Psalms 23: Part 3
“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, 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.”
Psalms 23: 3-4
As he continues with this passage, David is obviously consumed with the fact that God will provide. He began this thought in verse 2 and carries through verses 3 and 4 with the same idea. In verse 2 we talked about how God provides for our needs such as food, water, and safety.
Verse 3 shows us how God provides us with leadership. Not just any leadership but with spiritual leadership. It says he restores our souls. In Hebrew the word ‘restoreth’ means ‘to turn back’. He turns us from evil. He steers us towards the things that will help us prosper. The latter part of verse 3 tells us that God leads us down the paths of righteousness. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:14 that the way that leads to life is narrow. This means it is a hard path. One that is not easily tread. If you remember in Exodus, when the children of Israel were wondering through the wilderness, God led them by day with a cloud and by night with a pillar of fire. This of course was something God did literally but it also was a representation of how He leads all His children. He does not leave us to wander aimlessly with no direction. He guides and directs. We just have to listen.
Verse 4 begins a new train of thought. First David shifts gears and instead of talking about God, he begins talking to God. David also refers to going from life to death. David uses the symbolism of describing death as walking through a dark valley. David tells God that even though he has to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he will not fear anything. Notice how David refers to his walk. He says that he will walk through the valley. David knows that with God death is not the end. Because of the love of God, he will be victorious over death. Paul talks of this victory in 1 Corinthians 15:55 when he says “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”. As a child of God, we have no reason to fear death. Death is simply a doorway to eternity with God. Just like David said, we will walk “through”. At the end of verse 4 David tells God that “thy rod and thy staff they comfort me”. David reverts back to his shepherding experience again. The shepherd used his rod and staff to protect his sheep. The rod would be used to fend off wild animals trying to kill the sheep. The staff would be used to catch the sheep. It had a “j” shaped hook on one end. This hook allowed the shepherd to pull the sheep away from danger without hurting the sheep. David saw these two instruments as symbols for God’s protection. Verse 4 is a beautiful description of the protection and victory that we find in God. It is easy to see from these two verses why David started in verse 1 of the chapter saying “I shall not want”.