For those who want a change from the Gospel
Easter 4 – Psalm 23
Oh my goodness – the 23rd Psalm is set for this week – what on earth am I going to find to say about it? Everyone knows it – indeed for many it might be the only bit of the Bible they do know. We all know that it is both lovely but also about funerals, and of course we all know how to sing it to Crimond. So what was it actually about, and why is it set for liturgical use during the Easter period? Let’s try to forget for a moment what we think we know about it, and see if any new insights come as we look at it afresh.
One interesting way in is to ask what it says about the relationship of the psalmist to his God. There are three different images, and it is worth unravelling them and looking at them separately. They first is God as caring shepherd. This is an image which is used extensively in the OT, often of kings or other leaders, who may in places be either good or bad. By the time of Jesus they did seem to have something of a negative image, or so we are often told, so Jesus, when describing himself as a shepherd, feels to need to explain that he is a good one. (Note for liturgy anoraks: in Eucharistic Prayer D in Common Worship God is described as a ‘good father to us all’. This term was used deliberately because increasingly we know that not all fathers are good, but that God is the perfect image of fatherhood, just as Jesus is the perfect image of shepherdhood, if that is a thing.) Good rulers in Israel were meant to embody all that was good about shepherding, with its implications of nurture, care, rescue and guidance. Ezekiel in particular decries bad shepherds, who are only interested in themselves, an image which we in this country understand only too well. The psalmist’s experience of God is completely positive.
The second image is guide to the wanderer. Part of the shepherding task involves both gathering wandering sheep, and leading them to the best places for their pasturage. ‘Still waters’ are literally ‘waters of rest’, where sheep, and not necessarily the water, can be still. ‘He restores my soul’ can mean that God restores my vitality, or simply that he refreshes me: ‘soul’ might simply mean ‘me’, as it often does in English today, bless my soul! The paths in which the shepherd leads the psalmist are the ones which lead towards happiness and blessing, rather than helping him to do the right things (although of course that might bring happiness, although possibly not). Even when that road lies through death, God still guides, and the psalmist need not be afraid. The Hebrew words for ‘rod’ and ‘staff’ are very different, and the two are used more than merely as poetic parallels. The rod is a studded club used offensively to drive away threatening animals or people, while a staff is a long walking stick to give support through weakness or tiredness. Both bring comfort if you know your shepherd has them, although the Hebrew could mean that they lead, rather than comfort.
Thirdly, God is seen as a gracious host. The image is probably from the Temple period when sacrifices could be followed by a communal banquet, particularly in times of great victory over enemies. Thanks and praise would be offered to God, and then the people would celebrate together with feasting, a kind of scaled up version of coffee and donuts after the morning service. It may even have been that the guests would be anointed as they sat down to feast, which would draw parallels to the anointing of Jesus. Whether defeated enemies would literally be present is doubtful, but the sense could be ‘in the face of persecution’ or in spite of it. And to ‘dwell’ in the Lord’s house could be better translated as ‘return’, expressing the hope that worshippers would be spared to return again and again to the Temple for as long as they lived. The psalmist is confident that year after year there will be plenty of good shepherding and righteous guidance to celebrate.
There are so many nuances, even in the image of the shepherd alone, for us to meditate on and celebrate. As we continue to celebrate the Easter period and all that was won for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the phrase ‘all other benefits of his passion’ comes to mind. There are plenty!