Psalms
Psalms 23
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4 commentators · 14 notes on this chapter
Matthew Henry1
Writes as a pastor rather than a critic. Expect devotional and practical application over historical or linguistic analysis, read through a Reformed covenantal frame — and expect the Old Testament to be read forward toward Christ throughout.
Why this voice is here: The most widely read English commentary for three centuries. Included as a baseline: where Henry and a modern voice diverge, the divergence itself is usually the interesting part.
From three very comfortable premises David, in this psalm, draws three very comfortable conclusions, and teaches us to do so too. We are saved by hope, and that hope will not make us ashamed, because it is well grounded. It is the duty of Christians to…
John Gill6
The most exhaustive and the most doctrinally committed here. Expect high — even supralapsarian — Calvinism applied consistently, and unusually heavy use of rabbinic and Talmudic sources for Jewish context. Where a passage bears on election or the will, Gill will read it in one direction, and knowing that in advance is the point.
Why this voice is here: The strongest Calvinist reading available in the public domain, and the best on Jewish background. Read alongside Clarke, not instead of him — between them you get both sides of the argument.
The Lord is my shepherd,.... This is to be understood not of Jehovah the Father, and of his feeding the people of Israel in the wilderness, as the Targum paraphrases it, though the character of a shepherd is sometimes given to him, Psalm 77:20; but of Jehovah…
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,.... Or "pastures of tender grass" (t); this is one part of the shepherd's work, and which is performed by Christ, Ezekiel 34:14; by these "green pastures" may be meant the covenant of grace, its blessings and…
He restoreth my soul,.... Either when backslidden, and brings it back again when led or driven away, and heals its backslidings; or rather, when fainting, swooning, and ready to die away, he fetches it back again, relieves, refreshes, and comforts with the…
Keil & Delitzsch3
The technical one, and Old Testament only. Expect Hebrew grammar, textual argument, and direct engagement with nineteenth-century critical scholarship — closer to a scholarly apparatus than a devotional read. Where a modern critic claims a text is late or composite, this is where the conservative counter-argument was made.
Why this voice is here: Old Testament only, and heavy going — but the place to look when someone asserts a passage cannot mean what it appears to.
The poet calls Jahve רעי, as He who uniformly and graciously provides for and guides him and all who are His. Later prophecy announces the visible appearing of this Shepherd, Isa 40:11, Eze 34:23, and other passages. If this has taken place, the רעי ה from…
Rod and staff are here not so much those of the pilgrim, which would be a confusing transition to a different figure, but those of Jahve, the Shepherd (שׁבט, as in Mic 7:14, and in connection with it, cf. Num 21:18, משׁענת as the filling up of the picture)…
Foes are now pursuing him, but prosperity and favour alone shall pursue him, and therefore drive his present pursuers out of the field. אך, originally affirmative, here restrictive, belongs only to the subject-notion in its signification nil nisi (Psa 39:6…
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown4
The concise option. Three authors split the canon, so the voice shifts between sections. Expect brief, sober, conservative notes that resolve difficulties rather than dwelling on them — useful for orientation, thinner than Gill or Clarke where a passage is genuinely contested.
Why this voice is here: The quickest way to see what the mainstream Reformed reading of a passage is. Start here, then go to Gill or Clarke when it matters.
green pastures--or, "pastures of tender grass," are mentioned, not in respect to food, but as places of cool and refreshing rest. the still waters--are, literally, "waters of "stillness," whose quiet flow invites to repose. They are contrasted with boisterous…
To restore the soul is to revive or quicken it (Psa 19:7), or relieve it (Lam 1:11, Lam 1:19). paths of righteousness--those of safety, as directed by God, and pleasing to Him. for his name's sake--or, regard for His perfections, pledged for His people's…
In the darkest and most trying hour God is near. the valley of the shadow of death--is a ravine overhung by high precipitous cliffs, filled with dense forests, and well calculated to inspire dread to the timid, and afford a covert to beasts of prey. While…
World English Bible — Public domain