EXPOSITION. PSALM XXIII. Ver. 2.-He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; literally, in gra••y hmne- THIS little psalm is an idyll of great benuty, steads-" the richer, onsis-like spots, where describing the peace and calm delight o. homesle,id wonld be fixe,I in a barren which dwell with one whose trust is wholly tract of land" (Kay) He leadeth me baside in God. David's authorship, asserted in the the still waters; rather, ioaler• of Tejresh- ment; brl 6Ba-ro, a.va,ravu,w, (LXX.). title, is higllly probabfo; but we cannot fix Ver. 3.-He restoreth my soul; i.e. rP- the poem to any ,pecial period in his life- vives it and reinvis:orntea it when it is time; we can only say that he is beyond exhausted and weary (see the comment on the days of boyhood, having already ene- Ps. xix. 7, where the ~ame verb occurs). mies (ver. 5), and that he has known what He leadeth me in the paths or righteousnes1. it is to be in danger of death (ver. 4). Dut, Which o.re also" paths of pleasantness and pence" (Prov. iii. 17). For his Name's when he writes, he is experienciug o. time sake. To mngnify his Name ns a gracious of rest and refreshment (vers. 1-3), nay, and merciful Goel. of prosperity and abundance (ver. 5), His Ver. 4.-Yea, though I wa.lk through the thoughts are happy thoughts - he l!lcks valley of the shadow of death. A sudden nothing; he has no fear ; God's mercy and transition and coutrast, sue\, ns David loved. The quiet paths of righteousness aucl peace goodness are with him; and he feels assured remind the poet of the exl\ct opposite-the that they will continue with him all the dark and disml\l wo.y through the valley of days of his life (ver. 6); he has but one . the shadow of death. Even when so situated, desire for the future, viz. to dwell in the he does not, he will not, fear. I will fear houso of God-i.e. in the presence of Gotl- no evil, he says. And why? For thou art with me. The so.me Protector, the snme for ever. gracious o.nd merciful Go,l, will be still Ver. 1.-The Lord is my Shepherd. This with him-leading him, guiding hill steps, metaphor, so frequent in the later Scriptures shepherding him, keeping him from evil. (lsn. xl. 11 ; xlix. 9, 10; J er. xxxi. 10 ; Thou o.rt with me, thy rod and thy staff- Ezek. xxxiv. 6-19; John x. 11-19, 26- i.e. thy shepherd's crook, and thy sto.ff of 28; Heh. xiii. 20; 1 Pet. ii. 25; v. 4; Rev. defence-they oomfort me. Thoy ruo.ke me vii.17), is perbnps implied in Gen. xlviii. 15, feel that, however long o.ud however dreary but first appears, plainly nnd openly, in the the way through the dark vafo, I shall still Dnvidical psalms (see, besides the present ho.ve thy guidance and thy protection. passage, Pas. lxxiv. 1; lxxvii. 20; bx viii. Ver. 5.-Thou prepareet o. tabla before 53; lxxix. 14; lxxx. I-psalms which, if me in the presence of mine enemies. Another not David's, belong to the time, and were transition. 'fhe dunger of del\th is po.st. written under the influence, of David). It David revorts to the thought of tho tran- ia a metapho1· specially consecrated to us quil, haJipy, joyous time which God hns by our Lord's employment and endorsement vouchsafed to grnnt him. He has "adver- of it (John x. 11-16). I ahall not want. saries," indeed, but they aro powerless to The Prayer-book Version brings out the full effect o.nything o.gainst him. They havo sense, "Therefore can I lack nothing" to look on with ill-concealed annoynnce at (comp. Deut. ii. 7; viii. 9; and Matt. vi. his prosperity, to see his tablo amply 81-33). sprcnd; his couclition such ns men gener,illy 164 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. [rs. x.xm.1-6.
envy; his wealth typified by abundant oil- that they will continue to cling to him thou anoiutest (or, 'llmkest fat, marginal while his life continues. Aud I will dwell rendering) my head with oil - great, his in the house of the Lord for ever (comp. whole lifo full to overflowing with blessed- Ps. xxvii. 4, "One thing have I desired of ness. My cup runneth over, he decla.res- the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may ie not only full to the brim, but runs over dwell in the house of the Lord all the days the brim-nu expressive metaphor, indica- of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, tive of n state of bliss rarely experienced in and to inquire in his temple"). Suoh paa- this life. soges are, of course, not to be understood Ver. 6.--Surely goodness and mercy shall literally; they express the longing of the follow me a.II the days of my life. The past soul for a sense of the oontinual presence is an earnest of the future. As God's of God, and a realization of constant com- "goodness and mercy" have always fol- munion with him. lowed him hitlierto, David has no doubt