The Lovingkindness of our Good Shepherd

Fresco of the Good Shepherd from a restored burial chamber
in the Christian catacombs of St Domitilla in Rome

Reflection on Psalm 23, at Morning Worship with the Community of Brendan the Navigator on Friday 24th July 2026

Psalm 23 is so familiar to us, and so much loved, isn’t it? It is the song of someone who is completely secure in the knowledge of God’s love. Someone who knows they have nothing to fear in this world, because God has blessed them with enough and more than enough, and they can trust him to continue to do so.

Today, I’m going to reflect on the Psalm 23 verse by verse to tease out what it means to me.

1The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

The Israelites were a pastoral people, so it came naturally to them to see the lovingkindness of their God Yahweh as like that of a shepherd. Jesus uses this metaphor about himself. He declares, ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’ (John 10:11). As Christians, we have made the metaphor our own. Because God our loving Father has given us his own Son to be our Good Shepherd, we know we will always have enough, if perhaps a bit less than our greedy desires.

2He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

In a pastoral society, sheep need a shepherd to lead them to good grazing and to find water. If we follow the Good Shepherd’s teaching, we can be sure that our basic needs will be met. But more than that, the pastures will be green and the water still - what a beautiful image of plenty!

3He restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

Like sheep, we are wayward and headstrong creatures, always liable to do what we want, not what our loving Father wants of us. But if we only follow the example of our Good Shepherd, if we respond to his voice, we will not stray far from the right path.

4Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Older translations of Psalm 23 talk of ‘the valley of the shadow of death’, rather than ‘the darkest valley’, and metrical versions we sing as hymns talk of ‘death’s dark vale’. This is surely why Psalm 23 is used so often at funerals. But this version is better. We are not just anxious about the certainty of our own death. We may often be anxious about our personal relationships, about losing our homes and livelihoods, about change that seems threatening. But we can set aside all anxieties, we need not fear evil. The Holy Spirit, the rod and the staff of our Good Shepherd, speaks to us through our God given conscience, comforting and reassuring us. When we are faced with anxiety and depression, we hear his voice telling us, ‘You are loved. This too will pass.’

5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Our enemies are not just people who hate us and wish us ill. They are our own very human fears and worries. But we can be certain that our Loving Father wants only to welcome us to a banquet of good things. Anointing the head with oil is an ancient symbol of blessing and welcome. Our cup will overflow with joy if we only respond to the Good Shepherd.

6Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

We should not see ‘the house of the LORD’ as a building, as a temple or a church, I suggest. It is surely our own heart and soul, into which we welcome our Loving Father, the Good Shepherd, and the Holy Spirit. When we do so, we can be sure that the goodness and mercy of God will follow us, indeed it will hunt us down, all the days of our life.

Psalm 23 is traditionally ascribed to King David himself.

If so, he must have been a man of great faith. Yet, like us, he was deeply flawed, and walked many dark valleys. But he never ceased to believe in the lovingkindness of Yahweh.

And nor should we. However bad and unworthy we feel, we must never turn away from the loving kindness of our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.