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The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host
Expository Study of Psalm 23 Reveals the Beauty and Deep Theological Meaning behind a Familiar Part of Scripture
Psalm 23 is one of the most recognizable passages in the whole Bible. Though relatively short, this poetic depiction of God's love epitomizes Christ's goodness and provision as he leads his children. Even lifelong Christians will find fresh encouragement by closely studying these familiar words.
David Gibson walks through each verse in Psalm 23, thoroughly examining its 3 depictions of the believer's union with Christ as sheep and shepherd, traveler and companion, and guest and host. Gibson provides canonical context for the Psalm's beautiful imagery, inspiring praise and wonder as listeners reflect on the loving Shepherd who meets every need.
Rich Adapted from 3 engaging sermons by David Gibson Closely examines Psalm 23's imagery and what it reveals about the relationship between Christ and his followers Uplifting and Encourages deep reflection on Christ's provision, comfort, and eternal strength With a Foreword by Sinclair Ferguson
Psalm 23 is one of the most recognizable passages in the whole Bible. Though relatively short, this poetic depiction of God's love epitomizes Christ's goodness and provision as he leads his children. Even lifelong Christians will find fresh encouragement by closely studying these familiar words.
David Gibson walks through each verse in Psalm 23, thoroughly examining its 3 depictions of the believer's union with Christ as sheep and shepherd, traveler and companion, and guest and host. Gibson provides canonical context for the Psalm's beautiful imagery, inspiring praise and wonder as listeners reflect on the loving Shepherd who meets every need.
Rich Adapted from 3 engaging sermons by David Gibson Closely examines Psalm 23's imagery and what it reveals about the relationship between Christ and his followers Uplifting and Encourages deep reflection on Christ's provision, comfort, and eternal strength With a Foreword by Sinclair Ferguson
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Published October 9, 2023
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About the author
David Gibson
147 books18 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 523 reviews
January 27, 2024
Just beautiful. I confess I wasn’t initially drawn to this book. “Psalm 23? I’ve memorized it, studied it, even preached it. What more is there to see?” The answer, it turns out, is a lot. I learned so much from this devotional treasure of a book.
October 13, 2023
I already loved Psalm 23. This book made me love it even more. David Gibson, like a true pastor, leads us to Jesus, the Shepherd of Psalm 23. In inviting prose, brimming with consolation, he guides us word by word, phrase by phrase, through this psalm. We learn to savor every promise. I am profoundly grateful for this book and recommend it unhesitatingly.
December 18, 2023
If I did a "Best Books of . . ." list each year, this book would be near the top. A lovely reading of Psalm 23 that stirs the heart toward gratitude for God's grace to us in Jesus Christ. This book made me long to be in the house of the Lord.
February 1, 2024
This is a wonderful little book on a well known Psalm. Gibson exposits the meaning of the text well and applies it to the Christian's life with Jesus as our Good Shepherd. Highly recommended! I will be selecting this as our church's Pastor's recommended book of this month.
November 6, 2025
4.5 stars rounded up to 5. A journey of depth and breadth into every precious phrase of Psalm 23 - breadth that takes in Israel’s wilderness experience of God as shepherd through to Jesus’ incarnate work as good shepherd. So great biblical theology yet also wonderful pastoral and individual applicability. I have a dozen pages dog-eared to quote to others. More than devotional but never less!
March 1, 2025
A blessing for your soul
November 2, 2025
Honestly, I bought this book for the cover.
I started it because I spent money on it.
I finished it because it encouraged and uplifted my soul in ways I really needed. I am beyond thankful I read it.
I started it because I spent money on it.
I finished it because it encouraged and uplifted my soul in ways I really needed. I am beyond thankful I read it.
January 15, 2024
This book made me know and love my Shepherd even more, and for that, I give thanks. I recommend it to any believer and especially those walking through valleys.
July 12, 2025
Maybe 4.5 stars
This little psalm is widely loved and is therefore so commonly quoted that we can start to take it for granted, and become blind to its beauty and depth of meaning. Gibson deftly brings out its richness in this lovely and meditative book. He shows how this concise little poem condenses the essence of the gospel and the entire Bible into just six perfect and memorable verses.
