I recently joined a friend in reading David Gibson’s 2023 book The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host. If you’re in-between books or looking for something to read, I highly recommend this one. It’s short, deeply theological, and also nourishing to the soul. It’s rare to find a book that checks all three of those boxes.

If you think you’ve heard everything there is to hear on Psalm 23, I’d challenge you to think again. While reading the book, I was continually struck by the never-ending depth of this Psalm. Gibson notes how Martin Luther called the Psalms “a little Bible,”1 and Gibson presses further to argue that Psalm 23 is a little Bible in itself. He argues that the message of Psalm 23 is really the message that comes through in all of Scripture: “God is with us.”

While reading the book, Gibson’s exposition of the Psalm—and of this major theme—began to take its effect on me. If I belong to Christ, then truly, what more does he need to say to me other than “I am with you,” regardless of the circumstance? Gibson insightfully argues that we often think of the “valley of the shadow of death” as a trial that we are facing, but what if it is simply one avenue along the path of righteousness? Our shepherd is the one who is unafraid to walk through the dark, because as David said elsewhere, “the darkness is not dark to you.”2 So if he leads me there, and if he is with me, I do not need to be afraid, even if he walks in silence when I wish he would speak. If he is with me, that is all I need.

After finishing the book, I came across Robert Alter’s translation of Psalm 23, and I was pleased to find that it matched up exactly with Gibson’s comments. As a primer for what you’ll find in Gibson’s book, I’ll share Alter’s translation here, and I'd encourage you to sit with the implications of what each word and phrase means.

The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not want.

In grass meadows He makes me lie down,

by quiet waters guides me.

My life He brings back.

He leads me on pathways of justice

for His name’s sake.

Though I walk in the vale of death’s shadow,

I fear no harm,

for You are with me.

Your rod and Your staff—

it is they that console me.

You set out a table before me

in the face of my foes.

You moisten my head with oil,

my cup overflows.

Let but goodness and kindness pursue me

all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

for many long days. 3

Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Martin Luther, Preface to the Psalter, in Luther Works, volume 35, p. 254

Psalm 139:12

Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation With Commentary, 2018