"You are with me" : The heart of the Shepherd Psalm

Writers use repetition, comparison, contrast, climax, and other ways of making their meaning clear. Writers today may use some of these methods to convey meaning, but they also have such things as paragraph divisions, italics, and bold type to indicate important features of their messages.

Using comparison and contrast, we can divide Psalm 23 into three parts. The first and third are similar in that they are presented against a positive and pleasant background.

In verses 1-3, the Shepherd provides everything his sheep needs, he beds his sheep down in green pastures, he leads them beside still waters. The psalmist’s soul is revived and he is enabled to follow the right path. All is tranquil and peaceful.

The third part of the psalm, verses 5b-6, reminds the reader of the first three verses. Instead of enemies standing around, goodness and mercy are following the psalmist’s path. Pastures and streams have given way to radical hospitality: “I will dwell,” says the psalmist, “in the house of the Lord for ever.” At the climax of the psalm, our poet has moved into the shepherd’s home. All is well.

In the second part of the psalm, verses 4-5a, things are not so tranquil. It speaks of walking through the darkest valley or the valley of the shadow of death. It speaks of the presence of the psalmist’s enemies or those who trouble him. Here the poet uses contrast to make an important point: even in the shepherd’s care one can encounter shadows, danger, troubles, even enemies.

Another important thing to look for in the study of scripture can be expressed as follows: where something occurs in a passage is part of what it means. It’s called “position.” The psalmist himself, presumably the bard, David, giant killer and king, appears to have divided the psalm in half. How do we know this? When the bard goes from the pastoral tranquility of verses one through three and starts into the walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he changes from talking about the Shepherd Lord to talking to the Shepherd Lord.

Since in biblical poetry where a word, phrase, or verse is located can be very important, I counted the words in the Hebrew original and found them to number 54 (there are 161 words in the English of nrsv). I then found that the Hebrew word attah, “you,” was word number 27 and the word `immadi, “with me,” is the next word, number 28.

The exact middle of the psalm lies between these two words. In other words, the phrase, attah immadi, “you are with me,” is positioned at the exact center of the poem.

Where the valley darkens, trouble threatens, and enemies hang around, the Shepherd Lord is most intimately present. Not a “he,” but a “you”!

attah immadi

“You are with me,” says the psalmist. “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” “You prepare a table for me.” “You anoint my head with oil.” Four times in a verse and a half the word “you” occurs. Here is repetition at work in the middle of our psalm, shouting at us: “When you go through trouble, the Shepherd Lord, goes with you most intimately.”

attah immadi

One “you are with me” experience of Shepherd intimacy surprised me as my agony over my vocation proved temporarily devastating. In 1973 in the midst of preparations for returning to my missionary vocation in Egypt, the vocation I felt I had been called to, I became aware, deeply aware, that I should not in fact return to Egypt. Although the change in plans was clearly necessary, what was the alternative? I struggled with this issue for a long time. Should I be come a pastor, continue to teach at the university, get involved in Christian education? What? God help me, what should I do? In the absence of any direction from God, in spite of urgent requests on my part, and after aptitude tests proved no help, I felt I walked through a very dark valley. I was indeed troubled. One night after unsuccessful attempts to sleep, I got up and began reading Samuel Sandmel’s novel about the life of Moses. It showed Moses persisting in leading the Israelites toward the promised land in spite of their lack of obedience and appreciation. I began saying out loud, “Moses, why did you do it? Why did you keep on leading these people? That lament morphed into one closer to home, “God, why do I keep seeking your will and guidance? Why can’t I give up? Why can’t John succeed in convincing me that you do not exist? (A friend John, an atheist, had been working on me—but to no avail). Why do I go on seeking you? I kept repeating in tears, real tears. Reaching the end of my emotional rope, in the midst of the silence of exhaustion, I heard a voice say distinctly, “It’s because you love me.”

It was the Shepherd comforting me. Was it the Shepherd’s staff comforting me, the tool Shepherds use when their sheep go astray. Or was it the Shepherd rod the tool shepherds use to protect their sheep from predators. I do not know. But I was comforted. In that moment the Shepherd was a “you” for me. It was many years before I felt comfortable in my vocation; but I knew why I went on—and on.

attah immadi You are with me!

What troubles you? The Shepherd offers comfort: a staff, when you go astray, a rod when you need protection from an outside threat.At the heart of this divine intimacy is a table. “You prepare a table before me, in the presence of my enemies.” A missionary translated this psalm into the Khmer language, then, as translators do, had it back translated into English—as a check, by a person who knew both languages well. Here’s how the passage on the table of hospitality went, “You manufacture a piece of furniture for me while my enemies watch.”

No! This is not about making furniture. This is about hospitality. It is about a table spread before you. It is about the anointing of oil, reflecting the ancient custom of pouring oil over the head of an honored guest. It is about an overflowing cup. As though that were not enough hospitality, as the psalm closes, the poet moves into the very house of his Shepherd Lord—to stay! He moves in.
attah immadi You are with me.

Remember, in the darkest valley, the psalmist could say attah `immadi: You are with me, the very heart of the Shepherd Psalm. It is as though the good Shepherd, himself were saying: “Come to me, all you that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”