PSALM 23

1 Yahweh is my shepherd,			I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;		He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He restores my soul;	He guides me in the paths of righteousness				For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,	I fear no evil, for You are with me;				Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; [1]	You have anointed my head with oil;					My cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,				And I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever. [2]

[1] C.S. Lewis was disgusted by the martial imagery found in the majority of Psalms,

“Worst of all in “The Lord is my shepherd” (23), after the green pasture, the waters of comfort, the sure confidence in the valley of the shadow, we suddenly run across (5) “Thou shalt prepare a table for me against them that trouble me… The poet’s enjoyment of his present prosperity would not be complete unless those horrid Joneses (who had used to look down their noses at him) were watching it all and hating it. This may not be so diabolical as the passages I have quoted above [e.g. Psalm 69; 109]; but the pettiness and vulgarity of it, especially in such surroundings, are hard to endure” (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, 21).

The “diabolical” celebration in the Psalms goes back to the first promise of the Gospel in Genesis 3:15,

And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.

[2] Psalm 23 ends with “I will dwell in the house of Yahweh forever.” Psalm 24 asks who may dwell in God’s house, “Who may ascend into the hill of Yahweh? And who may stand in His holy place?”