This is a psalm which has been sung by true Christians with a great deal of joy and assurance and which will be sung as long as this world exists.
1. The psalmist here claims to know God as his shepherd (v.1). 2. He recalls his experience of the good things God had done for him as his shepherd (vv.2-3,5). 3. He reasons from this that he would lack no good thing (v.1), that he need not fear any evil (v.4), that God will never leave or forsake him with his mercy; and so he decides never to leave God by leaving the path of duty (v.6). As in the previous psalm he described Christ dying for his sheep, so here he describes Christians as receiving the benefits of all the care and tenderness of God, our good and great shepherd.
The Good Shepherd, v.1
From God’s being his shepherd he reasons that he will not lack anything good for him (v.1). There was a time when David himself was a shepherd. He was taken from tending the sheep (78.70-71), and so he knew from his experience the cares and tender feelings that a good shepherd has toward his flock. He remembered how much they needed a shepherd; he had once risked his life to rescue a lamb. He therefore uses this illustration to show God’s care for his people. It is also to this our Saviour seems to refer when he says, ‘I am the shepherd of the sheep; the good shepherd’ (John 10.11). See also Isaiah 40.11. He gathers them into his fold, and provides for them. We must know the shepherd’s voice and follow him. When David considers that God is his shepherd, he can boldly say, ‘I shall not want’ (v. 1). More is implied than is expressed, not only, ‘I shall not want’ (v.1), but also, ‘I will be supplied with whatever I need, and if I do not have everything I want, then I may conclude it is either not right for me or not good for me, or that I will have it in due time’.
The fearless sheep, vv.2-4
From God fulfilling the role of a good shepherd to him he reasons that he need not fear any evil in the greatest dangers and difficulties he could be in (vv.2-4).
* Notice the contentment of the saints as the sheep of God’s pasture.
They are well placed: ‘He maketh me to lie down in green pastures’ (v.2). We have the encouragements of this life from God’s good hand; we receive our daily bread from him as our Father. The greatest abundance is only dry pasture to evildoers, who enjoy only what pleases their senses. Those who are godly, however, who taste the goodness of God in everything they enjoy, even though they have only a little of the world, they know that to be a green pasture (37.16; Proverbs 15.16-17). God makes his saints lie down; he gives them peace and contentment in their own minds, whatever their lot is. Their souls live at peace in him, and that makes every pasture green.
They are well guided. ‘He leadeth me beside the still waters’ (v.2). Those who feed on God’s goodness must also follow his direction. He directs their eyes, their ways, and their hearts toward his love. God provides for his people not only food and rest, but also refreshment and delight. God leads his people, not to the stagnant waters which are dirty and where filth gathers, not to the raging and troubled sea, or the rapid rolling floods, but to the silent flowing waters, for the still but running waters correspond best to those spirits that flow out toward God but do so silently. ‘He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness’, as I do my duty. He instructs me in that by his word and he directs me by conscience and Providence. The path of duty is true and pleasant. We cannot walk in these paths unless God both leads us to them and also leads us in them.
They are well helped when anything harms them: ‘He restoreth my soul’ (v.3). When, after one sin, David’s heart struck him and, after another, Nathan was sent to tell him, ‘Thou art the man’ (2 Samuel 12.7), God restored his soul. Although God may allow his people to fall into sin, he will not allow them to lie still in it.
* ‘Having had such an experience of God’s goodness to me all my life time after time, I will never distrust him, not even in the final crisis of death.’ ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death’ (v.4), that is, although I am in danger of death, although I am in the middle of many dangers, deep as a valley, I am still at peace’. But, even supposing such distress, there are four words which reduce its terror. It is only the shadow of death; there is no substantial evil in it. The shadow of a snake cannot bite and neither can the shadow of a sword kill. It is the valley of the shadow, deep, dark, and dirty, but the valleys are fruitful, and so death itself has many fruits of encouragement to God’s people. It is only a walk in this valley: a gentle pleasant walk. It is a walk through this valley; they will not lose their way in this valley, but they will safely reach the mountain of spices on its other side. It contains no evil for the child of God; no evil in it to a child of God. Death cannot separate us from the love of God. It kills the body but cannot harm the soul. The good shepherd will not only lead, but also take his sheep through this valley. His presence will give them strength and encouragement: ‘Thou art with me’ (v.4). His word and Spirit will give them strength and encouragement — his ‘rod and staff’ (v.4), alluding to the shepherd’s crook, or the rod under which the sheep passed when they were counted (Leviticus 27.32), or the staff with which the shepherds drove away the dogs that tried to worry the sheep.
The Lord’s house, vv.5-6
From the good gifts of God’s goodness to him he now reasons the faithfulness and eternity of his mercy (vv.5-6). ‘“Thou preparest a table before me”; you have provided for me everything I have needed; all that I have needed both for body and soul, for time and eternity.’ He had enough food, a table that was spread, a cup that was filled, food to satisfy his hunger, and drink to quench his thirst. ‘My cup runs over (v.5), enough for myself and my friends too.’ ‘Thou anointest my head with oil’ (v.5). He had said (v.1), ‘I shall not want’, but now he speaks more positively: ‘Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life’ (v.6). His hope rises, and his faith is strengthened, by being exercised. It will follow me, as that water from the rock followed the camp of Israel through the desert. It will follow me all my life long, even to the end, for those whom God loves he loves to the end. Surely it will. ‘Because goodness and mercy have followed me all the days of my life on earth, when those days come to an end, I will move to a better world, to “dwell in the house of the Lord for ever” (v.6), in our Father’s house above, where there are many rooms.’
This is an extract from the New Matthew Henry Commentary: The Classic Work with Updated Language, edited by Martin Manser (Zondervan, ISBN 978 0 310 253 990), and is used with permission.