I’m already making a mental list of people who will be receiving this book as a Christmas gift.
Here’s a passage from the chapter on verse 5 (“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”):
“In traditional Middle East society the ‘master of the house provides the food, he does not prepare it.’ Abraham the host orders food to be prepared for his guests (Gen. 18:1-8); the father in the parable of the prodigal son orders a banquet to be prepared (Luke 15:22-23). The host does not prepare the feast himself.
“How astonishing it is, then, that this psalm should be clothing the Lord of the burning bush—the great ‘I AM,’ who has no need of anyone or anything—in the language of a host who is lavish beyond compare to those who have such need. The greatest of hosts himself prepares the most lavish of feasts for the lowliest of creatures. How amazing it is that the Lord of heaven should be seen here spreading his fame in all the earth by wanting to be known as a certain kind of host. This is a facet to his display of his own glory, the Lord doing everything ‘for his name's sake’ (Ps. 23:3), which we often overlook because we associate God's glory and fame with his strength and salvation more than we do with his individual attention to those he has redeemed. But it is in God's nature to serve us as much as it is to save us.”
[p 111]
And here Gibson helpfully corrects a rare literary misread by CS Lewis (from his Reflections on the Psalms):
“All of this helps with the unfortunate interpretation of Psalm 23:5 provided by C. S. Lewis. Recall that for Lewis there is a ‘pettiness and vulgarity’ to the idea that one might enjoy a feast in the presence of enemies; he even goes so far as to call psalms with such ideas "terrible or (dare we say?) contemptible." On the one hand, it is important to observe that Lewis's reading actually projects into the verse the idea that conflict between the guest or host and the enemies is a thing of the past, so that in the feasting the enemy is humiliated by triumphant vindictiveness. But, of course, Psalm 23:5 says nothing of this. What if the conflict is actually ongoing? What if the conflict is coming to a climax? What if the guest is, in fact, in great danger from his enemies as he eats, but he eats to woo and win them, not to belittle or degrade?
“On the other hand, the forcefulness of Lewis's reading really melts away when we see the Lord Jesus eating and drinking in the presence of his enemies. He is not humiliating them; he is seeking to humble them, and in so doing he shows his own humility. He is not gloating over them; he is inviting them. ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). The door is open to all. There is a ready, wide, capacious invitation to any who will come and eat and drink with him. All you need to do is know that you are lost.”
[p 117]
This little psalm is widely loved and is therefore so commonly quoted that we can start to take it for granted, and become blind to its beauty and depth of meaning. Gibson deftly brings out its richness in this lovely and meditative book. He shows how this concise little poem condenses the essence of the gospel and the entire Bible into just six perfect and memorable verses.
I’m already making a mental list of people who will be receiving this book as a Christmas gift.
Here’s a passage from the chapter on verse 5 (“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”):
“In traditional Middle East society the ‘master of the house provides the food, he does not prepare it.’ Abraham the host orders food to be prepared for his guests (Gen. 18:1-8); the father in the parable of the prodigal son orders a banquet to be prepared (Luke 15:22-23). The host does not prepare the feast himself.
“How astonishing it is, then, that this psalm should be clothing the Lord of the burning bush—the great ‘I AM,’ who has no need of anyone or anything—in the language of a host who is lavish beyond compare to those who have such need. The greatest of hosts himself prepares the most lavish of feasts for the lowliest of creatures. How amazing it is that the Lord of heaven should be seen here spreading his fame in all the earth by wanting to be known as a certain kind of host. This is a facet to his display of his own glory, the Lord doing everything ‘for his name's sake’ (Ps. 23:3), which we often overlook because we associate God's glory and fame with his strength and salvation more than we do with his individual attention to those he has redeemed. But it is in God's nature to serve us as much as it is to save us.”
