John P.

Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship

Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 1 of 10

A Bountiful Christmas
Palm 23
I love watching Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol at this time of year. My favorite
version was made in 1970 and starred Albert Finney as Ebenezer Scrooge.
1
I am always struck
by the different Christmases had by the irascible Scrooge and the kind but poor Cratchitt family.
Scrooge has more money than he can spend but turns away the men seeking help for their
charity. He goes home and counts his wealth, but has no joy in it. The Cratchitts, on the other
hand, had little but their family. Their Christmas dinner is their family present; though they are
poor, they celebrate with joy and blessing. Bob even goes so far as to toast his miserly
employer, recognizing for his family that Scrooge was the source of the income that they had to
make live on. Who had the truly bountiful Christmas: Scrooge with his horde, or Bob with his
heart of thanksgiving?
For many of us this Christmas will not have as many gifts under the tree as in years past.
Some think wistfully of the Christmases we had in the beginning of this decade, when many of
us splurged and the tree was ringed with dozens of gifts for each person. When we think of
meaningful Christmases we think of Norman Rockwell paintings of families tearing into gifts.
We think of those Christmas mornings as bountiful and as a sign of happiness and joy.
Are they really, though? I talked with a friend a couple of weeks ago who remembered
Christmases from when she was a girl that her gift was an orange. Laura and I fondly remember
the Christmas that we had $10 to spend on each child and $7.50 for each other. These
Christmases are meager compared even to what many of us will have this year. What
differentiates them from one another? It cannot be the gifts; if it were we would have been
miserable when we had so little to give one another.
When it boils down the difference between Merry Christmas and Bah, humbug has
nothing to do with presents or economics in general. Instead, Christmas can be bountiful
regardless of our finances if we have an attitude of gratitude for everything God has given to us
and everything He means to us. We see this very clearly in the Psalms; the Psalmist again and
again praises God through trials and adversity. Perhaps this is most clearly and memorably seen
in one of the most beloved Psalms of all time, Psalm 23. This Psalm shows us what makes for a
bountiful Christmas. We will forget what presents we get before long; the stuff will wear out
or be long forgotten by next year. Psalm 23 teaches us that when we have God as our Protector
and Provider, every Christmas is bountiful.

1
Insert IMDB ref here.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 2 of 10

In this beautiful piece of poetry David likens his relationship with God to the relationship
between a sheep and a shepherd. When he looks at God as his shepherd, David says, he has
more than he could ever need.
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd,
I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)
The first line of this Psalm declares it a Psalm of David;
2
this makes this Psalm even
more meaningful, given Davids history as a shepherd himself
3
. David had watched his fathers
sheep from his youth; he had led them to good pasture and found them water. He had protected
his sheep from attack by predators at the risk of his own life.
4
Later in life David had become,
by Gods own word, the shepherd over all of Israel
5
.
All of his history is in the background as David looks heavenward and says, The Lord
is my shepherd. He recognized that everyone needs a leader and a protector; everyone needs a
shepherd. David knew that a shepherds job was to feed the sheep, lead the sheep, and protect
the sheep; that is exactly what the Lord did for David, leading David to apply this metaphor to
God.
David is very personal in his description here. God is described in several places in the
Old Testament as the Shepherd of Israel or the Shepherd of His People; the idea throughout the
Hebrew Bible is that God is the protector over and provider for the whole community that
worshipped Him. Here David is not focusing on Gods provision for all of His people; David
focuses on God as his shepherd. The Lord is not just the Shepherd of His people, but the
Shepherd over me declares David. He sees God at work and personalizes that into his own life.
Because God is his Shepherd, David knew that God would feed, lead, and protect him.
He makes the startling and unqualified statement at the end of verse 1: I shall not want.
Perhaps the New Living Translation sums up the thought behind this verse the best when it
translates I have everything I need. The NIV splits the difference by saying I will not be in
want; in other words, David is saying that he will not be left destitute because God is his
shepherd. David knew that as long as he had God feeding, leading, and protecting him had a
great, bountiful life.
How about you? Is the Lord your shepherd? It is true that God watches over His people,
but can you claim with David that you are a part of His flock? Have you trusted Him and
allowed Him to become your protector and provider? If you have, then you can have the
bountiful Christmas and bountiful life that David describes in the remainder of this Psalm. When

