”(Ps 131:2).In Isa 66:12-13 God promises the returning refugees that he will “extend peace to her [Jerusalem] like a river,” and affirms “as one whom his mother comforts / so I will comfort you; / you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” Isa 42:13 says, “The LORD goes forth like a mighty man.” Then God says, “now I will cry out like a woman in travail, / I will gasp and pant” (Isa 42:14). In these verses God is not called “mother,” but at times he acts with tender compassion like a mother.
  3. God is like a father(Ps 103:13; Isa 63:16; 64:8).

These are “minority points of view” regarding the nature of God. God can be likened to a high tower, a fortress and a rock. Yet he can also be understood to be like a good shepherd, a good woman and a good father.

Lk 15:1-31 has a trilogy of parables on a good shepherd, a good woman and a good father. Jesus observed the various images for God in the Psalms and opted for the 3 countercultural images. Also, the dominant list of “homeland security” images does not appear in the NT, where God is never described as a fortress, a rock or a high place. With Martin Luther, we happily sing, “A mighty fortress is our God” to preserve and rejoice in the biblical imagery it affirms. But Jesus’ trilogy is also important, and its concrete word pictures have special prominence in the NT.

Psalm 23 opens with a famous line (Ps 23:1). The open pastureland of Samaria and Judea stretches from the Eastern part of Samaria down to the Negev south of Beersheba. Before modern times and cell phones, the moment the lone traveller and the shepherd left the shelter and protection of the villages along the north-south ridge, they were on their own, surrendering to the to the mercies of the wilderness or the desert.

“The Lord is my shepherd,” among other things, means “I have no police protection.” In those open spaces the traveler and his companions are alone. Thieves, wild animals, snakes, sudden blinding dust storms, water shortages, loose rocks and furnace-like heat are all potential threats to any traveler. In his extensive commentary on the Psalms in the 12th centry, Archbishop Nerses of Lambron in the Armenian Orthodox tradition, writes: “The Lord is my shepherd.” In other words, “I wandered in the midst of beasts, dogs and bulls (that) surrounded me; lions opened their mouths and wished to ravish me. I was terrified, and because of fear I made a treaty with the Savior. Therefore, do not be afraid, O my soul, for He is my shepherd, and ‘I shall not want.'” It is a profound commitment to the Lord as the source of security in the midst of many dangers where no other help is available. Without hesitation, the sheep confidently follow the shepherd, knowing that with him in the lead all will be well. The rest of Ps 23 expounds the meaning of this first line.

A personal journey. Ps 23 has a feature unique to the list of 9 texts under discussion by focusing on the individual. David is describing his own spiritual journey. No sheep is ever taken out to pasture alone. The cost of the labor involved is prohibitive. A flock is always assumed. In the highly individualized Western world, the importance of community is forgotten, while in the East, the sense of community is so strong that the importance of the individual within that community is neglected. Both are indispensable. When one is “on stage,” the other is nearby, just “off stage.” Khalil Gibran, the celebrated Lebanese poet, reflects on the deep interconnectedness between joy and sorrow. He writes, “When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.” He continues, “Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.” A deep interconnectedness appears with the individual and the community in the family of faith. In Psalm 23 the individual eats with us “at our board,” and the community is asleep “on our bed.” Recognizing the importance of each, it’s clear that in this text David is reflecting on his personal journey with his shepherd.

“I shall not want.” Our society is built on creating and then satisfying as many perceived wants as possible. TV advertising deliberately creates a sense of “I must have this medication or that electronic gadget” in order to be healthy, entertained, happy, and successful. Create wants and turn them into felt needs. If we do this enough we’ll all become richer and live happily ever after.

The psalmist has a very basic set of wants that the shepherd provides for his sheep: food, drink, tranquility, rescue when lost, freedom from the fear of evil and death, a sense of being surrounded by the grace of the Lord, and a permanent dwelling place in the house of God. A mountain of material possessions is not on the list. There’s no hint of any need for power or control, or of compulsive desires or the need to be constantly entertained. The sheep knows that only with the shepherd’s help can they secure the above limited list of basic wants.

The 1st and 7th units form a pair, for when ring composition is used in the construction of a biblical text, the matching unit must be taken into account. In unit 7 (at the end) the psalm affirms that the deepest needs of the psalmist have to do with the goodness (tov) and the grace (khesed) of God. “The Lord” is only mentioned at the beginning and at the end of the psalm. The shepherd, as my leader, sees to my wants each day (unit 1), and on returning home each evening I am followed by “goodness and mercy” (unit 7).