[p 111]
And here Gibson helpfully corrects a rare literary misread by CS Lewis (from his Reflections on the Psalms):
“All of this helps with the unfortunate interpretation of Psalm 23:5 provided by C. S. Lewis. Recall that for Lewis there is a ‘pettiness and vulgarity’ to the idea that one might enjoy a feast in the presence of enemies; he even goes so far as to call psalms with such ideas "terrible or (dare we say?) contemptible." On the one hand, it is important to observe that Lewis's reading actually projects into the verse the idea that conflict between the guest or host and the enemies is a thing of the past, so that in the feasting the enemy is humiliated by triumphant vindictiveness. But, of course, Psalm 23:5 says nothing of this. What if the conflict is actually ongoing? What if the conflict is coming to a climax? What if the guest is, in fact, in great danger from his enemies as he eats, but he eats to woo and win them, not to belittle or degrade?
“On the other hand, the forcefulness of Lewis's reading really melts away when we see the Lord Jesus eating and drinking in the presence of his enemies. He is not humiliating them; he is seeking to humble them, and in so doing he shows his own humility. He is not gloating over them; he is inviting them. ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). The door is open to all. There is a ready, wide, capacious invitation to any who will come and eat and drink with him. All you need to do is know that you are lost.”
[p 117]
July 28, 2025
I loved this book! Best read of the year so far. Gibson was so helpful as he slowly walked through Psalm 23 showing Jesus as our shepherd, companion & host. His approach was very pastoral in his application & full of solid insights into this familiar passage. Meditating on Psalm 23 these past few months has been so good for my soul. Here’s a few of my favorite quotes:
“What Jesus offers us is so comprehensive precisely because what he gives us is himself. He gives us everything we need because he himself is everything we need.“
“He will never let me walk alone.”
The unexpected development in the story of Psalm 23 is at the good Shepherd’s path of righteousness sometimes include the valley of the shadow of death. If I find myself in the valley of deep darkness, it is because he has led me there.”
“What kind of person simply walks through deepest darkness? Only the person who has no reason to fear it.”
“David is saying here that the blessings of the Lord have flowed freely into every part of his existence such that on every hand, he sees the Lord‘s bounty toward him personally.”
“It is an astonishing confession of faith that the changing scenes of life, which are full of evil, pain, and suffering, never indicate a bad God. Rather, and all that happens - despite all that happens - those who are led by the Shepherd and walk with the Shepherd all the days of their lives can see that God is only ever good and only ever loving to his sheep all the time.”
“What Jesus offers us is so comprehensive precisely because what he gives us is himself. He gives us everything we need because he himself is everything we need.“
“He will never let me walk alone.”
The unexpected development in the story of Psalm 23 is at the good Shepherd’s path of righteousness sometimes include the valley of the shadow of death. If I find myself in the valley of deep darkness, it is because he has led me there.”
“What kind of person simply walks through deepest darkness? Only the person who has no reason to fear it.”
“David is saying here that the blessings of the Lord have flowed freely into every part of his existence such that on every hand, he sees the Lord‘s bounty toward him personally.”
“It is an astonishing confession of faith that the changing scenes of life, which are full of evil, pain, and suffering, never indicate a bad God. Rather, and all that happens - despite all that happens - those who are led by the Shepherd and walk with the Shepherd all the days of their lives can see that God is only ever good and only ever loving to his sheep all the time.”
March 17, 2025
I bought this book because the cover was so gorgeous and I was intrigued what David Gibson would have to say to write a whole book on this short, seemingly simple Psalm.
Turns out there's so much I failed to appreciate about this Psalm.
This book is beautiful--because Psalm 23 is so beautiful. Definitely my top read of 2025 so far, and of the best books I've ever read.
Turns out there's so much I failed to appreciate about this Psalm.
This book is beautiful--because Psalm 23 is so beautiful. Definitely my top read of 2025 so far, and of the best books I've ever read.
February 7, 2025
Behind. Beside. Before.
December 28, 2024
Absolutely wonderful book. Like all the reviews say, Gibson truly does change your perspective on Psalm 23 and provides new insights to the psalm that we all think we know everything about.
“But it is in God’s nature to serve us as much as it is to save us.”
“But it is in God’s nature to serve us as much as it is to save us.”
August 24, 2025
A joyful, uplifting read on the Good Shepherd.