2
See my notes below for a discussion on the authorship of this Psalm.
3
1 Samuel 16:11; 17:28.
4
1 Samuel 17:34-35
5
2 Samuel 5:2.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 3 of 10

God is our shepherd we have everything we need because of His great provision, His great
protection, and His great promise.
1. His Provision (2-3): David continues with the motif of shepherding by describing Gods
great provision for him. Continuing the image of a shepherd and his sheep, David in verse 2 tells
us that God has provided for him everything that he needs for a life that is safe, and satisfying.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters. (Psalm 23:2)
In the first line David says that God makes me lie down in green pastures.
Shepherds were tasked with the job of finding pasturage for their sheep that had enough food for
them. The words translated green pastures is a figure of speech
6
lush pastures or excellent
pastures. David tells us that God as his shepherd brings him to a place where he has as much
grass to crop as he can eat. Having brought him to a good pasture, David says, God keeps him
there. Once a shepherd found a place where their sheep could prosper they stayed there as long
as they could. This is the image that David gives us here. God brings him to a place where he
has enough provision of food and keeps him there.
Sheep need more than grass to crop, though. Part of finding a good pasture is finding one
with an ample supply of water nearby. David keeps the image of shepherding going by saying
He leads me beside quiet waters. The idea here is that God brings him to a source of water
that is calm, peaceful, free from enemies and therefore safe to drink from. Sheep are skittish;
because they have no natural defenses they will run at the first sign of trouble. The quiet
waters then give them a sense of peace and security that allows them to drink.
Not only does the lord provide for the physical necessities of life, He also provides for
Davids emotional and spiritual needs.
3 He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His names sake. (Psalm 23:3)
The beginning of verse 3 is interesting; David says He restores my soul. The term
soul is used in different ways in Scripture; it can be used as a way of describing a whole
person (like a thousand souls perished in a fire), just the immaterial part of us (hes an old
soul), or as here for our passion for life (that kid has soul). David begins verse 3 by telling us
that part of Gods provision for him is that He restores his passion for living. God restores his
desire to live for Him as part of his great provision.
In the remainder of verse 3 we see how God returns his passion for living to him. Just as
a Palestinian shepherd led his sheep instead of driving them, David says that the Lord guides

6
It is technically a metonymy of cause for effect.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 4 of 10

me in the paths of righteousness. David would have led his sheep to the place where he
wanted them; in the same manner the Lord leads him every day in the paths of righteousness.
God walked ahead of David, metaphorically leading him to make decisions and live his life in a
way that honored God and His desires for Davids life.
He does so, David says, for His names sake. Especially in Hebrew a persons name
was far more than a moniker or title given to them. Their name is only as good as the character
that stood behind it and the reputation it had in the community. The name, then, stood for the
reputation and character of a person. God leads him to live righteously because of what it does
for the Lords reputation among the people.
The complete image, then, is that God provides for everything that David needs. David
uses his memories of shepherding to draw a picture for us of the bountiful life he leads. The
Lord provided him with the physical, emotional, and spiritual provisions that he needed; because
He did, David can declare in verse 1 that he has no needs that are unmet.
We can have a truly, biblically bountiful Christmas when we realize that God has given
us provision just as He did for David. We too can experience the renewed passion for life and a
bountiful Christmas when we realize that a bountiful Christmas includes:
An understanding that God has provided for all of our physical needs. Each of us has a
roof over our heads and food to eat. Even in time of great distress we have blood family
and church family who act as the hands and feet of Christ to provide everything that we
need to live. What an amazing God that we serve that we have warm beds to sleep in and
more food than we can eat! Are you thanking God for the amazing provision that He has
provided you with? Too many times we get so used to Gods daily provision that it
becomes commonplace to us; this Christmas open your eyes to the many ways that God
has provided for your needs and the needs of your family. Whether that provision is
through two jobs
7
, a roommate or another means, thank God for His amazing provision.
Thanksgiving that God has provided for all of our spiritual and emotional needs. He
leads us and desires for us to live righteously. Because He leads and does not drive us
down paths of righteousness it is our responsibility to follow Him. Are you living for
Christ this Christmas? Are you celebrating the birth of Jesus by looking for areas of life
where you can improve your personal holiness? He is leading you down a path that leads
to righteousness in thought, speech, and conduct; make your Christmas bountiful by
giving Him a gift that will benefit you.


