Summary Argument
The Lord performs the duties of the best of shepherds with regard to me (vv. 1–4); I have been abundantly provided with desired goods and divine protection (vv. 5–6).
Introduction: The Shepherd Imagery in Scripture
"The Lord as a shepherd, who feeds His people, His flock," is frequently described in Sacred Scripture. Already the patriarch Jacob says: "God, who feeds me from my youth until the present day" (Gen. 48:15); "the Shepherd of Israel" (Gen. 49:24); "The Lord shall feed His flock like a shepherd" (Is. 40:11); "He guards Israel like a shepherd his flock" (Jer. 31:10; cf. Ezek. 34:13; Hos. 13:16; Mic. 7:14).
This comparison arises quite naturally from the pastoral life and customs of the people, whose wealth and riches consisted chiefly in flocks. Just as a shepherd takes care of the flock, provides good pastures for it, leads it, protects it, and defends it from wolves, so God is shown to provide for His people, to give them a good land flowing with milk and honey, and to guard and protect them from enemies—thus performing the duties of the best of shepherds.
David proclaims this praise of God with an expression of grateful heart, having experienced His care, solicitude, and most benign providence; therefore, with great affection of soul and with jubilation, he exclaims: "Yahweh is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Hebrew); or, as the Vulgate renders it: "The Lord rules me" (understood of a shepherd ruling his flock, as immediately becomes clear from v. 2). Under such a shepherd, the psalmist professes and acknowledges with joy and full confidence that he will be most excellently provided for: "nothing shall be wanting to me."
Here you have, if you please, the argument of the two parts of the psalm:
"Yahweh is my shepherd" is explained in vv. 2–4;
"Nothing shall be wanting" is explained in vv. 5–6.
Exposition Ps 23:2-4: The Shepherd's Care
Ps 23:2: Pasture and Rest
The first care of the shepherd is for good pastures (v. 2): "In a place of pasture, there He has placed me" (Hebrew: in pastures of tender grass; Jerome: He makes me lie down). The Hebrew imperfect should be explained, as is often customary, of a continuous action in present time: "He continually provides me with the best pastures."
Besides pastures, it is necessary that flocks be led to water at the proper time and enjoy peaceful rest; hence: "Beside the waters of refreshment He has led me forth" (Hebrew: He leads me beside waters of rest), namely, in the heat and scorching of the day; cf. Cant. 1:6: "Tell me, where you rest at midday." Concerning the watering of flocks, cf. Gen. 29:2; 30:41; Ex. 2:16.
Now, by salutary drink and rest, strength is renewed and refreshed. Hence v. 3: "He has converted my soul"—that is, He refreshes, restores; He grants me new vigor of life.
Ps 23:3: Guidance in Righteousness
Having experienced great prosperity under God's care and having been enriched with goods, the psalmist adds: "Moreover, He leads me, He guides me upon the paths of justice"—that is, in right ways, lest I wander astray, lest the flock be scattered through rough and devious places—"for His name's sake," that is, for the sake of His glory as shepherd, to which it pertains that no sheep be lost while wandering in the wilderness; "in right ways," namely, those by which one arrives at pastures, at wells, at places quiet and safe.
Ps 23:4: Confidence in Danger
Under such a shepherd, nothing is to be feared, even if the flock must sometimes pass through narrow valleys and shadowy ravines, where dangers and attacks of rapacious beasts may threaten (v. 4): "For even if I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death"—that is, in darkness (Hebrew: even if I walk in a valley of deep shadow)—"I will fear no evils"—I fear no harm whatsoever.
The reason for this confidence and security is: "for You are with me."
"Your rod and Your staff, these have comforted me." The shepherd's staff (virga et fulcrum) is a sign and symbol of direction, protection, and defense; thus, in time of danger, the shepherd himself is a consolation, whose readiness, strength, and prudence in averting and repelling dangers is recognized.
Exposition of Ps 23:5–6: The Banquet of Abundance
Now the second part of what was said in v. 1 is explained: "Nothing shall be wanting to me."
On this point, Calmet notes: "The psalmist now introduces another allegory to narrate God's compassionate clemency toward him. Hitherto He has been a shepherd driving and defending His flock; here He is a host or friend, fostering a friend with patronage against enemies, with a table that offers delicacies and refreshment to the weary."
Ps 23:5: The Prepared Table
"In the sight of my enemies," before their eyes, so that they must behold the goods, prosperity, and blessing that God has bestowed upon His faithful worshiper, God provides an abundance of good things (v. 5):
"You have prepared a table before me against those who afflict me" (Hebrew: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; or, as Jerome renders it: opposite my enemies). These enemies, therefore, are confounded, when they must see what great goods God bestows upon him whom they wished to persecute and destroy.
