As I was thinking over Psalm 23 today, I noticed two things which I never had before pertaining to its form, flow, and characteristics that I think are worth sharing. Before commenting, I will share the ESV’s translation here for reference:

¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³ He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

⁵  You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
⁶  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

Psalm 23 (ESV)

First observation: While there is not necessarily a chiasmus of content, there is one of indirect address and direct address:

A – Verses 1–3 — Indirect address / confession
   B – Verse 4 — Direct address / confession
   B’ – Verse 5 — Direct address / confession
A’ – Verse 6 — Indirect address / confession

The reason I separated verses 4 and 5 instead of lumping them together as a single segment of direct address is explained by and leads into my second observation.

Second observation: During the brief two verse span in which David turns to address Yahweh directly (“you”, “your”) he switches from images of dwelling outdoors (using animal imagery for himself) to images of dwelling indoors (using human imagery for himself).

I will briefly expand on the significance of these observations with a few notes here.

Even though David turns from indirect confession in verse 3 (“he leads me”) to the first instance of direct confession in verse 4 (“you are with me”), the theme and imagery has not changed. Verse 4 continues the thought of verse 3 of walking in paths (cf. “paths of righteousness”) by describing more path-walking (yet through a very dark valley) in God’s presence.

When we come to verse 5 we see the theme of God’s presence and provision persist, but the imagery noticeably switches to that of tables, cups, and anointing (more human and often indoor imagery). I think that these images proleptically look forward (in verse 6) to a new setting for dwelling: inside Yahweh’s house. What do you do inside a house? Eat, drink, and cleanse/anoint the body. The direct address then drops off again after verse 5, and in verse 6 reverts to the kind of indirect confession that the Psalm began with.

While in verse 2 the sheep dwells outdoors in green pastures, the psalmist in verse 6 now dwells inside a house. The mention of dwelling in verse 6 I believe mirrors a similar picture of “dwelling” (lying down and being beside) used earlier, where it is the psalmist in pastures (with still waters) that was in view there. Even if the terminology in verse 2 is more descriptive (as poetry is wont to do) of “dwelling” rather than actually using the word, I believe it still describes the same essential reality of abiding in God’s presence wherever it may be (in pastures or in a sacred house) and the blessings that attend that abiding.

There is possibly another kind of parallelism between the ideas of being beside still waters (if this signifies a source of quenching thirst) and the indoor imagery of the cup overflowing, although that association is less certain and structurally linked.

One of the most interesting parts of the above observations though is the function of the “bridge” verses of 4–5 in that they turn directly to Yahweh and also serve as the transition point of the metaphors employed. I think if we notice that convergence point through direct confession it helps us conceptually and thematically tie the whole Psalm together, even though the imagery changes.

Bonus observation:

If you remove the English word “will” (signifying future action) from most common translations of Psalm 23 in two places then you can see the more immediate effect of the indirect confessions:

• I lack nothing (currently) — Hebrew Professor Dr. Bill Barrick of The Master’s Seminary drew my attention to translating it this way.
• Goodness and lovingkindness follow me all the days of my life (currently)
  (Note: Indeed “all the days of my life” gives the sense a forward look into the future as well, but we must not override the present sense which is there.)
• For the third statement though the verb’s aspect is different and signifies the future: I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
  

So much to meditate on in Psalm 23!

I love it when new realizations leap out at you from a devotional reading of Scripture. I never noticed until recently that Proverbs 9 (which has a chiastic structure by means of two stories, which depict opposites that form bookends to the chapter) presents a foreshadowed picture of sorts of the gospel and also an anti-gospel at work in the earth (i.e. the work of God and the devil, respectively). In it both Wisdom and Folly are personified as women who beckon to simple people, with drastically different repercussions and results for those who accept.

Wisdom has built and prepared a large and strong house for herself (with seven pillars supporting it) and she has prepared a magnificent banquet at her own expense, and then takes an initiative to send out her own servant messengers to those in the city who are simple and who “lack sense” (vs. 4) to invite them to dine in her home as her guests so that they may become wise. This is almost unheard of: the wise seeking out the those who lack any wisdom, the simple, and freely offering an opportunity to them to become wise at their own expense. This is an altruistic hospitality, and a proactive one at that. If the people accept this generous invitation they will receive life, and will no longer be simple and can “walk in the way of insight”.

This is a beautiful parallel picture to the gospel. God in His benevolence and love has prepared something great and magnificent for an undeserving, sinful, and foolish people, and upon His own initiative (Wisdom sought out the simple, not the simple Wisdom) has offered freely His own Son Jesus at the greatest expense to Himself. And if anyone accepts Jesus through faith they will receive eternal life, and will “walk in the way of insight” (i.e. in the light as He is in the light, and be wise as He is wise, and is in fact Wisdom itself). And God in fact sent forerunners to point people to this ultimate offer through Jesus through servant messengers, the prophets, just like in Proverbs 9:3. In fact we see this picture used in one of the parables of Jesus about the kingdom wedding banquet in Matthew 22:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come… So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (vss. 2-3, 10)

Perhaps Jesus is even deliberately drawing upon that passage in Proverbs in his parable here. Elsewhere Jesus also says that God sent his “servants” the prophets to Israel repeatedly but they wouldn’t listen. With all these observations it is amazing how Proverbs presents this picture which almost exactly mirrors the gospel proclamation and offer through Jesus.

Yet in Proverbs 9 we also see a counter-gospel, a false gospel and false hope that is offered. There is another woman and her name is Folly, and she too has a dwelling place and a banquet which she wants to invite the simple to partake of. But this is a great counterfeit. She offers a feast obtained by ill gotten means (vs. 17) instead of providing it of her own means and expense, and has stolen the food that she offers (note how this exactly describes that phony, cheapskate counterfeiter the devil!). Yet the simple that listen to her don’t realize that what they actually will get for dining with her is death!

They don’t realize that she has buried the bodies of all who dined with her in her basement: “little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead”. She has thousands upon thousands of skeletons buried in her basement. While Wisdom’s house is built upon seven pillars and is full of life, Folly’s house is built upon the corpses of her guests and is full of death. This is Satan’s ‘appealing’ offer! He says: “Stolen water is sweet” (Proverbs 9:17) come and partake of it. The offer is to take what you desire by any means you see fit and to enjoy the perverse pleasures thereof, and no change is necessary. The simple remain simple! This is the counter-gospel.

The gospel is benevolent and offers great benefit to the guests, giving them life and a call and opportunity to change. The counter-gospel calls for a satisfaction of lusts by means of injustice that require no personal change whatsoever and leads to death.

It is amazing how much is packed into that one little chapter in Proverbs, and how much there is to dwell upon in it!