7
That could manifest itself in many different ways. I know many married couples where the husband works 2 jobs.
I know of others where the wife watches children in the home as a second income or feels that God wants her to
pursue a career as well. I know couples who share a paper route and single parents who patch together odds and
ends to make ends meet every month. All of these are legitimate examples of Gods provision for His people.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 5 of 10

2. His Protection (4-5): God provides for us in ways great and small, material and
immaterial. Next in our Psalm we learn that this provision comes with His protection as well.
Many of us worry about our security and our provision being taken away from us, but here we
learn that God guards us. We can have a bountiful Christmas because not only has God provided
for our needs; He has also protected us from harm. A bountiful Christmas can be ours when we
recognize Gods great protection in our lives.
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. (Psalm 23:4)
Here in verse 4 David concludes his analogy to shepherding. The end of verse 3 found
David being led by his Shepherd in paths of righteousness, but now in verse 4 David finds
himself walking through the valley of the shadow of death. The way that the terms are
arranged in Hebrew, the phrase the valley of the shadow of death is the strongest way in
Hebrew that he could have described darkness. If you look in the margin of your NASB or NIV
it says that this phrase could be translated valley of deep darkness; that is probably what David
is referring to here.
When their shepherd led them up on a hill the sheep could feel more secure because they
had the high ground and could see any predators who came after them. When they went into a
valley, though, they lost those advantages and the security that came with them. David promises,
though, that it didnt matter if the Lord led him through the deepest, darkest valley imaginable!
He confidently declares his trust in his Shepherd, saying, I fear no evil, for You are with me.
God is with him and David knows that a good Shepherd can and will protect him from danger.
Even when he has no sense of security in himself he knows that his Shepherd is with him;
Gods protection is all David needs to have everything he needs. He looks at the implements of a
shepherd in Gods hand, His rod andstaff and finds comfort in them. The rod could be
used as a weapon or as a crook to muster sheep; the staff, on the other hand, was a long
walking stick that would help a shepherd keep up with the sometimes long marches that it took
to find appropriate grazing for his sheep. David sees God at work in his life, and the implements
that God uses to protect him and to walk with him bring David comfort as he goes.
Even when it looks bleak, trust that God is protecting you. When family members dont
understand or the landlord is treating you unfairly it may look like darkness is all around.
Trust that God is watching and protecting you from evil and that He is providing for you.
God does not promise us the complete freedom from evil; however, He does promise to
protect us from it. We fight a spiritual battle against Satan and his forces, who would like
nothing more than to make us believe that God has abandoned us when it looks dark.
Take this verse to heart and realize that even when you cannot see Him, the Lord is
watching over you and protecting you.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 6 of 10

Finally David breaks out of the metaphor of sheep and shepherd in the beginning of verse
5 and sums up Gods protection and provision in a single sentence.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows. (Psalm 23:5)
David looks at the provision and the protection of God and stands in awe. He looks at
Gods provision and describes it as God prepar[ing] a table before me. This is the picture of
a gracious host providing a banquet for a valued guest. David thinks of all the Lord has provided
for him and it makes him praise God. The fact that that provision includes protection is even
more reason for praise: God makes David a banquet in the presence of [his] enemies. No one
would sit down to feast if there was danger around; only with great protection could David enjoy
what God had provided for him.
The last two phrases of verse 5 are the culmination of Davids view of Gods provision
and protection. A person in Davids day would anoint [their] head with oil before a banquet
or as a sign of health and prosperity. David looks at the provision and protection of God and
joyously proclaims my cup overflows. He may not have a fancy mansion or peace and
external prosperity,
8
but David looked at what God had given him and knew that it was more
than he needed.
If you are prospering in these uncertain times, hit your knees this minute and thank God
for His work in your life. He has provided everything you have and protected you from
attack; realize that it is not your own cunning but your perfect Shepherd that provides for
you and thank Him for it by following Him in paths of righteousness.
With God in charge David could confidently declare that he had an overflowing
abundance. What has God provided you an amazing abundance of? Maybe He has
provided an abundance of friends; if so thank Him for the bountiful life you have. Maybe
He has provided you with an abundance of joy in the midst of trials; if so stand in awe of
Him and give Him praise. Maybe He has provided you with an abundance of
opportunities to share Christ with coworkers who are struggling this Christmas; if so be
blessed that He trusts you with His work.
3. His Promise (6): Finally, David wraps up this famous Psalm by taking everything he has
experienced of God and standing upon it. He sees God at work in his past and his present, and
concludes with an exaltation of His promise to stay at work in Davids life no matter what.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,

