Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss

The Lord is my Shepherd,
I shall not want.

These beginning lines of Psalm 23 are so familiar to most of us. This Psalm is often the first, maybe the only, Psalm we memorize as children. We pray, recite, chant, and sing it over our lives, and it’s said it’s the one we remember as we come close to the end of our lives.

Is it too familiar? Do we hear the words we say and let them into our hearts? As we approach a new year, I thought a different translation might let us see something new to inspire us in 2022. I’ve been using Robert Alter’s recently scholarly translation.

Psalm 23

A David psalm.

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

In grass meadows He makes me lie down,
by quiet waters guides me.

My life He brings back,
He leads me on pathways of justice
    for His name’s sake.

Though I walk in the vale of death’s shadow,
I fear no harm,
    for You are with me.

Your rod and Your staff----
it is they that console me.

You set out a table before me,
in the face of my foes.

You moisten my head with oil,
my cup overflows.

Let but goodness and kindness pursue me
all the days of my life.

And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for many long days.

Alter’s footnotes explaining his translation choices are worth reading on their own. He says that verse 5 “lists all the physical elements of a happy life—a table laid out with good things to eat, a head of hair well rubbed with olive oil, and an overflowing cup of wine.”

On the other hand, the last line may not sound as comforting as what we’re familiar with. Alter explains that the Hebrew “does not meant ‘forever’; the viewpoint of the poem is in and of the here and now … . The speaker hopes for a happy fate all his born days and prays for the good fortune to abide in the Lord’s sanctuary--a place of security and harmony with the divine--all, or perhaps at least most of those days.” What more could one wish for in a new year? Good food, good wine, and most importantly, abiding in harmony with the Lord.

I think I can skip the hair rubbed with olive oil, though, don’t you?

Dcn Leah Sandwell-Weiss