THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM: A PSALM OF DAVID

Psalm 23     King James Version

The LORD is my shepherd; *
    I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; *
    he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; *
    he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his
                             Name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; *
    for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of
                             mine enemies; *
    thou annointest my head with oil;
    my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
                             of my life, *
    and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

+++   +++   +++

Our psalm for April 3rd, the Fourth Sunday in Lent. 

This is Scripture my mother taught me when I was a boy. And it was on the poster board at Cove School to be memorized and recited in class as the school year went along. To make it even sweeter, the children at Holy Nativity Episcopal School learned it all through Lent, a verse a week, to recite the whole psalm by Easter. It may be the most loved psalm in the Bible. More often than not families request it for funerals. 

Was it written by David the shepherd boy while out in the fields tending his father’s flock? That’s the tradition. With other traditions I’m eager to dig in with research and seek the truth, come whence it may, cost what it will. Not with the twenty-third psalm. I’m leaving this one alone. David wrote it as a boy, the same age I was when I learned it. 

Regardless how scholars try, no English translation of the Hebrew twenty-third psalm can improve on the King James Version. Holy poetry does not get more lyrical.

Here’s another translation. Would yo’ mama ask you to memorize this? For contemporary English it's clear as a bell. For prose it’s burlesque and needs a banjo. For poetry it’s doggerel and wants a scooper.

+++   +++   +++

Psalm 23 (The Message)

A David Psalm

 1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. 

   You have bedded me down in lush meadows, 

      you find me quiet pools to drink from. 

   True to your word, 

      you let me catch my breath 

      and send me in the right direction. 

 4 Even when the way goes through 

      Death Valley, 

   I'm not afraid 

      when you walk at my side. 

   Your trusty shepherd's crook 

      makes me feel secure. 

 5 You serve me a six-course dinner 

      right in front of my enemies. 

   You revive my drooping head; 

      my cup brims with blessing. 

 6 Your beauty and love chase after me 

      every day of my life. 

   I'm back home in the house of God 

      for the rest of my life.

THE PEACE OF THE LORD BE ALWAYS WITH YOU.

TW+


Photo: my house. Thank you, Kristen!