You’ve heard it a thousand times — in sermons, devotionals, small group classes, and at countless funerals. You’ve almost memorized it without trying. It’s so familiar that, if we’re honest, at times it even seems boring. What more could you possibly learn about Psalm 23?
In the introduction to his new book, The Lord of Psalm 23: Jesus Our Shepherd, Companion, and Host (Crossway, 2023), David Gibson writes, “Some texts of Holy Scripture are hard to preach on or write about, not because they are especially difficult for the pastor or theologian to understand but because they are already so profoundly precious to the hearer and reader” (Kindle p. 21). As a preacher myself, I can tell you, he’s exactly right. It’s tough to preach the most familiar and beloved passages. What can you say that hasn’t already been said a hundred times? For those who cherish this passage deeply, you’re likely to disappoint them if you don’t mention the reason they love it. This is the challenge David Gibson takes up in this book.
The Lord of Psalm 23 is an extended exposition and meditation on this short psalm, developed out of a sermon series Gibson gave at his church — Trinity Church in Aberdeen, Scotland. He takes us through the psalm line-by-line, phrase-by-phrase, and as he does, he shows us the many ways this psalm points forward to Jesus. He also points us to the many ways Jesus fulfills Psalm 23 in his ministry as the Good Shepherd. He writes, “The story of the Bible is that God has come to us in Jesus such that we are able to say to him, ‘You are with me.’” (Kindle p. 88) Jesus is the Lord of Psalm 23.
For taking on a topic that is so familiar, Gibson is wonderfully fresh and insightful. If you think you know all there is to know about Psalm 23, think again. He held my interest the entire time, and I’m a pastor! It’s my job to study and teach this stuff, yet I was never bored. I found myself consistently going back to my Bible to make notes of things I could bring out the next time I teach Psalm 23.
Early on in the book, Gibson says, “I tell the Trinity Church family often that the best thing I can ever give them from the pulpit is a clearer sight of God himself and that the greatest thing they can ever have in life is more of God himself. We always want practical religion—effective habits, daily disciplines, lifestyle fixes—and these can all be wonderful if they are full of gospel grace, but the fountain from which they flow is God himself.” (Kindle p. 33) Once I read that, he had my full attention for the rest of the book.
I so appreciate Gibson’s conviction here because a great deal of the teaching coming from pastors and authors today does not communicate this. They communicate that what we really need are man-made strategies and programs. Or, what we really need is positivity and more self-esteem. But the Bible is the story of how God has given himself to his people. In fact, the Bible itself is God giving us himself. So, Gibson’s emphasis here is something we sorely need today. At the most fundamental level, everything is about God and his glory and his worth. I’d like to say thank you to David Gibson for trumpeting this to your people. The heart of Psalm 23 is that the Lord gives us himself.
In The Lord of Psalm 23 David Gibson succeeds in this especially difficult task. He presents this most familiar psalm to us in a way that is familiar yet fresh, simple yet surprising, traditional yet anything but tedious. He is, as Jesus says, like the master of a house, bringing out of his storeroom treasures new as well as old (Matt. 13:52). This book does what the very best books do… it helps us to better know the Scriptures, and thereby to better know God and his Son.
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