---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Psalms 23"
description: "PSALM 23   :-. Under a metaphor borrowed from scenes of pastoral life,
with which David was familiar, he describes God"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/psalms/23"
---

PSALM 23

. Under a metaphor borrowed from scenes of pastoral life,
with which David was familiar, he describes God's providential care
in providing refreshment, guidance, protection, and abundance, and so
affording grounds of confidence in His perpetual favor.

**1.** Christ's relation to His
people is often represented by the figure of a shepherd ([John 10:14](../../../kjv/john/10/14);
[Hebrews 13:20](../../../kjv/hebrews/13/20); [1 Peter 2:25](../../../kjv/1-peter/2/25);
[1 Peter 5:4](../../../kjv/1-peter/5/4)), and therefore the
opinion that He is *the Lord* here so described, and in [Genesis 48:15](../../../kjv/genesis/48/15);
[Psalms 80:1](../../../kjv/psalms/80/1); [Isaiah 40:11](../../../kjv/isaiah/40/11),
is not without some good reason.

**2. green pastures**—or,
"pastures of tender grass," are mentioned, not in respect
to food, but as places of cool and refreshing rest.
**the still waters**—are,
literally, "waters of "stillness," whose quiet flow
invites to repose. They are contrasted with boisterous streams on the
one hand, and stagnant, offensive pools on the other.

**3.** To restore the soul is to
revive or quicken it ([Psalms 19:7](../../../kjv/psalms/19/7)),
or relieve it ([Lamentations 1:11](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/11); [Lamentations 1:19](../../../kjv/lamentations/1/19)).
**paths of righteousness**—those
of safety, as directed by God, and pleasing to Him.
**for his name's sake**—or,
regard for His perfections, pledged for His people's welfare.

**4.** In the darkest and most
trying hour God is near.
**the valley of the shadow of
death**—is a ravine overhung by high precipitous cliffs, filled
with dense forests, and well calculated to inspire dread to the
timid, and afford a covert to beasts of prey. While expressive of any
great danger or cause of terror, it does not exclude the greatest of
all, to which it is most popularly applied, and which its terms
suggest.
**thy rod and thy staff**—are
symbols of a shepherd's office. By them he guides his sheep.

**5, 6.** Another figure expresses
God's provided care.
**a table**—or, "food,"
anointing
**oil**—the symbol of
gladness, and the overflowing
**cup**—which represents
abundance—are prepared for the child of God, who may feast in spite
of his enemies, confident that this favor will ever attend him. This
beautiful Psalm most admirably sets before us, in its chief figure,
that of a shepherd, the gentle, kind, and sure care extended to God's
people, who, as a shepherd, both *rules and feeds them.* The
closing verse shows that the blessings mentioned are spiritual.

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