8
David spent times in his life running from adversaries and living in caves; he had times when he was prosperous
economically and times when he depended on the provision of others. This Psalm has no keys in it to tell us when it
was written; whatever circumstance that David found himself in, the provision and protection of God was enough
for him to claim that he had more than he could imagine.
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 7 of 10

And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Psalm 23:6)
David was a man who was acquainted with experiences that would make many give up.
He was chased incessantly by Saul, even though he meant Saul no harm. He lost his son because
of his adultery. He was betrayed by his own son Absalom. He endured threats against his life
and his throne. Through it all, though, David focused on the goodness and lovingkindness of
God. Surely, David says here, Gods provision for him and protection of him will follow me
all the days of my life. He knows that Gods work in his life in the past is a firm basis to claim
Gods continual work in his life for the future.
He ends with a beautiful affirmation: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
David knows that the Lord is his Shepherd; this knowledge leads him to know that a shepherd
never abandons his sheep. David knew that he would live in Gods provision and protection
forever, even to the grave and beyond, because of the goodness and lovingkindness that the Lord
had lavished upon him.
God will never toss us out on our ear; He will never abandon us or cut us out of His
flock. He has provided for us in the past and provides for us today. We, like David, can
confidently know that God has promised that we will be His forever not because we are good but
because He is good. He will walk with us now and forever, to death and beyond.
A bountiful Christmas, we learn in Psalm 23, has nothing to do with money. It has
nothing to do with having a get-together that looks like a Norman Rockwell painting. Instead,
we can have a Christmas with no wants like David had when we recognize Gods great
provision, His great protection, and His great promise to us. If we will rest in those this
Christmas, we too will have everything we need to have a bountiful Christmas this year.
All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963,
1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.
All materials copyright 2000-2007 John P. Correia. All Rights Reserved.

Permissions: It is our desire to spread this information, not protect or restrict it; however we ask that you obtain the
permission of the author before redistributing it. This document may be redistributed under the following conditions:
As printed material only
With written permission from the author
With no alteration of the wording in any way
No fee is charged for the material beyond the reasonable cost of reproduction
The following statement is included on any distributed copy: Copyright 2008 John P. Correia, 5341 W.
Greenway Rd, Phoenix AZ, 85306. 602.978.4406. www.westgreenway.com. All rights reserved. Used by
permission.

John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 8 of 10

Translation and Notes
PSALM 23
9
(NASB)
A Psalm of David
10
.
1 The LORD is my
11
shepherd
12
,
I shall not want
13
.

