Psalm 23 as Jesus' Prayer

So, what might it look like to read Psalm 23 as the words of Jesus?

First, let's remember Jesus's comments in John 10. In this passage, Jesus famously describes himself as the Good Shepherd. As you can tell, this passage invites us to read Psalm 23 as a prayer to Jesus. Most sermons take this type of approach to the passage, and I’ll talk about this in the second sermon idea below.

If we remember vv. 14-15, however, another way of reading Psalm 23 opens.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father..."

Jesus equates his relationship with the Father with the shepherd’s relationship with his sheep.

We might helpfully expand Jesus’s words in the following way:

“I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father (aka my shepherd) knows me (as a sheep) and I (as a sheep) know the Father (as my shepherd).”

Remember, God the Son became human so that he could identify with us in every way (Hebrews 4:15). Jesus knows what it is like to relate to the Father as his shepherd.

So, while we rightfully adopt Psalm 23 as our prayer to God, we can and perhaps should also hear these words as Jesus’s prayer to the Father.

There are three stories from Jesus’s life against which we might hear echoes of Psalm 23.

1) Jesus in the Wilderness

After his baptism, the Spirit of God drove Jesus into the wilderness. While there, he fasted for forty days and nights.

At first glance, this scene seems to be the opposite of Psalm 23’s idyllic green pastures. Yet, throughout the Old Testament, the words translated as "pastures" and "wilderness" frequently appear together (Jer 9:10; 23:10; Joel 1:19–20; 2:22).

This word pair suggests that a wilderness is not a place of lush, grassy terrain but a good shepherd can find those spots and lead his sheep to them. The implication of Psalm 23:1, then, is that God has provided ample food in a place that is not known for abundance (Goldingay, 349).

While Jesus wandered in the wilderness, Satan tempted him with food. Satan assumed that Jesus lacked sustenance and so would give in to that temptation. Jesus responds that physical food is not sufficient for survival. Even in the wilderness, Jesus could claim the words of Psalm 23: he lacked nothing.

2) The Passion Week

After describing God as a shepherd, David shifts the metaphor to a banquet. Strangely, the banquet takes place in full view of David’s enemies. God, acting as the host, sets the table for David and ensures he has everything he needs.

We might helpfully imagine Jesus’s final week and the crucifixion as a real-life reenactment of Psalm 23:4-5.

Jesus walked through the shadow of death when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey. Yes, the people celebrated, but the religious leaders plotted.

Jesus journeyed to Golgotha under the shadow of death as the sun shone down on and cast the image of his cross on the ground he walked.

Of course, we might hear a tragically ironic echo of David’s overflowing cup (Psalm 23:5) when we listen to Jesus’s request that God remove the cup from him (Mark 14:36). The word Jesus uses for the cup matches that found in the Septuagint’s translation of Psalm 23 (ποτήριον).

Jesus submitted to his Father’s will and drank every drop contained in the cup. The consequences of sin weighed fully on his shoulders as he hung upon the cross.

3) The Resurrection and Ascension

If Jesus’s final week and crucifixion might be seen as an enactment of Psalm 23:4-5, we should see his resurrection and exaltation as the fulfillment of Psalm 23:6.

David proclaimed that God’s mercy and goodness would pursue him, and he would live in God’s presence all the days of his life. Some translations render the final phrase of the poem as “forever.” A more literal translation is “length of my days.” To be clear, the length of a human’s life is in view with this final verse. David, along with every other person who has prayed this psalm, died… and stayed dead.

Except Jesus.

Yes, Jesus died, but he rose again on the third day. As a result, the length of his days has no end.

To hear Jesus pray Psalm 23:6, we must remind ourselves that Jesus sits even now at the right hand of God the Father.

Conclusion

If we hear Psalm 23 as a prayer of Jesus, we should be moved to worship.

We serve a God who knows our full experience. He has wandered through the wilderness and journeyed under the shadow of death. Yet even in those places, he lacked nothing. God the Son trusted fully in God the Father.

We follow Jesus in his journey with the Father.

In Christ, we lack nothing.

In Christ, we are well-fed in the presence of our enemies.

In Christ, we drink whatever cup God sets before us.

Finally, in Christ, we dwell in the presence of God for all our days, which will last into eternity.