The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads

me beside quiet waters (Psa 23:1-2).

Matthew Henry Commentary

Jehovah Rohi-- The Lord is My Shepherd

1. The comforts of a living saint. God is his shepherd and his God--

a God all-sufficient to all intents and purposes. David found him so,

and so have we. See the happiness of the saints as the sheep of God's

pasture.

(1.) they are well placed, well laid: He maketh me to lie down in

green pastures. We have the supports and comforts of this life from

God's good hand, our daily bread from him as our Father. The greatest

abundance is but a dry pasture to a wicked man, who relishes that only

in it which pleases the senses; but to a godly man, who tastes the

goodness of God in all his enjoyments, and by faith relishes that,

though he has but little of the world, it is a green pasture,

(Ps. 37:16; Prov. 15:16-17). God's ordinances are the green pastures

in which food is provided for all believers; the Word of Life is the

nourishment of the new man. It is milk for babes, pasture for sheep,

never barren, never eaten bare, never parched, but always a green pasture

for faith to feed in. God makes His saints to lie down; He gives them

quiet and contentment in their own minds, what ever their lot is; their

souls dwell at ease in Him, and that makes every pasture green. Are we

blessed with the green pastures of the ordinances? Let us not think it

enough to pass through them, but let us lie down in them, abide in them;

this is my rest for ever. It is by a constancy of the means of grace that

the soul is fed.

(2.) they are well guided, well led. The shepherd of Israel guides Joseph

like a flock; and every believer is under the same guidance: He leadeth

me beside the still waters. Those that feed on God's goodness must follow

His direction; He leads them by His providence, by His Word, by His Spirit,

disposes of their affairs for the best, according to His Counsel, disposes

their affections and actions according to His command, directs their eye,

their way, and their heart, into His love. The still waters by which He

leads them yield them, not only a pleasant prospect, but many a cooling

draught, many a reviving cordial, when they are thirsty and weary. God

provides for His people not only food and rest, but refreshment also and

pleasure. The consolations of God, the joys of the Holy Ghost, are these

still waters, by which the saints are led, streams which flow from the

fountain of living waters and make glad the city of our God. God leads

His people, not to the standing waters which corrupt and gather filth,

not to the troubled sea, nor to the rapid rolling floods, but to the

silent purling waters; for the still but running waters agree best

with those spirits that flow out towards God and yet do it silently.

The divine guidance they are under is stripped of its metaphor:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, in the way of my duty;

in that He instructs me by His word and directs me by conscience and

providence. Theses are the paths in which all the saints desire to be

led and kept, and never to turn aside out of them. And those only are

led by the still waters of comfort that walk in the paths of righteousness.

The way of duty is the truly pleasant way. It is the work of righteousness

that is peace. In these paths we cannot walk unless God both lead us into

them and lead us in them.

(3.) they are well helped when any thing ails them: He restoreth my soul.

[a.] "he restores me when I wander." No creature will lose itself sooner

than a sheep, so apt is it to go astray, and then so unapt to find the

way back. The best saints are sensible of their proneness to go astray

like lost sheep ; they miss their way, and turn aside into

by-paths; but when God shows them their error, gives them repentance,

and brings them back to their duty again, He restores the soul; and,

if He did not do so, they would wander endlessly and be undone. When,

after one sin, David's heart smote him, and, after another, Nathan

was sent to tell him, Thou art the man, God restored his soul.

Though God may suffer His people to fall into sin, He will not suffer

them to lie still in it.

[b.] "He recovers me when I am sick, and revives me when I am faint,

and so restores the soul which was ready to depart." He is the Lord

our God that heals us, . Many a time we should have

fainted unless we had believed; and it was the good shepherd that

kept us from fainting.

2. See here the courage of a dying saint (v. 4): "Having had such

experience of God's goodness to me all my days, in six troubles and

in seven, I will never distrust Him, no, not in the last extremity;

the rather because all He has done for me hitherto was not for any

merit or desert of mine, but purely for his name's sake, in pursuance

of His word, in performance of His promise, and for the glory of His

own attributes and relations to His people. That name therefore shall

still be my strong tower, and shall assure me that he who has led me,

and fed me, all my life long, will not leave me at last." Here is,

(1.) Imminent danger supposed: "Though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, that is, though I am in peril of death, though

in the midst of dangers, deep as a valley, dark as a shadow, and

dreadful as death itself," or rather, "though I am under the arrests

of death, have received the sentence of death within myself, and have

all the reason in the world to look upon myself as a dying man, yet I

am easy." Those that are sick, those that are old, have reason to look

upon themselves as in the valley of the shadow of death. Here is one

word indeed which sounds terrible; it is death, which we must all count

upon; there is no discharge in that war. But, even in the supposition

of the distress, there are four words which lessen the terror:-- It is

death indeed that is before us; but,

[1.] It is but the shadow of death; there is no substantial evil in it;

the shadow of a serpent will not sting nor the shadow of a sword kill.

[2.] it is the valley of the shadow, deep indeed, and dark, and dirty;

but the valleys are fruitful, and so is death itself fruitful of

comforts to God's people.

[3.] it is but a walk in this valley, a gentle pleasant walk. The wicked

are chased out of the world, and their souls are required; but the saints

take a walk to another world as cheerfully as they take their leave of this.

