Mennonite Weekly Review

The most famous ancient Hebrew poem is Psalm 23, and the main context for its reading is funerals.

But its message is even more appropriate as an expression of hope and life in the troubled here-and-now.

The first thing to notice is that King David personalizes his relationship with God. Knowing that the Creator cared for his people as a nurturing and protecting shepherd, the psalmist might have said, “The Lord is our shepherd.” Instead he claims, “The Lord is my shepherd.”

No other deity of that era would have been understood in such a personal way. The great God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob cares for each lamb in his flock.

Next, David acknowledges God’s nurturing characteristics: He leads, he restores and he guides. This is a reassuring message for 21st-century America. We long for green pastures and still waters in the midst of global and national upheaval. Our souls need restoration from self-indulgent greed and individualism. Drowning in our deepest fears, we search for a guide to lead us out of darkness.

Psalm 23 is used at funerals because of the familiar phrase, “though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” The implication is that someone dies and then dwells in the house of the Lord.

This dualistic interpretation is not what David intended. Another translation of this phrase is, “when I walk through the darkest valley.”

This rendering gives much more significance to our experiences in the here-and-now.

We will walk through dark valleys while we live in these mortal bodies. Suffering, whether physical, emotional or mental, is a reality. We can all testify to times of anxiety and uncertainty. Examples abound: anorexia plagues a young woman, a senior loses his retirement, an employee is suddenly terminated, a wife struggles as a single mom, a husband can’t provide for his family. Like these people, all of us have experienced life as something beyond our control.

Depression is common in these turbulent times. The National Institute of Mental Health reports that almost 10 percent of the adult population in America suffers from clinical depression. In this dark valley everything is a struggle: sleeping, eating, getting up in the morning, going to work, parenting children.