…the good shepherd cares for his deepest needs, beginning with food and drink (Ps 23:2). A dog can be trained to sit and to lie down. Not so a sheep. “You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.” Thus, no one can make a sheep lie down. Sheep will only lie down when 1) they have had plenty to eat, 2) have quenched their thirst, 3) are not threatened by any wild animal or disturbed by biting insects. The barking of one stray dog can cause an entire herd to jump up and even run off if not stopped by an alert shepherd. The traditional language “He makes me to lie down” sounds as if some kind of force is involved. Such a reading creates unnecessary problems. The Greek OT uses the word kataskēnoō, which the Greek-English Lexicon translates “settle down” or “rest.” Lamsa notes, “Where grass is abundant, sheep are quickly satisfied. Then they lie down and the food digests.” Bailey choses “he settles me down.” [he causes me to lie down; to stretch oneself out, lie down, lie stretched out.]

The shepherd knows that the sheep need grass, water and tranquility in order to lie down and digest their newly filled stomachs. The good shepherd “leads me;” he does not “drive me.” There is a marked difference. In Egypt where there is no open pasture land shepherds often drive their sheep from behind with sticks. But in the open wilderness of the Holy Land the shepherd walks slowly ahead of his sheep and either plays his own ten-second tune on a pipe or (more often) sings his own unique “call.” The sheep appear to be attracted primarily by the voice of the shepherd, which they know and are eager to follow. It is common practice for a number of shepherds to gather at midday around a spring or well, where the sheep mingle, drink and rest. At any time one of the shepherds can decide to leave, and on giving his call all his sheep will immediately separate themselves from the mixed flocks and follow their shepherd wherever he leads them.

Watering the flock with quiet/still waters is also an important part of each day. Sheep are afraid to drink from moving water even if it is shallow. Lamsa writes, “Sheep cannot be watered at places where the water is swift.” If a stream is available, at times Middle Eastern shepherds dig a short, dead-end channel that leads away from the stream. Lamsa says, “In certain places, where the water is swift, shepherds construct nooks near the edge of the stream to make it easier for the sheep to drink.” The sheep quickly line up along such a channel of “still water” and quench their thirst. A small natural pool along a stream is fine, but if a well or cistern is the only source of water, a stone watering trough must be built, cut or dug beside the well into which the shepherd can pour the water he draws out of the well or cistern. Isa 8:6 compares “the waters of Shiloah that flow gently” (and thereby the sheep can drink) to the swift flowing waters of “the River” (Euphrates) that can overflow its banks (Isa 8:7-8). David knows that still waters are a must if the sheep are to drink, and provides “still water” whatever the cost. The imagery is worthy of much reflection.

With the finest food (green pastures) and water that the sheep can confidently drink (still waters), along with the assumed freedom from any exterior threat, the sheep will lie down to digest their freshly eaten food. A shady place near quiet waters in the midst of green succulent grass is the best of all worlds for any sheep. David affirms that the Lord, his Shepherd, provides all of these for him.

We know a great deal about the turbulent life that David led and can only assume that he found rest, refreshment and tranquility in the midst of all his troubles. Murder, incest, betrayal, adultery, treachery, civil war, the killing of his son—David knew them all. Yet he found himself beside quiet waters. Each day the shepherd leads the flock to where it can rest. Rest and tranquility are a part of the daily routine.

1. The Lord is my shepherd (Ps 23:1).

  • My deepest security is found in the Lord, who is my shepherd, not in the security forces or military might of my country.
  • God cares for each sheep. That sheep is naturally a part of a flock, but at the same time he is my shepherd.
  • The shepherd secures my legitimate needs.

2. The quiet water and the green pastures (Ps 23:2).

  • The shepherd leads with a gentle call. He does not drive with a stick.
  • He provides good food and the needed quiet waters for his sheep.
  • The shepherd daily leads the flock to where it can rest. It is not always on the move.

3. He brings me back—for his own name’s sake (Ps 23:3).

  • A lost sheep and a good shepherd who brings it back are central to what the psalm is all about.
  • The lost sheep cannot find its own way home. The shepherd alone can provide the rescue it needs.
  • The shepherd leads me in paths of righteousness. It is not enough that he returns me to those paths; he must also lead me in them.
  • The shepherd searches for the lost sheep out of loyalty to his own integrity. It is for “his own name’s sake.” Therefore my worth as a sheep, be it little or great, has nothing to do with his determination to (find and) restore me.

4. The valley of the shadow (Ps 23:4a).

  • Evil and death are real and must be faced. But because of the assured presence of the shepherd we can be delivered from our fear of them.
  • The flock does not remain in the valley of the shadow. The sheep follow the shepherd and pass through the darkness.