March 18, 2025
Once, in a meeting I attended, the speaker said, "Listen, there's no you and Jesus; there's just us and Jesus." Something sat wrong then. David Gibson helped me name it: "So our relationship with God is never purely individual and personal, even though it is also never less than that. It is always so much more" (21). This is the crux of the beauty and power of Psalm 23, a psalm that maybe you too have heard since you were small. It is, as Gibson says, a mini Bible. A mini Gospel. At the very heart of everything: The Lord is with us.
Psalm 23 lit up my heart a few years ago when I read Dallas Willard's "Life without Lack" and it just keeps threading deeper and deeper into my soul. This was the latest way. Looking at three main images, of Jesus as our shepherd, companion and host, David Gibson threaded a few more connections into my soul.
Read this book to deepen your attachment to God, to feel the joy and happiness that comes from knowing you have everything you need, to be consoled when you're in a dark valley (and it's where God led you), to preach the gospel to yourself in some of the most familiar lines of Scripture, to lift your gaze, to anticipate a feast. I love this Psalm so much. I loved this wonderful and rich look at it.
Psalm 23 lit up my heart a few years ago when I read Dallas Willard's "Life without Lack" and it just keeps threading deeper and deeper into my soul. This was the latest way. Looking at three main images, of Jesus as our shepherd, companion and host, David Gibson threaded a few more connections into my soul.
Read this book to deepen your attachment to God, to feel the joy and happiness that comes from knowing you have everything you need, to be consoled when you're in a dark valley (and it's where God led you), to preach the gospel to yourself in some of the most familiar lines of Scripture, to lift your gaze, to anticipate a feast. I love this Psalm so much. I loved this wonderful and rich look at it.
July 9, 2024
{full review posted here: https://www.amberthiessen.com/post/th...}
If you're familiar with a psalm of Scripture, Psalm 23 is likely the one.
There's something about the serene pastoral imagery, the numerous actions of the Shepherd, and the reality of the valley of deep darkness that strike a chord within our souls. We've all walked through them, learning to depend on him.
The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion and Host by David Gibson takes us verse by verse through this psalm to help us know the Good Shepherd better in his care, leadership, protection and welcome.
Psalm 23 is such a popular chapter of Scripture and I appreciated taking it slow, going verse by verse through to reflect and meditate more thoroughly on who Christ is and how he leads and welcomes me, even through the darkness.
This is a good read if you’re walking through challenges or difficulties, or if you cling to this psalm and want a better picture of the Good Shepherd.
Quick Stats
# of Pages: 184
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars
If you're familiar with a psalm of Scripture, Psalm 23 is likely the one.
There's something about the serene pastoral imagery, the numerous actions of the Shepherd, and the reality of the valley of deep darkness that strike a chord within our souls. We've all walked through them, learning to depend on him.
The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion and Host by David Gibson takes us verse by verse through this psalm to help us know the Good Shepherd better in his care, leadership, protection and welcome.
Psalm 23 is such a popular chapter of Scripture and I appreciated taking it slow, going verse by verse through to reflect and meditate more thoroughly on who Christ is and how he leads and welcomes me, even through the darkness.
This is a good read if you’re walking through challenges or difficulties, or if you cling to this psalm and want a better picture of the Good Shepherd.
Quick Stats
# of Pages: 184
Level of Difficulty: Easy
My Rating: 5 stars
March 31, 2024
“Psalm 23 resonates with us so deeply because it speaks to this yearning for all to be well and to arrive, at last, in a place of unreserved welcome and untainted beauty and perfection. So we live with Christ our shepherd amid the tension of life, the now and not-yet of his perfect rule. For now we are not home, but we are heading there because he is leading us.”
What an unexpected joy it has been to finish this on the eve of Easter, when we celebrate the triumph of our shepherd who “restores my soul” and “leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.” What greater guide can we ask to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death than the one who conquered death.
What an unexpected joy it has been to finish this on the eve of Easter, when we celebrate the triumph of our shepherd who “restores my soul” and “leads me in paths of righteousness for his name sake.” What greater guide can we ask to lead us through the valley of the shadow of death than the one who conquered death.
May 10, 2025
“In this Psalm, David comes alongside you as you read and puts his strong shepherd crook around your shoulder and pulls you in so that you can hear him tell you that the God of heaven can meet your every need precisely because he is the one who has no need of anything himself.”
