I Shall Not Want

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. David, who kept his father's sheep in the hills of Bethlehem, sings of a shepherd who makes him lie down in green pastures, leads him beside the still waters and restores his soul. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.

A table is prepared before him in the presence of his enemies, his cup runneth over, and goodness and mercy follow him all the days of his life. The video sets David beside Jesus, who said, I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Psalms 23: The shepherd who stays and the host who welcomes

Psalm 23 in the Book of Psalms does not build confidence by pretending the landscape stays pleasant. The shepherd who gives pasture, water, restoration, and right paths is the same one addressed directly when the route enters the "valley of the shadow of death." That small turn from speaking about God to speaking to him gives the danger a new intimacy without making it disappear. Then the picture changes from shepherding to hospitality. A table is prepared, oil is given, and the cup overflows while enemies remain in view. The ending does not hand the last motion to those enemies. Goodness and mercy become the companions that follow the speaker through his days, and the house of the Lord becomes the destination of a life already carried through both rest and threat.