Week 5 Psalm 23
This one is known as the Shepherd Psalm because it starts out talking about a shepherd & sheep (although David makes it clear who-is-who in the psalm. The shepherd is the Lord. The sheep is me).
David only talks about regular-sounding shepherd-&-sheep things (green pastures and still waters) for a couple of verses. Then he moves on to other things: the shepherd restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness (the bible I’m reading says paths of righteousness = in right paths).
If I had to pick a focal verse in the Shepherd Psalm that would be it. The Lord a) restores my soul and b) leads me along the right paths.
It looks like there are two kinds of souls: restored souls & unrestored souls.
And two kinds of paths: right paths & wrong paths.
Given the choice my personal preference would be a restored soul & a right path.
One obvious concern for me is that David didn’t tip me off about getting my soul restored. Didn’t spell out how I stay on the right track. I could complain about David’s lack of details. But I’m guessing that he might just say “well keep on reading! You’ve got another 127 psalms to go”.
I think the psalm’s main objective is to remind me about what my objectives are – what I’m aiming at.
Note: quote is from Psalm 23:3 (ESV). Some people might prefer verse six to verse three. I’d admit that it’s a good one too.