This book felt for me like reading Gentle and Lowly for the first time (if you know me then you know how huge of a statement this is!). It’s beautiful, pastoral, and full of things I hope to ponder forever. Gibson does an incredible job of situating Psalm 23 within the larger story of the Bible to show how it’s “a song of praise to the God who has come to get us and bring us home”. Would *highly* recommend!
This book felt for me like reading Gentle and Lowly for the first time (if you know me then you know how huge of a statement this is!). It’s beautiful, pastoral, and full of things I hope to ponder forever. Gibson does an incredible job of situating Psalm 23 within the larger story of the Bible to show how it’s “a song of praise to the God who has come to get us and bring us home”. Would *highly* recommend!
January 4, 2024
And 2024 is off to a corker
June 17, 2024
Really, REALLY loved this read.
October 5, 2024
I first finished this book last week. I immediately started over and finished it for the second time this week.
It’s worth many more re-reads. “There are very great depths here in which to anchor your faith,” Gibson writes. I heartily agree.
Gibson works verse by verse, word by word, to explore the deep theology of this most familiar psalm.
“These six short verses are a window into the sixty-six books of scripture and they take us through the whole story of redemption in an elevated, majestic and also personal, intimate way,” he writes.
I cannot do justice to a summary. It’s a short book and you should read it. But I’ll give you a few highlights that are ringing in my ears.
To begin, it’s not only that we have a shepherd to protect and lead us. That shepherd is God himself. “There are some things about God that we will never understand. So, already we need to add something to the easily understandable and very relatable image of God as a shepherd. The one who is my shepherd is one whom I cannot, in fact, ever fully understand.”
“It is one thing to have a shepherd, but it an utterly staggering thing to have as a shepherd the one who is strength itself, who never tires, never slumbers and who never needs protection himself.”
The section on rest was a significant reset for me. “You do not rest on the Sabbath to be refreshed for work. Rather, the point of all labor and work is for the sake of the Sabbath. It is not an interlude, but the climax of living. The provision of the Sabbath as a way of realizing the whole point of creation, rest with God, is profoundly beautiful.”
It was powerful, too, to consider the “paths of righteousness” as tracks worn smooth by someone who has gone ahead and left a path for us to follow.
“There is a beautiful connection between righteous paths and holiness. … Happiness is found in holiness, holiness is found in righteousness and this righteousness is found in listening to the voice of the shepherd, attending to his call and heeding his words.”
“There is no way to be at rest in this world or to be at rest with the Lord in the world to come without being made new by the words he speaks and the righteousness he gives as we give ourselves to him.”
“When devotion to hearing his voice begins to dwindle, then, eventually, inevitably, departure from his paths begins to follow. “
I loved the unflinching acknowledgement of sovereignty even though we often can’t unravel its reality with mere intellect.
“It is simply unwise to assume, as some do unthinkingly, that we have a shepherd who leads us to peace and tranquility but has no say over how sheep come to find themselves in a threatening gorge.”
“It is not possible for the sheep to have an encounter with either death or its advance shadow that is outside God’s decree and his loving fatherly care.”
“Whatever the valley … Jesus is not up ahead, asking for directions, he is not lost. He knows where he is leading you. He knows there is a way through it and out of it because that was his own experience of the valley. He has been there ahead of you and for you.”
Gibson doesn’t sugar-coat the shadows of our valleys. The “assumption, I think, is precisely that shadows can be genuinely terrifying places, full of grotesque evil, maybe even catastrophic danger. And yet the reason for not fearing is precisely because of who is there with us.”
And how my heart needs to hear and rehear this truth: “His enemies are not defined as people who have done bad things, and his friends are not defined as those who have done good things. No, his enemies are those who cannot bear the fact that he eats with people who have done bad things.”
At the end we learn that we are followed by goodness and mercy. If you have known those words since you were tiny, as I have, it is so easy to miss their great weight.
Gibson says “pursue” might be a better translation than “follow.” “The word is so intensive it is often used in combat scenes where people are pursued to death.”