For in the splendid banquet that God is said to prepare for the psalmist, the benignity, friendship, and liberality of God are most vividly depicted.
The Honoring of the Guest
Moreover, the splendid banquet is declared by the manner in which the guest is received and greeted:
"You have anointed my head with oil"—with rich, indeed abundant, unction his head has been anointed; thus was a guest customarily honored; cf. Matt. 26:7: "A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of precious ointment, and poured it upon His head as He reclined"; and Luke 7:46: "With oil You did not anoint My head."
The Cup of Abundance
That the banquet is most lavishly prepared is shown by the exclamation of one marveling at its abundance:
"My cup, overflowing" (Hebrew) — or: "My inebriating cup, how excellent it is!" Even Jerome translates: "my cup that inebriates"; the LXX: καὶ τὸ ποτήριόν σου μεθύσκον ("and Your cup that makes drunk"). Therefore, the Hebrew word רְוָיָה (revayah) is to be explained as an adjective. What the LXX and Vulgate add—ὡς κράτιστον ("as most excellent")—the Hebrew refers to the following clause.
The psalmist has explained in the lavish banquet how, for the present time, nothing is lacking to him; indeed, he possesses an abundance of goods, of which unwilling and envious enemies are witnesses. Now he adds how, also for the future, nothing shall be lacking to him.
Ps 23:6: Mercy and Eternal Dwelling
Indeed, according to the Hebrew: "Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me"; or, according to Jerome: "And may benignity and mercy follow me." In the Hebrew verb רָדַף (radaph), the notion of pursuing eagerly, of following with fervor, is expressed.
"And Your mercy shall follow me all the days of my life."
And he declares what he especially desires: "And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord" (Jerome: and I shall dwell) "for length of days"—that is, in the sanctuary, in which priests and Levites perform their duties each day.
Textual Note on the Hebrew
The Hebrew text, as it is now read, should be translated: "And I shall return to the house of the Lord." Thus the Midrash has: "I shall return to the Temple, which may it soon be rebuilt in our days, amen, amen." With this reading, the psalm would be ascribed to the time of the exile; but to this time the entire argument of the psalm vehemently contradicts.
And indeed, the LXX, Syriac, and Symmachus express, like Jerome, the notion of dwelling: καὶ τὸ κατοικεῖν με (LXX), ἡ κατοίκησίς μου (Symmachus); habitabo (Syriac: "I shall dwell"). Therefore, the Hebrew text should be read not as שׁוּבִי (shuvi, "I shall return"), but as לָשֶׁבֶת (lashevet, "to dwell")—that is, בֵּיתִי ("my dwelling")—as also Ps. 27:4 in Hebrew suggests, and as recent scholars assume.
Question of Interpretation: Individual or Collective?
It is asked: concerning whom is the psalm to be considered as speaking?
Sometimes it is remarked that no one is shepherd of a single sheep; therefore, the discourse must be concerning a flock, concerning the people. Certainly, some things in the psalm can quite fittingly be applied to benefits conferred upon the people, either in the desert or in the Promised Land. Thus, vv. 2–3 can be said to refer partly to the migration through the desert, but rather to the governance of the people; in v. 4, protection in the dangers of the desert is found (cf. Deut. 8:15; Jer. 2:6); to v. 5 corresponds what is said of the people in Ps. 68:10: "You have prepared in Your sweetness for the poor, O God"; likewise, the praise of that land flowing with milk and honey.
But that this explanation can be approved, we are prevented by the psalm itself. For the discourse is not of a narration or of past time, but constantly actions continuing in present time are treated, as is clear to one examining the Hebrew text. Moreover, how awkwardly, when so many things are neglected and omitted, individual expressions are applied to the people—who does not perceive this? By no means does v. 6—"that I may dwell in the house of the Lord"—fit the people.
And this one point suffices, so that on account of the necessary unity of the poem, we may say that the psalm truly expresses the sentiments and affections of some individual, which sentiments and affections each person, according to his own condition, can indeed pursue or excite in himself.
David is depicted, the pious worshiper of God, enriched with divine benefits and recalling them with joyful and grateful soul, praising God through the allegory of the best of shepherds and the allegory of a host receiving a friend at a banquet.
Christian Application
Application to Christ, to the Church, and to the Eucharist is easily made and is read in Eusebius, Theodore, Augustine, and the ancient expositors, and in the Catena commentaries.
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