Some thoughts... on the 23rd Psalm

Everything that follows in the Psalm is grounded upon this confession that "the Lord is my shepherd". If he were not such a shepherd, it would be impossible to speak of the prospect of lacking nothing, and it would be impossible to look with any confidence towards the green pastures and the still waters of the pastoral vision; it would be impossible to expect the sort of divine guidance in which the Psalmist rejoices.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall want nothing. He makes me to lie down in green pastures, and leads me beside the waters of peace; he renews life within me, and... guides me on the right path."

These images are designed to speak to our condition at a time when life is good, and filled with promise; they speak to our condition in good health and prosperity, at times of increase and joy. And, at such times perhaps, it is easier for us to attribute our happiness to the goodness of God, and to his faithful commission of his responsibility towards us.

But there is another side to life, and our Psalm recognizes that too, for it speaks movingly of a valley of deep darkness, or a valley dark as death. And it is a good thing that our Psalm, and the Bible generally, recognizes this dark side of life, both the physical darkness and the spiritual darkness that any of us may meet again and again along life's way; the darkness that some seem to meet rather more frequently than others. If it did not recognize such things, we might be inclined to conclude that our Psalm had a quite unrealistic way of looking at life.

Here, in the Old Testament, however, the darkness is recognized, and we, from our Christian standpoint must be bold enough to recognize it too. For the message of our Psalm is not that there is no darkness, but that in the midst of the darkness a light shines, a light shines that beckons us on towards life in God. And so the Psalmist affirms strongly:

"Even though I walk through a valley dark as death I fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy staff and thy crook are my comfort."

The darkness can take many forms; and some of us are less well equipped to enter it than others. There is the darkness of failed relationships and the darkness of bereavement; there is the darkness of ill-health and the darkness of dying; there is that darkness that at times can beset us as we attend to someone we love who is dying; there is the darkness of handicap and the darkness of depression; there is the darkness of uncertainty and there is the darkness of regret... All these things, and many more besides, can overtake each of us in the course of a lifetime, but we needn't go on listing them. The point is that through each darkness the light of God might shine. Or, again, at the times when we find the light so dim that we cannot see it, we can reach out into the darkness in faith, seeking the hand of God to guide us. For, when we can really say "I fear no evil", and believe it, the darkness is finally overcome and can hold no more terrors for us. Therefore we can say

"Goodness and love unfailing, these will follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long."

Although our Psalm recognizes that God is with us in good times an bad alike, if we have not taken care to build up our spiritual resources when times were good, we are perhaps more vulnerable when we have to face the limit situations of life. Even if the Psalmist does not say so explicitly, his train of thought (from his opening affirmation that the Lord is his shepherd, through his rejoicing in God’s leading, whether beside the still waters or through the valley dark as death, to his closing affirmation of God’s unfailing love and goodness) perhaps instructs us not to neglect God or the spiritual life in the good times so that we might be more aware of his company and support when we feel our security threatened.