whether in the calm countryside, the darkest valley, or at table. The NT reaffirms God’s presence among his people not in terms of mere metaphors, but in the man, Jesus of Nazareth. Matthew 1:23 calls Jesus “Immanuel” (“God with us”) at the beginning of his Gospel and affirms the same at the end (“I am with you always, to the end of the age,” 28:20).149 This emphasis on Jesus Christ as the divine presence in the world serves as the bookends for Matthew’s Gospel. Given the connection between God as shepherd and host in Ps 23 and Jesus as the good shepherd and host in the NT, it seems obvious to add to these the divine presence. As McCann concludes, “In New Testament terms, Jesus is shepherd, host, and Emmanuel.”150 When thinking of Jesus as shepherd, host, and “God with us,” Christians read Ps 23 as pointing to God’s end-times Messiah who ultimately fulfills the manifold imagery of the psalm.
We can add yet another angle to the traditional identification of Jesus as the shepherd of Ps 23. In light of the NT conviction mentioned previously that the Scriptures are ultimately about the Messiah’s suffering and resurrection (Luke 24:46), Jesus fulfills the role of the psalmist, the sheep under God’s guidance and care. Additionally, I noted earlier that the Psalter was shaped during the postexilic period so that the “David” of the Psalter became the highly anticipated king, the Messiah, the end-times expectation of the Psalter. With this in mind, Doug Green proposes a fresh reading of Ps 23 in an article whose title captures the essence of this alternative christological interpretation: “The LORD is Christ’s Shepherd.”151 Given the end-times shaping of the Psalter, “David” (see superscript for Ps 23) is no longer the historical King David, but rather “eschatological David”—the Messiah.152
The movement within the psalm parallels the life of Christ at nearly every turn. In other words, when one follows the journey of the psalm in light of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, it “now predicts that Yahweh will be faithful to his promise to protect and preserve his Messiah at every point in his life’s journey.”153 The journey of the psalmist travels from rest (vv. 1–3), to the threat of death (v. 4), and finally to restoration and abundance (vv. 5–6). This journey is multifaceted, for it describes not only that of the psalmist, David, and his Shepherd in its original context, but also that of Israel who went from rest in the Promised Land to the darkest valley of the exile, and eagerly anticipates the restoration of the temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Psalter’s final shape (i.e., postexilic period).154 However, it ultimately refers to God’s Messiah, whose life tracks with the journey (or pilgrimage) of the psalm. Green’s christological reading mirrors the gospel narrative in six short verses: “Psalm 23 establishes the outline of Messiah’s story. His final destiny will be glorious: a return to the abundance of Eden in the Lord’s temple, with (defeated) enemies arrayed before him (v. 5). Before this climax, however, Messiah must pass through the valley of the shadow of death—perhaps a brush with death, or some deathlike condition.”155 The astute reader knows that the psalmist does not actually die in the psalm, so how can it prophetically speak of Christ who dies on the cross? A Christian reading of 23:4 transposes the psalmist’s near death experience into the actual death of Christ by reading the psalm in light of the gospel story.156 In other words, a grammatical-historical interpretation does not permit an actual experience of death by the psalmist, but a christological interpretation that reads the psalm in light of Jesus’s story does in fact result in the death of the Messiah. Additionally, because Ps 23 follows Ps 22, which the NT ties inextricably to the cross of Jesus Christ, the canonical placement of the two psalms recalls Jesus’s journey from suffering to salvation. In order for Christ to fully rest in the peace of Ps 23, he must first pass through the daunting road of Ps 22.157
It is beyond my purpose here to engage all the exegetical observations of each verse of Ps 23 to Christ, the sheep.158 But when read in light of the gospel, the twenty-third psalm speaks of Christ’s journey—his life, death, and resurrection—where the LORD is his shepherd who provides for his daily needs and restores his life by delivering him from death, and exalts him into the presence of the LORD in the heavenly temple (Heb 8—9).159 Psalm 23 is a summary of the gospel in the OT. A Christian reading of the psalm proclaims that its fullest meaning rests in the relationship between Christ and his Father, evoking the passion and new life of Jesus, as well as the gifts of the Lord’s Table.160 Suffice it to say here that both views—Jesus is my Shepherd and The LORD is Christ’s Shepherd—coalesce as christological interpretations of Ps 23, a psalm about God’s Anointed One.
102. Longman, How to Read Psalms, 116.
103. Ibid., 117.
104. Longman, Psalms, 133.
105. Ibid., 134–35.
106. Mays, Preaching, 119.
107. De-Claissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 241.
108. Ibid.
109. Longman notes the rod and the staff are implements that the shepherd uses to fend off predators and to goad the sheep in the right direction and toward provision (Psalms, 136).
110. Mays, Preaching, 119; McCann, Theological, 130; McCann, Psalms, 768.
111. Mays, Preaching, 119.
112. McCann, Theological, 129.
113. Longman, Psalms, 137. I have written elsewhere on microstructuring within the Psalter where smaller groups of psalms with common themes are placed consecutively for various purposes. Psalms 26—30 are commonly referred to as the “sanctuary psalms” because each psalm mentions the sanctuary or temple. Some have expanded the group to include Pss 23—30 for the same reasons, Ps 25 being the exception. Thus, Ps 23 fits the larger group as a “sanctuary psalm,” but to a lesser degree than Pss 26—30 (Fletcher, “Sanctuary,” 97–119).
114. DeClaissé-Walford, et al., Psalms, 239.
115. McCann, Theological, 131.
116. Mays, Preaching, 118.
117. Ibid., 119.