5. You are with me with your rod and staff (Ps 23:4b).

  • The Lord suddenly appears “on stage,” and David is able to address him directly.
  • God is both able to protect me from predators (with his rod), and keep me on the right paths (with his staff).

6. You prepare a table (Ps 23:5).

  • The Lord, like a woman, prepares a meal for me.
  • That meal is offered at great cost. My enemies observe what the Lord is doing for me and they are angry at him for doing it. This is part of the measure of his love.
  • The special favors reserved for an honored guest are extended to me. Oil is poured on my head and my cup is filled to overflowing.

7. Goodness and mercy—all the days (Ps 23:6).

  • Each evening as I turn toward home (with the flock), I am followed by goodness and covenant faithfulness/loving kindness—not by wild animals and ruthless thieves.
  • This is true “all of the days,” which includes my days (my life long) and God’s days (forever).
  • Wherever I go, I am in the house of God and I see the natural world around me as sacred space in which God is present.

10 repeated themes/subthemes of the 9 shepherd texts [3 OT texts (Jer 23:1–8; Ezek 34; Zech 10:2–12), and its appropriation in 5 NT texts (Lk 15:1–10; Mk 6:7–52; Mt 18:10–14; Jn 10:1–18; 1 Pet 5:1–4)] (most have at least 7 subthemes, with Mark 6 having all 10):

  1. The good shepherd [God]
  2. The lost sheep
  3. Opponents [death, enemies]
  4. The good host(ess)
  5. The incarnation of the shepherd [“You are with me”]
  6. The high personal cost of shepherding/restoring the lost [He “brings me back”]
  7. Repentance/return [the verb shuv]
  8. Bad sheep [not in Psalm 23]
  9. A celebratory meal (often a feast offered at great cost)
  10. The story ends in the house [my days and God’s days are involved]. This seals the shepherd-sheep relationship (denouement-final act, final scene, epilogue).

Reference:

  1. Bailey, Kenneth E. The Good Shepherd: A Thousand-Year Journey from Psalm 23 to the New Testament. IVP. Downers Grove, IL 60515. 2014. [Bailey’s greatest strength is the investigation of the original Middle Eastern context of each passage. Besides his own experience and knowledge, Bailey employs some noteworthy tools: commentaries on Psalm 23 written by Middle Eastern authors (M. P. Krikorian, Faddoul Moghabghab, George M. Lamsa, Stephen A. Haboush, Abrahim Mitri Rahbany, Nerses the Graceful of Lambron) as well as Western missionaries to the Middle East (William Thompson and Eric F. F. Bishop), four Arabic NT commentaries (Ibn al-Tayyib [d. 1043], D. Ibn al-Salibi [d. 1164], Ibrahim Sa‘id [1970], Matta al-Miskin [1999]), and twenty Arabic translations of the Bible (translated into English by the author).] {Trouble and rebellion arise not only from the lost sheep, as in the original metaphor, but also from the hired human shepherds (Jer 23) and the sheep who never strayed from the flock (Ezek 34). Zechariah 10:2–12 also elaborates the political interpretation of Psalm 23 by depicting sheep as soldiers.} [Turning to the NT, the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:4–7) recasts the sinner (represented as a sheep) in an active position, being able to turn back from wandering by one’s own choice. By contrast, the passage in Mark 6:7–52 weaves the literary motifs of Psalm 23 through the context surrounding Jesus’s feeding of the five thousand; in this context of John the Baptist’s death and the political disorientation that ensues, Jesus plays a multifaceted shepherd’s role for Israel. Matthew 18 adds to the Markan account a focus on the “little ones” as the object of the shepherd’s particular interest. From a different perspective, John 10 makes the most of the close relationship between sheep and shepherd and envisages the shepherd as sacrificially protecting his sheep. The book’s last chapter tackles 1 Peter 5:1–4, where the apostle applies the great qualities of Jesus the Great Shepherd to the elders, the shepherds entrusted with the church of Christ.] {Several improvements could have sharpened the argument of the book. First, Bailey’s preference for new terms which replace some classical terminology may confuse the reader, such as “ring composition” for chiasmus and “cameos” for chiasmus components. Second and following Bailey’s own criteria for selecting the texts, it is surprising that he has left aside important texts such as 2 Samuel 7:8–16, Psalm 80, Zechariah 11:4–17, and Acts 20:18–35.} [Bailey shares his experiences of watching and asking questions to shepherds with their sheep for fifty years in south Egypt, the mountains of Lebanon, and near Bethlehem in the west bank, Israel/Palestine; preaching ten years with rural churches of the Egyptian Evangelical Church in the Minya province; teaching twenty years at the Near East School of Theology in Beirut, Lebanon, and ten years at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Bethlehem. He is fluent in Syriac, Armenian, Arabic, Hebrew and cites obscure sources from the 11th to 13th centuries C.E. and 19th and 20th centuries containing compelling concepts. B.’s sensitive, penetrating, profound, perceptive, unexpected, unique insights and comprehension of the functions and roles of shepherds and sheep motivate thinkers to gain fresh understandings of the good shepherd and his flock.]
  2. Christian Leadership in the NT, Ken Bailey, 8 min. The Middle Eastern mindset from the OT till today is to create meaning through simile, metaphor, dramatic action and parable. We modern people translate metaphor into concept. When you opt for a big metaphor you trade a certain degree of academic precision for a much larger degree of explanatory power. Middle Eastern authors, including authors of the Bible are interested in that explanatory power and they do lose a certain precision of language that is very important for us as a part of the Greco-Roman heritage. [Metaphors for God to Jesus to Christian leadership.]