9
Psalm 23: Knight (115) introduces this famous Psalm beautifully:
Psalm 23 is the worlds favourite psalm. It is the favourite of Jew, Eastern Orthodox, Western
Protestant, and wistful agnostic alike. It comes alive when used at a wedding, even more so when
said or sung at a funeral. And it expresses more vividly than any other portion of Scripture the
individuals private experience of Gods grace.
10
A Psalm of David: While the title could denote a Psalm about David or to David (the
preposition is quite elastic), given the content of this Psalmespecially the shepherding motifit is entirely
plausible that this Psalm is an authentic work of King David.
11
My: Craigie (206) notes that the imagery of God as shepherd is not unique to this Psalm; from Genesis 49:24 to
various Psalms (77:21; 80:2; 95:7) God is described as the Shepherd of Israel. No, the distinctiveness is in the
individuality of God as shepherd, as contrasted with the communal idea elsewhere:
The distinctiveness in the opening words of this psalm lies in the use of the pronoun, my
shepherd; the shepherd theme, traditionally interpreted communally of the flock (or nation), is
here given its most personal interpretation in the entire biblical tradition. (Even if the use of
I/my was intended, or later interpreted, in a communal sense, the implications of a personal
association with the shepherd remain.)
12
My shepherd: TWOT (#2185; ) comments:
Hammurabi and many other rulers of ancient western Asia are called shepherd or described as
pasturing their subjects. In the OT, however, it is the Lord who feeds his people and is praised
for his mercy in providing for them (Gen 48:15; Ps 23:1; 28:9; Isa 40:11; Hos 4:16 et al).
In light of this, perhaps it is not too far to suggest that the idea here is that while many kings and leaders were given
the task of being under-shepherds, David looks to the Lord as His protector and provider. Davids upbringing as a
shepherd as well as his later position as an under-shepherd make the imagery all the more apt.
Jesus picks up this imagery in John 10:11-16 and describes Himself as the good shepherd; thus the image takes on
even greater weight. Craigie (209), in his explanation of this Psalm, picks up the importance of this text and the
imagery it presents well:
Though its words are not explicitly quoted in the NT, Ps 23 is important nevertheless for
understanding the substance of the Gospels. When Jesus said: I am the good Shepherd (John
10:11), he was not merely utilizing a metaphor familiar to his audience from their knowledge of
the Hebrew Scriptures. He was also implying something about his person, for in Ps 23 and other
psalms in which the metaphor is employed, it is God who is the shepherd. It is the words of Jesus
himself, amplified by the early church (cf. 1 Pet 2:25 and 5:4), which make possible a re-reading
of Ps 23 in the light of the gospel of redemption. The echoes of the Exodus and the redemption
from Egypt in the psalm are transformed into echoes of the redemption won by the shepherd who
lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11).
13
Want: TWOT (#705; ) notes:
sr is most frequently used to express the sufficiency of Gods grace to meet the needs of his
people. They never lack. In the wilderness, when the people followed Gods command they never
lacked manna (depending on Gods daily supply; Ex 16:18). Moses reminded them of this just
before they entered Canaan (Deut 2:7) and this became their basis of hope in Canaan (Deut 8:9).
There is some ambiguity as well in the translation. The text uses the qal imperfect , which would normally
be rendered I am not wanting or I do not want (when combined with the negative ). The qal imperfect can
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 9 of 10

2 He makes me lie down
14
in green pastures
15
;
He leads me
16
beside quiet waters
17
.
3 He restores my soul
18
;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His names sake
19
.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
20
,

express a future condition, and in this instance is stative in meaning, i.e. it passes the test of Bruce Waltke and M.
OConnor in An Introduction to Hebrew Syntax (Winona Lake, IN; Eisenbrauns, 1990), 364e that it cannot easily be
converted into the concept of I am not wanting. Here David is expressing his state, namely that he rests in the
surety of his provision. This verb is the key around which the remainder of the Psalm turns. The reasons that David
is so confident in his state of provision come in verses 2-3; His confidence in the future is stated in 4-6.
This confidence in Gods provision finds its first expression in Deut 2:7; there it speaks of Gods provision for Israel
while they wandered in the desert.
14
He makes me lie down: The hiphil is causative. Yahweh causes him to lie down. The image here
from shepherding is profound. Sheep (or any domesticated animal really) have little in the way of natural defenses;
their only resort is to run in the face of predators. For a sheep to lie down, then, it must be certain that there is no
threat of predators. That security is what David highlights here. With Yahweh as his shepherd he is afforded the
security to lie down, meaning that he is perfectly safe from enemies.
15
Green pastures: The phrase is metonymy of effect for cause. NET translates the noun as
lush rather than the more literal green or grass. Metaphorically, TWOT notes, this tender grass is seen as a
place of ideal rest. David is sure of Gods provision because he knows that God has brought him to a place that has
ample provision.
16
Leads me: The piel here is probably repetitive (Williams, 27-28), i.e. He continually leads me to
refreshment.
17
Quiet waters: The phrase is literally to waters of rest. NET translates as refreshing waters,
taking the rest here ostensibly as a marker of renewal. The idea here is that the Lord has provided both food and
water, i.e. the necessities of life for a sheep.
18
He restores my soul: The phrase is literally He returns my soul. Here the use of is
interesting in that the idea of a simple return is obviously more prevalent than the idea of repenting. David
elliptically leaves out the indirect object to me, perhaps for poetic reasons.
NET and NLT both translate as my strength. Perhaps this is possible, though the concept of passion is
perhaps more likely (see BDB def. 6). In the context of this verse, the soul is being used metonymically for the
passion for life that comes from it; strength may be a barely acceptable gloss but it tends to make the English
reader think of physical prowess. Contextually it makes more sense that David is referring to passion in the sense
of passion for living; the remainder of verse 3 is that the Lord as his Shepherd gives him the passion to live the life
of righteousness that God has set out for him. This passion is brought about by the security that Yahweh has
provided for him, which David described in verse 2. Yahweh returns Davids passion for living by providing him
security and because of that passion allows David to live a life of righteousness.
19
For His names sake: The phrase is significant. It gives grounds for why Yahweh has given David
renewed passion for life and has led him to a life of righteousness. It is for the sake of His name; TWOT notes
that the concept of personal names in the OT often included existence, character, and reputation (1 Sam 25:25).
Here the clear nuance is reputation; Yahweh led David so that the world would see him living righteously and
Yahwehs reputation would be increased. It is for His glory that Yahweh works in Davids life, and His provision
for David led to Yahwehs reputation being enhanced in His world.
20
The valley of the shadow of death: The phrase is translated as through the valley of the
shadow of death by ESV, NASB, NIV, NKJV. (perhaps as an artifact from KJV?) ESVmg, NASBmg, NET,
NIVmg, NLT all provide some form of dark valley rather than the valley of the shadow of death. TWOT 1921b
notes that the term refers to deep darkness and comments:
John P. Correia 2008 A Christmas of Worship
Psalm 23: A Bountiful Christmas
Page 10 of 10

