Friday, April 19, 2013

Finding Comfort in Psalm 23



This fourth Sunday of Easter is one of the several Sundays in the church calendar that includes the twenty-third psalm as part of its lectionary.  Psalm 23 is without a doubt the most recognizable and oft-quoted psalm in the collection. It has been set to innumerable hymns and anthems, for it offers comfort and reassurance in God’s presence in our lives. It was written to offer a way to live in and with the presence of God, yet is most familiarly used at the time of death and is a favorite at funerals.  As is often the case with frequently used prayers, psalms, hymns and anthems, the intent and meaning of the words is easily overlooked.

It’s important to remember that David, before he became a king and the noted head of the family line that would eventually produce the Son of God (pretty important breeches, wouldn’t you say?), was a shepherd. One can imagine the young lad out in the hills with his flock, being solely responsible for their care and survival. And the survival of the flock has direct bearing on the survival of his people.  It must have been a bit intimidating at times.  Fast forward to King David who is now solely responsible for the care and survival of his people—full fruition of the promise (or curse, depending on one’s outlook at the moment) that God made to David.  I imagine that it was during one of these moments of overwhelming liability that the boy and king would desperately seek his own shepherd and who better for the role than God. (Incidentally, the line “thou hast anointed my head with oil” indicates the poem was written after David was made king.) God as our shepherd upon whom we can unload all our troubles and confide in with complete trust is a very comforting thought.

Except…

Assuming the translation of Adonai Ro’i (God is my shepherd)is the appropriate meaning as opposed to “God is my companion”—“shepherd” is thought to derive from re’a, which means “friend, pal, companion,”—there are implications to be considered with God as shepherd.  In the story of Joseph, there is a throw-away line (Genesis 46:34) where Joseph tells his brothers that shepherds are “abhorrent to the Egyptians.” This antagonistic attitude towards shepherds was apparently a prevailing one in ancient times.  In fact, resentment towards shepherds begins right in the beginning of Genesis with Cain’s jealously of Abel.  References pitting farmers against shepherds arise again and again in the Bible. Now, perhaps the circumstances in which David composed this psalm did not take this particular animosity into consideration.  Yet the implications of this conflict might have some bearing on later interpretations of the psalm—especially when using the shepherd metaphor to describe Jesus. The conflict foreshadows the antipathy that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. What would it mean for the safety of the sheep to trust in a guardian doomed to be hated and scourged by others? Yet the language of the psalm conveys complete and utter confidence in the protection of God as shepherd.

In order to take comfort in the idea of God being our shepherd, one must complete the analogy by accepting that people, therefore are sheep. The problem with that is that the very nature of sheep (flocking instinct, disinclination to act independently, a ready recognition of their shepherd’s voice over any others) infers on the part of people a nature that is construed as negative and detrimental. We are at our worst when we lack independent thought and when we hear only one voice (i.e. one narrow perspective). To be sure, it is when we are at our worst that we most need God to be our shepherd. Singer Juanita Bynum sings an interpretation of the twenty-third psalm that has been beautifully choreographed in a liturgical dance that speaks to this need. We are reminded that God the Shepherd (abhorred by others) has had experience being God the Lamb (scourged, despised and sacrificed). This, then, is a shepherd who can be trusted with our very worst.

Most of the musical versions of Psalm 23 that we at Trinity are most familiar with are settings of gentle, soothing quality—hymn 645, St. Columba (which we will sing this Sunday, April 21) is one such hymn; hymn 664, Resignation is another. John Rutter includes his interpretation of the psalm in his masterpiece opus Requiem.  In light of recent events, perhaps it is most fitting to seek safety and reassurance in God as Shepherd. He shall convert my soul and lead me forth in the paths of righteousness. May that path be one of loving forgiveness and understanding and not one of vengeance or indifference.

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