Archbishop Nerses interpreting Ps 23:2: “Whenever someone opens the mouth of his faith to drink, Scripture nourishes and grows multiple trees in the field of the church. It adorns one person with virginity, another one is made fruitful with acts of mercy, some are given martyrdom, and others flourish with meekness. Indeed these are the still waters which nourish human souls, anchor them in hope, raise them from hopelessness, command them to work [in ministry], establish them in love and foremost give them stored up nourishment [to produce] all the fruit of the heavenly kingdom.”

In a good year in the Holy Land, rains begin in November and usually conclude by the end of February. It takes some time for the parched earth to produce “green pastures.” Having watched this cycle for 30 winters in Lebanon and in Bethlehem, Bailey knows that green pastures are available for not >3 mths a year. For the other 9-10 months all pastures are brown. There are no fenced fields in the open wilderness in the Holy Land, and no cultivated hay fields. Sheep are led out of the village each day to graze in the wilderness. In Lebanon on one occasion, near the summit of the mountain, Bailey had an interesting conversation with an experienced shepherd (with his large flock) who described in fascinating detail the various options and the numerous decisions he was obliged to make each day as he sought forage and water for his >100 sheep, which he led without an assistant or dog.

E. F. Bishop documents the following incident.During the riots in Palestine in the middle thirties a village near Haifa was condemned to collective punishment by having its sheep and cattle sequestrated by the Government. The inhabitants however were permitted to redeem their possessions at a fixed price. Among them was an orphan shepherd boy, whose six or eight sheep and goats were all he had in the world for life and work. Somehow he obtained the money for their redemption. He went to the big enclosure where the animals were penned, offering his money to the British sergeant in charge. The N.C.O. told him he was welcome to the requisite number of animals, but ridiculed the idea that he could possibly pick out his “little flock” from among the confiscated hundreds. The little shepherd thought differently, because he knew better; and giving his own “call”, for he had his nai (shepherd’s pipe) with him, “his own” separated from the rest of the animals and trotted out after him. “I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep—and am known of mine.”

What are the “green pastures” to which David is referring? After a morning of grazing on the hillside the sheep need to drink. The shepherd must plan his day around the availability of water in the middle of the day. In winter the lower, warmer pastures will be grazed while the higher, cooler slopes are reserved for the heat of summer. Traditional grazing rights, relationships between shepherds and the power of the shepherd’s village or tribe are all involved in the selection of where to graze and where to water the flock. A morning of grazing in “green pastures” beside a reliable source of still water is the much-longed-for ideal.

P. Krikorian grew up in a village near Tarsus in southeast Turkey. Born into a family of builders, his father took him out of school to herd a flock of more than a hundred sheep. Later in life, after becoming an Armenian Methodist pastor in America, he wrote a book about his experiences as a shepherd. In that book he records his surprise on discovering that his sheep would not drink from moving water. He writes, “Within sound and sight of water they (the sheep) would all begin to run toward it, showing that they were very thirsty. Yet, at their arrival, as I watched them, only a few would be drinking, while others all along the edge of the water, like the pedestrians on a fashionable street in a great metropolis, keep passing each other up and down the stream. . . . I learned the valuable lesson that they do not drink from rippling waters. They continue until every last one of them had found a quiet little pool between stones showing up above the ripples. . . . No turbid streams or ruffled rivulets will tempt them. . . . They want waters that move quietly.”

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