And the next is even better: “God doesn’t have goodness or love that he might dispatch them, he is goodness and love. God sends these attributes after us as a way of giving us himself: My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”
And then there is a little grammar lesson to make it all even more overwhelming. Gibson says “surely” is used in a restrictive sense, not intensive. So it’s not that goodness and mercy have been among the things pursuing me all through my life. They have been the only things.
“David is looking back over his shoulder at all that has gone before and he is able to confess that he can see the goodness and the steadfast love of God in every single circumstance of life, the valley of the shadow of death as much as the green pastures and still waters. In all that happens to me, David is basically saying, I see only his goodness and lovingkindness.”
Gibson does not pretend this is an easy truth to grasp.
“Let me say, as we wrestle with this theology, that if your own current experience cannot handle this perspective, just take time to note the vantage point of the guest here in verse six. Goodness and mercy are pursuing him. He is moving forward and they are behind him. Sometimes, only when we look back on events will we ever be able to see the goodness and the steadfast love of the Lord in them. If you cannot feel it now, the Lord is still with you in the valley.”
“Lived conviction does not erase pain in a moment. But it can anchor it and provide a compass point in the valley as we lift up our pain to God.”
“For you are with me” lands right in the middle of the psalm, a place of emphasis in Hebrew poetry. “The entire psalm centers on the stunning idea that the greatest, strongest, and most gentle and generous shepherd is with us.”
Amen.
It’s worth many more re-reads. “There are very great depths here in which to anchor your faith,” Gibson writes. I heartily agree.
Gibson works verse by verse, word by word, to explore the deep theology of this most familiar psalm.
“These six short verses are a window into the sixty-six books of scripture and they take us through the whole story of redemption in an elevated, majestic and also personal, intimate way,” he writes.
I cannot do justice to a summary. It’s a short book and you should read it. But I’ll give you a few highlights that are ringing in my ears.
To begin, it’s not only that we have a shepherd to protect and lead us. That shepherd is God himself. “There are some things about God that we will never understand. So, already we need to add something to the easily understandable and very relatable image of God as a shepherd. The one who is my shepherd is one whom I cannot, in fact, ever fully understand.”
“It is one thing to have a shepherd, but it an utterly staggering thing to have as a shepherd the one who is strength itself, who never tires, never slumbers and who never needs protection himself.”
The section on rest was a significant reset for me. “You do not rest on the Sabbath to be refreshed for work. Rather, the point of all labor and work is for the sake of the Sabbath. It is not an interlude, but the climax of living. The provision of the Sabbath as a way of realizing the whole point of creation, rest with God, is profoundly beautiful.”
It was powerful, too, to consider the “paths of righteousness” as tracks worn smooth by someone who has gone ahead and left a path for us to follow.
“There is a beautiful connection between righteous paths and holiness. … Happiness is found in holiness, holiness is found in righteousness and this righteousness is found in listening to the voice of the shepherd, attending to his call and heeding his words.”
“There is no way to be at rest in this world or to be at rest with the Lord in the world to come without being made new by the words he speaks and the righteousness he gives as we give ourselves to him.”
“When devotion to hearing his voice begins to dwindle, then, eventually, inevitably, departure from his paths begins to follow. “
I loved the unflinching acknowledgement of sovereignty even though we often can’t unravel its reality with mere intellect.
“It is simply unwise to assume, as some do unthinkingly, that we have a shepherd who leads us to peace and tranquility but has no say over how sheep come to find themselves in a threatening gorge.”
“It is not possible for the sheep to have an encounter with either death or its advance shadow that is outside God’s decree and his loving fatherly care.”
“Whatever the valley … Jesus is not up ahead, asking for directions, he is not lost. He knows where he is leading you. He knows there is a way through it and out of it because that was his own experience of the valley. He has been there ahead of you and for you.”
Gibson doesn’t sugar-coat the shadows of our valleys. The “assumption, I think, is precisely that shadows can be genuinely terrifying places, full of grotesque evil, maybe even catastrophic danger. And yet the reason for not fearing is precisely because of who is there with us.”
And how my heart needs to hear and rehear this truth: “His enemies are not defined as people who have done bad things, and his friends are not defined as those who have done good things. No, his enemies are those who cannot bear the fact that he eats with people who have done bad things.”
