Psalm 23:1-4

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name's sake.
 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

Psalm 23:1-4

Immediately, we are presented with two characters.  There is the psalmist (David) and the Lord.  The relation to these two is also described.  The Lord is described as David's shepherd.  I guess that would make David a sheep in this illustration.  This is followed by "I shall not want".  I guess this means that because the Lord is David's shepherd, he does not find himself in want.  He has everything he needs.

The psalmist goes on to describe what this looks like.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Ps 23:2-3

The Lord who is the shepherd of the psalmist does what a shepherd would do for his sheep.  There are green pastures and there are still waters.  I've heard someone talk about what it means by "he makes me lie down in green pastures".  He mentioned how shepherds may force a sheep to lie down by breaking their leg (or legs?).  That may sound cruel, but it would ultimately be for their own good.  Perhaps the sheep didn't know how to listen well or maybe the sheep kept running off too far (and into danger).

The last one is about paths of righteousness.  Unlike the earlier statements, this has less to do with what a shepherd would do for his sheep.  I guess he is still leading, as a shepherd would do.  Righteousness is important to the Lord.  More importantly is why he does this.  The purpose is "for his name's sake".  The sheep (David) is lead on paths of righteousness for the Lord's name's sake.  I find that interesting.  Righteousness is important to the Lord and it is for his name's sake that the shepherd leads the sheep on these paths.  I guess if the sheep are not on these paths, it would affect the name of the Lord.

Moving on, I'm not sure what the valley of the shadow of death is, but it doesn't sound good.  More important is the fact that the psalmist says: "I will fear no evil".  Why does he say this?  Why does he not fear evil?  The reason is, as the psalmist says: "for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me".  So, even though he's walking through something that sounds really bad, he isn't afraid.  The Lord his shepherd is with him and his rod and his staff comforts him.

We had a chance to see shepherds shepherding their sheep when we were in Israel.  It was really cool.  The sheep just move along in a pack.  Some stray a little, but they stay together for the most part.  There were even cars and trucks driving nearby and the shepherd wasn't worried.  Perhaps the sheep weren't worried either, but I didn't ask them.  The shepherd knew what he was doing and seemed to take good care of the sheep.  Reading through Psalm 23 I am reminded of that and I should be one who takes comfort in the Lord who is my shepherd.  What do I have to fear?  God is with me.