“A psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (Psa. 23:1).
The original historical context
of Psalm 23 is the ancient Kingdom of Israel, in which sheep were a major part
of the economy. We’re talking about huge
flocks of sheep running into the thousands in some cases. King David, probably the most famous king of
Israel, worked as a shepherd when he was a boy, just as many other boys did at
the time. This Psalm, which is
associated with his name, likely reflects his own experience as a shepherd as he
reflects on God as the shepherd of his own life.
The sheep-grazing areas
in Israel are mostly dry, rocky, semi-desert areas, where the sheep are often taken
far away from the agricultural land near town, especially in the spring and
summer. This is an area of steep and
dangerous cliffs and canyons. Even a
sure-footed sheep or goat is in real danger of falling to its death. In fact, I’ve
seen a couple of them nearly fall myself out in this area.