At the end we learn that we are followed by goodness and mercy. If you have known those words since you were tiny, as I have, it is so easy to miss their great weight.
Gibson says “pursue” might be a better translation than “follow.” “The word is so intensive it is often used in combat scenes where people are pursued to death.”
And the next is even better: “God doesn’t have goodness or love that he might dispatch them, he is goodness and love. God sends these attributes after us as a way of giving us himself: My presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”
And then there is a little grammar lesson to make it all even more overwhelming. Gibson says “surely” is used in a restrictive sense, not intensive. So it’s not that goodness and mercy have been among the things pursuing me all through my life. They have been the only things.
“David is looking back over his shoulder at all that has gone before and he is able to confess that he can see the goodness and the steadfast love of God in every single circumstance of life, the valley of the shadow of death as much as the green pastures and still waters. In all that happens to me, David is basically saying, I see only his goodness and lovingkindness.”
Gibson does not pretend this is an easy truth to grasp.
“Let me say, as we wrestle with this theology, that if your own current experience cannot handle this perspective, just take time to note the vantage point of the guest here in verse six. Goodness and mercy are pursuing him. He is moving forward and they are behind him. Sometimes, only when we look back on events will we ever be able to see the goodness and the steadfast love of the Lord in them. If you cannot feel it now, the Lord is still with you in the valley.”
“Lived conviction does not erase pain in a moment. But it can anchor it and provide a compass point in the valley as we lift up our pain to God.”
“For you are with me” lands right in the middle of the psalm, a place of emphasis in Hebrew poetry. “The entire psalm centers on the stunning idea that the greatest, strongest, and most gentle and generous shepherd is with us.”
Amen.
March 5, 2025
Fantastic. Gibson plunged me into the Scriptures and helped shaped my view of God unlike most books I’ve read in a long time. Highly highly recommend!
(Also hot take: if you are a college senior (@Salt UNL students 🤟🏼) OR if you are making a big life transition, read this book! I say that because to learn deeply of my Shepherd in the midst of our move to TN deeply blessed my soul. The hot take is this… Do not just read a surface-level book from a popular, quotable Christian author on “transitions” or “seasons of life” haha. Read a RICH book like this one that will make you pull your Bible out and truly sit with who God is. I think you’ll be blessed. I am going to buy this book for our future Salt UTK seniors!)
(Also hot take: if you are a college senior (@Salt UNL students 🤟🏼) OR if you are making a big life transition, read this book! I say that because to learn deeply of my Shepherd in the midst of our move to TN deeply blessed my soul. The hot take is this… Do not just read a surface-level book from a popular, quotable Christian author on “transitions” or “seasons of life” haha. Read a RICH book like this one that will make you pull your Bible out and truly sit with who God is. I think you’ll be blessed. I am going to buy this book for our future Salt UTK seniors!)
September 5, 2025
So comforting! I came expecting to learn more about Jesus as my Shepherd but, in my opinion, the star chapters of this book are those covering Jesus as our host. Through the author’s exposition of Psalm 23, he paints a picture of Christ as the one who welcomes, nourishes, and sustains us — and even though this wasn’t the main intention, it presented probably the most compelling argument for Christian hospitality that I’ve ever heard (that or it just personally touched me). Loved it!
March 15, 2025
Amazing book!!! What a gift it is to be able to say with confidence that the LORD is my shepherd
“And Psalm 23 is a song of praise to the God who has come to get us and bring us home. The journey is long, so we need a shepherd; it is dangerous, so we need a companion; and it is wearisome, so we need a host. But the journey has always had an ultimate destination in mind: the restoration of return to the house of the Lord.”
“And Psalm 23 is a song of praise to the God who has come to get us and bring us home. The journey is long, so we need a shepherd; it is dangerous, so we need a companion; and it is wearisome, so we need a host. But the journey has always had an ultimate destination in mind: the restoration of return to the house of the Lord.”