[4.] it is a walk through it; they shall not be lost in this valley,

but get safely to the mountain of spices on the other side of it.

(5.) this danger made light of, and triumphed over, upon good grounds.

Death is a king of terrors, but not to the sheep of Christ; they tremble

at it no more than sheep do that are appointed for the slaughter.

"Even in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil. None

of these things move me." Note, A child of God may meet the messengers

of death, and receive its summons with a holy security and serenity of

mind. The sucking child may play upon the hole of this asp; and the

weaned child, that, through grace, is weaned from this world, may put

his hand upon this cockatrice's den, bidding a holy defiance to death,

as Paul, O death! where is thy sting? And there is ground enough for

this confidence,

[1.] Because there is no evil in it to a child of God; death cannot

separate us from the love of God, and therefore it can do us no real

harm; it kills the body, but cannot touch the soul. Why should it be

dreadful when there is nothing in it hurtful?

[2.] because the saints have God's gracious presence with them in

their dying moments; he is then at their right hand, and therefore

why should they be moved? The good shepherd will not only conduct,

but convoy, His sheep through the valley, where they are in danger

of being set upon by the beasts of prey, the ravening wolves; He

will not only convoy them, but comfort then when they most need

comfort. His presence shall comfort them: Thou art with me. His

Word and Spirit shall comfort them-- His rod and staff, alluding

to the shepherd's crook, or the rod under which the sheep passed

when they were counted (Lev. 27:32), or the staff with which the

shepherds drove away the dogs that would scatter or worry the sheep.

It is a comfort to the saints, when they come to die, that God takes

cognizance of them (He knows those that are His), that He will

rebuke the enemy, that He will guide them with his rod and sustain

them with His staff. The gospel is called the Rod of Christ's

strength (Ps. 110:2), and there is enough in that to comfort the

saints when they come to die, and underneath them are the

everlasting arms.

III. From the good gifts of God's bounty to him now he infers the

constancy and perpetuity of His mercy, Here we may observe:

1. How highly he magnifies God's gracious vouchsafements to him

(v. 5): "Thou preparest a table before me; You have provided for

me all things pertaining both to life and godliness, all things

requisite both for body and soul, for time and eternity:" such

a bountiful benefactor is God to all His people; and it becomes

them abundantly to utter His great goodness, as David here, who

acknowledges:

(a.) That he had food convenient, a table spread, a cup filled,

meat for his hunger, drink for his thirst.

(b.) that he had it carefully and readily provided for him.

His table was not spread with any thing that came next to hand,

but prepared, and prepared before him.

(c.) that he was not stinted, was not straitened, but had

abundance: "My cup runs over, enough for myself and my friends

too."

(d.) that he had not only for necessity, but for ornament

and delight: Thou anointest my head with oil. Samuel anointed

him king, which was a certain pledge of further favor; but

this is rather an instance of the plenty with which God had

blessed him, or an allusion to the extraordinary entertainment

of special friends, whose heads they anointed with oil,

(Lu. 7:46). Nay, some think he still looks upon himself as

a sheep, but such a one as the poor man's ewe-lamb :

(2 Sam. 12:3), that did eat of his own meat, and drank

of his own cup, and lay in his bosom; not only thus nobly,

but thus tenderly, are the children of God looked after.

Plentiful provision is made for their bodies, for their

souls, for the life that now is and for that which is

to come. If Providence do not bestow upon us thus plentifully

for our natural life, it is our own fault if it be not made

up to us in spiritual blessings.

2. How confidently he counts upon the continuance of God's

favours, v. 6. He had said (v. 1), I shall not want; but

now he speaks more positively, more comprehensively:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days

of my life. His hope rises, and his faith is strengthened,

by being exercised. Observe,

(a.) What he promises himself-- goodness and mercy, all

the streams of mercy flowing from the fountain, pardoning

mercy, protecting mercy, sustaining mercy, supplying mercy.

(b.) the manner of the conveyance of it: It shall follow me,

as the water out of the rock followed the camp of Israel

through the wilderness; it shall follow into all places and

all conditions, shall be always ready.

(c.) the continuance of it: It shall follow me all my life

long, even to the last; for whom God loves he loves to the end.

(d.) the constancy of it: All the days of my life, as duly as

the day comes; it shall be new every morning (Lam. 3:22-23)

like the manna that was given to the Israelites daily.

(e.) the certainty of it: Surely it shall. It is as sure as

the promise of the God of truth can make it; and we know

whom we have believed.

(f.) here is a prospect of the perfection of bliss in the

future state. So some take the latter clause: "Goodness

and mercy having followed me all the days of my life on

this earth, when that is ended I shall remove to a better

world, to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever, in our

Father's house above, where there are many mansions. With

what I have I am pleased much; with what I hope for I am

pleased more." All this, and heaven too! Then we serve a

good Master.

3. How resolutely he determines to cleave to God and to

His duty. We read the last clause as David's covenant

with God: "I will dwell in the house of the Lord for

ever (as long as I live), and I will praise Him while

I have any being." We must dwell in his house as servants,

that desired to have their ears bored to the door-post,

to Serve Him for ever. If God's goodness to us be like

the morning light, which shines more and more to the

perfect day, let not ours to him be like the morning

cloud and the early dew that passeth away. Those that

would be satisfied with the fatness of God's house must

keep close to the duties of it.