Evening Office · Eastertide · Friday, May 1, 2026
The LORD is my shepherd
Psalm 23:1–4
1The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
3He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
What's happening here
David writes as a former shepherd who became a king, and both vocations taught him the same thing: leading people is leading sheep — they need pasture, water, defense in the valley, and a guide who knows the terrain. Psalm 23 borrows the most fundamental image of ancient Near Eastern kingship and applies it not to David himself but to the God David serves. No other text in the Hebrew Bible has been prayed in more deathbeds.
The word that matters
Hebrew · to shepherd — to lead, feed, and guard
The verb r-ʿ-h is used in the Hebrew Bible for what kings do and for what God does. To ra'ah a people is to take responsibility for their whole flourishing — not just their safety, but their food, their direction, their confidence in the dark. When David writes "the LORD is my shepherd," he is not reaching for a pastoral miniature; he is claiming the verb that ancient sovereigns claimed of themselves.
Where else this shows up
Ezekiel 34:11–16
God, fed up with Israel's failing leaders, declares he will personally take over the shepherding: "I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out."
John 10:11
Jesus takes the title and adds the twist: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
1 Peter 5:4
Peter calls Christ the "chief Shepherd," carrying David's image forward into the church's self-understanding.