May 3, 2024
This book was such a joy to read. I have always taken great comfort in Psalm 23, but Gibson’s exposition took it to deeper level for me. He forces his reader to linger on singular words and phrases and mines them for all they’re worth. In a season where I have at times felt like I’m in the valley of deep darkness, it was a balm to my soul to be reminded that it is my Good Shepherd who leads me, who is with me, and whose goodness and mercy pursues me all my days.
“The unexpected development in the story of Psalm 23 is that the good shepherd’s paths of righteousness sometimes include the valley of the shadow of death. If I find myself in the valley of deep darkness, it is because he has led me there…It is simply unwise to assume—as some do, unthinkingly—that we have a shepherd who leads us to peace and tranquility but has no say over how sheep come to find themselves in a threatening gorge. No, the valley of the shadow of death, the days of deep darkness, do not mean we have left the paths of righteousness; in fact, they are where the shepherd’s paths of righteousness are sometimes located. This is how he leads.”
“The unexpected development in the story of Psalm 23 is that the good shepherd’s paths of righteousness sometimes include the valley of the shadow of death. If I find myself in the valley of deep darkness, it is because he has led me there…It is simply unwise to assume—as some do, unthinkingly—that we have a shepherd who leads us to peace and tranquility but has no say over how sheep come to find themselves in a threatening gorge. No, the valley of the shadow of death, the days of deep darkness, do not mean we have left the paths of righteousness; in fact, they are where the shepherd’s paths of righteousness are sometimes located. This is how he leads.”
June 26, 2024
Especially loved this rich balm in audio because the authors voice adds such a comforting touch but I definitely want to add this book to my collection 😊 I’m adding more of his books to my to read list !!
One to reread
One to reread
November 5, 2024
The Big God is right in the centre of this accessible, pastoral, theologically thorough meditation on Psalm 23. I love this book and immediately felt like I needed to read it again at half the speed. It's not long. I should do it.
But when it comes to endorsements...
Who could put it better than Dale Ralph Davis? (In the front of the book. Too few Reformed book endorsements allude to "pulling the teat". Classic!)
🐄 🥛 💯
"There are two ways of reading and studying Scripture. One is like clipping down a motorway, traversing big chunks, getting the sweep of the story. The other is like milking a cow—you just sit there with one text and keep pulling and squeezing. The latter is what David Gibson does with Psalm 23—he 'milks' it marvelously, and your cup will run over!"
Dale Ralph Davis, former pastor; Former Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson
But when it comes to endorsements...
Who could put it better than Dale Ralph Davis? (In the front of the book. Too few Reformed book endorsements allude to "pulling the teat". Classic!)
🐄 🥛 💯
"There are two ways of reading and studying Scripture. One is like clipping down a motorway, traversing big chunks, getting the sweep of the story. The other is like milking a cow—you just sit there with one text and keep pulling and squeezing. The latter is what David Gibson does with Psalm 23—he 'milks' it marvelously, and your cup will run over!"
Dale Ralph Davis, former pastor; Former Professor of Old Testament, Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson
July 31, 2024
+ Short yet thorough, encouraging yet challenging, warm yet usefully technical, familiar yet fresh. Lots to take away and help shape my attitudes in certain areas. Particularly loved the middle section (traveller and companion).
- No notes, beyond one or two small leaps of logic I wasn't fully convinced about, but hey, that's books.
= Just a deeply refreshing, lovely little book (with chapters that work well as slightly longer daily devotionals). At very least, it made me spend a week or so constantly re-reading Psalm 23 with fresh eyes!
- No notes, beyond one or two small leaps of logic I wasn't fully convinced about, but hey, that's books.
= Just a deeply refreshing, lovely little book (with chapters that work well as slightly longer daily devotionals). At very least, it made me spend a week or so constantly re-reading Psalm 23 with fresh eyes!
February 25, 2025
Psalm 23 folks, rise up! I cannot stress enough how much this book means to me! I never wanted to finish, I drug it out as long as I could! The Lord is my Shepherd, Companion and Host! Leading me home ♥️
August 11, 2025
I am glad for this recommendation from my friend, Jennifer Squire. Psalm 23 is a lovely picture of Christ our shepherd, and David Gibson writes so wonderfully of all the truths about him and our life with him as his sheep. Read this book and be encouraged and refreshed.
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