Psalms 23-28

Psalms 23-28

            Psalm 23 is, of course, the most well-known of all the psalms, its idyllic imagery bringing comfort to generations of Christians. The image of a shepherd is appropriate for David, who famously was a shepherd before he was called to both royal service under Saul and to the kingship itself. In some ways, a shepherd is the ideal image of Israel’s king, because it’s an image appropriated by Yahweh Himself, both here and in other places. Contrary to the world around them, Israel saw a true king as a caretaker and protector of the people under his care, just as Yahweh was a different kind of god, a god who cared for and knew and redeemed His people.

The 2011 update of the NIV makes what I consider the strange choice to translate verse 4 as walking through the darkest valley. I still prefer the more literal translation, “the valley of the shadow of death.” The latter translation sees the eschatological implications of verses 5-6, about which theologian Miroslav Wolf makes this interesting note. In a book about forgiveness and remembering, he tells a story of an army officer who had mistreated him in his native land, then he imagines two ways to understand a table in the presence of his enemies. He comments that he had always imagined that verse as himself at the table and his enemies looking on with jealous. Then he reimagined it that his enemy was at the table with him, equally forgiven and them reconciled. That’s a powerful image of the healing that occurs for us on the last day.

            Psalm 24 is often associated with the season of Advent. The first Sunday in Advent has traditionally had Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem as its Gospel reading, and the psalm certainly plays on the image of the triumphant Lord coming to the gates of Jerusalem in victory. (Since the word advent is a Latin word that simply means coming, the appropriateness of both Scriptures is apparent.)

            Psalm 27:1 is a common confirmation verse, with its promise that the believer has nothing to fear with the Lord as his light, salvation, and stronghold. The rest of the psalm bears reflection, too. Verse 2-3 advance the idea of fearlessness, and verses 4-6 define the believer’s hope: on the one hand, David longs to be in the tabernacle; on the other hand, the tabernacle is just an earthly reflection of God’s heavenly throne room, so there is an eschatological sense here, too. The believer’s deliverance and vindication may not be obvious in this age of the world, but in the age to come… Verses 7-12 are a prayer to be heard by the Lord because that end-time vindication hasn’t appeared yet and a prayer to know the Lord’s ways, a good prayer in a time when the evidence seems to indicate the Lord’s disengagement from us. Finally, verse 12-13 express the believer’s confidence and conclude with the exhortation to wait for the Lord. Sometimes, oftentimes, it seems like that is all the believer can do—wait for the Lord. (I’ve often commented that in the New Testament faith, hope, and love are the chief virtues and that the fourth virtue is patience endurance, mentioned time and again!)