I fear no evil
21
, for You are with me;
Your rod
22
and Your staff
23
, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table
24
before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil
25
;
My cup overflows.
26

6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life
27
,
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

It describes the darkness of eyelids tired from weeping (Job 16:16), the thick darkness present in a
mine shaft (Job 28:3), the darkness of the abode of the dead (Job 10:21f.; 38:17), and the darkness
prior to creation (Amos 5:8). Emotionally it describes the internal anguish of one who has rebelled
against God (Ps 107:1014; cf. 44:19f. [H 20f.]). Thus it is the strongest word in Hebrew for
darkness.
David here continues with his imagery of shepherding. Naturally sheep do not like to go into places where they
cannot see that there are no predators; here David proclaims in the strongest terms that even if he has to walk in the
deepest darkness he will not fear harm to himself. Even the threat of death (if that is the intent of the imagery rather
than a mere intensification) cannot cause David to fret; his Shepherd will guide him and protect him even there.
21
Evil: Here the adjective is being used as metonymy for the harm which it causes. David I not worried about
evil in general but the harm that can come upon him from that evil. Thus the NASBmg gloss harm or the NET
danger are appropriate.
22
Your rod: TWOT notes that this rod can be used as a weapon (2 Sam 23:21) or as a shepherds implement to
muster sheep and protect them.
23
Your staff: The staff ( ) is built from the root word for to lean on, trust in ( ). This, then, is the
walking staff for the shepherd. It is designed to be his support as he travels.
24
You prepare a table: Here the imagery shifts. Clearly the image of sheep and shepherd has been replaced with
the image of Yahweh as the gracious and bounteous host of a banquet at which David is a guest.
25
You have anointed my head with oil: Alan P. Ross, Psalms in BKC 1:812 explains, The image of anointing
the head with oil, which was refreshing and soothing, harmonizes with the concept of a gracious host welcoming
someone into his home.
26
My cup overflows: Craigie (208) explains:
the immediate reference is to the banquet cup from which the psalmist drank, but the symbolism
is deeper. The banquet was a celebration of Gods provision and protection; the psalmists
experience of life (viz. his cup) had been so bountiful, that it was life itself which was full of
blessing, overflowing with thanksgiving.
27
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life: Craigie (208) explains:
With this confidence, the psalmist rejoices not only in the present moment of festivity and
thanksgiving, but also anticipates future occasions when he would return and dwell again in the
house of the Lord (the temple), in order once again to give thanks. The thanksgiving of the given
moment was merely part of a larger series of thanksgiving ceremonies which would punctuate the
entire life of the psalmist