Dcn Tom Lindell
GOOD MORNING
Today’s Eucharistic reading includes the most cited 23rd Psalm, often at funerals. Rabbi Harold Kushner wrote a small book entitled: The Lord is My Shepherd,* a book about the 23rd Psalm. I would like to share some of Kushner’s thoughts with you today.
The psalm was likely composed around 900 BCE by an older man who, in the twilight of his life, is reflecting.** He does not offer pious hope that life will be easy. He has had enemies and has known failure. People he has loved have died, and his understanding of life, is far from easy. In the challenge of life, he has grown through God’s help. He has become a stronger, wiser, person than if he had not been challenged by life’s exigencies.
Kushner suggests that the 23rd Psalm is a drama in three acts.
ACT I.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not be in want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul
He guides me in straight paths for his Name’s sake.
Act I is serene and pastoral, where he feels safe and secure, thanking God, his faithful shepherd, for providing him with security. Life is good and uncomplicated, but can this continue forever? The imagery is rich and this is why we love this part of the psalm.
ACT II.
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;
for Thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies;
Thou anointest my head with oil,
my cup runneth over.
Act II takes a turn towards darkness and insecurity. His life is interrupted by trauma, tragedy and bereavement. Instead of dwelling in green pastures by still waters, he is alone in a dark, shadowy valley. In the darkness of his soul that he realizes that is not alone, that God is the source of comfort and consolation because God was with him, he finds his way out of the darkness.
The shepherd’s staff is both a walking stick as well as a means of rescuing sheep that have fallen into a ditch. Good people stumble and fall, but God the faithful shepherd is there to guide them and accept them despite their faults—without judgment or punishment.
The symbol of food is a universal expression of love and nurturance and is the basis of communal gathering, consoling those who have gone through the “shadows”, and to “anoint” has rich ancient significance. He has received something of special significance. He has not only received gifts of food and safety, but now realizes and accepts the responsibility that comes with that gift. How shall he respond? He responds with the very basic human emotion of gratitude. He realizes that he has been given a bountiful life for which he offers thanks, that life is a gift, for which you had no role.
ACT III.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Act III allows him to express that his relationship to God has matured. God is no longer just one who walks with him through his travails, God offers him an opportunity to permanently dwell in God’s house. The implication is that you will not be abandoned. However, it is made clear that God is not there to insulate or protect us from harm or our own mistakes. Our only assurance is that God will be with us.
Psalm 23 teaches us another lesson of life: we cannot always control what happens to us. Our “job” in life is to simply respond to ambiguity as best we can. If the world threatens to wear us down, the words of the psalm guide us to replenish our souls. Most of all, if we feel alone, and adrift in a friendless world, these words offer us the priceless reassurance that “Thou art with me.”***
Dcn Tom Lindell
*Kushner, Harold S., The Lord is My Shepherd: Healing Wisdom of the Twenty-third Psalm, Knopf, New York, 2003.
**Weiser, Arthur, The Psalms: A Commentary, Westminster Press, Philadelphia, 1962, p. 227.
***Kushner, Ibid, pp. 8-9.