What Does Psalm 23 (The Lord Is My Shepherd) Mean?

Imagine your world explodes, death or conflict shatters a relationship, and you find yourself in a dark valley. You’re afraid and helpless, but then you recall the well-known words: “The LORD is my shepherd, … Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me” (Ps. 23:1; Ps. 23:4, NASB).

But how can a gentle shepherd help us in the valley of death?

It’s easy to miss that Psalm 23 portrays God not just as a gentle, comforting sheep herder but also as an undefeatable king, who demonstrated his power by rescuing his people from enslavement in the exodus story.

We can better understand the meaning of Psalm 23 by learning to see how it blends the ideas of shepherd and king into a multifaceted conception of God as entirely trustworthy. We can trust this shepherd-king to not only provide, protect, and guide people through life’s darkest valleys but also to destroy evil so thoroughly that we can join the psalmist in saying to God, “I fear no evil, for You are with me” (NASB).