Lamb Chops

By: Russell Jeffares

I’ve been studying Psalm 23 in preparation for a series I’m teaching on joy. One thing that I’ve run into is the discussion of the ambiguities that arise in this very familiar Psalm. Such questions that seem simple on the surface become problems under closer examination. First of all, what is meant by “shepherd”? This can be a good or bad thing depending on your perspective. As one writer noted:

The references to God as shepherd in the Old Testament take us to God as the defender, but also may remind us that others who are described as shepherds, for instance the leaders of the community in Ezekiel, prove to be disastrous.

Another question is who we are as readers. Most assume that David is speaking as a sheep in need of a shepherd. Again, this seems to be a good thing at first, until one considers why most sheep were raised in the first place: to be slaughtered for food or sacrifice. Another writer explained:

Even the twenty-third Psalm lays itself open to deconstruction when the worshipper as sheep is comforted by the thought of returning to, or dwelling in, the Lord's house forever; for our knowledge of why sheep go to the Lord's temple—their destiny as lamb chops—undermines the image of security the poem has been at such pains to establish.

I would say these are not ambiguities at all. Though it may be difficult to know exactly what David intended by these analogies, we can definitely learn a few things from this Psalm in light of these observations.

1. David is calling attention to God as a caring, protective, providing shepherd (cf. vs. 2-3). There is no hint of the type of “shepherds” seen in Ezekiel.
2. David writes in recognition of his need as well as the vulnerable position that he stands in with God. God is the Shepherd. He is not. If God wants to make lamb-chops of him, then bon appetit (cf. vs. 4).
3. David writes of a good God that has the best interest of his sheep in mind (cf. vs. 6).
4. David speaks with confidence that the safest, most satisfying place in the world is in the presence of the Shepherd. We will not want, but will overflow with abundance when we rest in his presence.

Most importantly, we must see this Psalm as Jesus would have. There is no doubt that Jesus applied this Psalm to himself as the “shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). This perhaps is the most poignant application of this Psalm: Jesus, our Shepherd, becomes the “lamb-chop,” so that we can “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”