Who is the Shepherd of Psalm 23? He is none other than our LORD Jesus Christ. He is also the King of glory of Psalm 24.
Who is this King of glory? — The LORD strong and mighty; the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah
Psalm 24:8-10
Psalm 23
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow [pursue] me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever.
You’ll notice the bracketed and bolded word pursue. David Gibson (The Lord of Psalm 23) writes that “follow” is a weak rendering of the sense. He says: “Goodness and mercy pursue David; they do not merely follow him.”
Likewise, Alec Motyer (Psalms by the Day) renders it this in his own translation of the psalms,
But indeed good and committed love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will return to Yahweh’s house for ever. Psalm 23:6
George Herbert
Psalm 23
The God of love my shepherd is,
And he that doth me feed;
While he is mine, and I am his,
What can I want or need?
He leads me to the tender grass,
Where I both feed and rest;
Then to the streams that gently pass:
In both I have the best.
Or if I stray, he doth convert
And bring my mind in frame:
And all this not for my desert,
But for his holy name.
Yea, in death’s shady black abode
Well may I walk, not fear:
For thou art with me; and they rod
To guide, thy staff to bear.
Nay, thou dost make me sit and dine,
Ev’n in my enemies’ sight:
My head with oil, my cup with wine
Runs over day and night.
Surely thy sweet and wondrous love
Shall measure all my days;
And as it never shall remove,
So neither shall my praise.
Maranatha!
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