The structure of Psalm 23
Adorable sheep
I will constrain my comments to the discernible structure of this beautiful poem, although it also can be understood in terms of other artistic elements, such as juxtaposition, foreshadowing, and poignance. It is one of the most justly famous of the psalms, the twenty-third. To say that it is well-loved hardly does the sentiment justice. Listen to what Halley has to say about it:
This Psalm has flown like a bird up and down the earth, singing the sweetest song ever heard. It has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophies of the world. It will go on singing to your children, and to my children, and to their children, till the end of time. And when its work is done, it will fly back to the bosom of God, fold its wings, and sing on forever in the happy chorus of those it had helped to bring there.
This psalm is beautiful. At the risk of spoiling our appreciation of it with too much analysis, I would like to look briefly at its structure, beautiful and pleasing to the mind and heart. It consists of 13 lines of poetry, here recounted in the old King James Version of the Bible of 1611:
A.The LORD is my shepherd.(4)
B.I shall not want. (3)
C.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. (9)
D.He leadeth me beside still waters. (11)
E.He restoreth my soul. (6)
F.He leadeth me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. (14)
G.Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for Thou art with me. (19)
H.Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. (15)
I.Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. (13)
J.Thou anointest my head with oil. (8)
K.My cup runneth over. (6)
L.Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, (15)
M.And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. (12)
The numbers at the end of each line of poetry represent the number of syllables in each line of Hebrew, as nearly as I can tell.
The poet chose two lovely metaphors to express his delight in how the Lord cares for him: the nurtured sheep (A-H) and the honored man (I-M). The poem consists of two couplets (AB and LM) and three triplets (CDE, FGH, IJK). It is asymmetrical as regards its metaphors: the nurtured sheep portion consists of a couplet and two triplets (A-H); the honored man consists of one triplet and one couplet (I-M). The asymmetry creates a lovely sense of tension and release, expectation and fulfillment.
From the number of syllables, notice how bulky the middle triplet (G) is, surrounded by two triplets (F and H) that are of almost equal length to one another. So the poem has a chiastic form, bulging in the center; chiasm often is typical of Hebrew poetic structures.
In Psalm 23, we linger expectantly in the valley of the shadow of death (G) and are released to the house of the LORD forever (M). God’s name is the first word uttered in the Hebrew and almost the last, heightening the sense of chiasm.
The high point of tension, it seems, occurs when we are waiting for the final couplet. The structure of this beautiful little poem amplifies the sense of profound serenity and calm. The form raises and then admirably satisfies our expectations, even if we are not conscious of it doing so. Even those of us who know next to nothing about sheep herding or ancient Hebrew honoring, are drawn into its loveliness and come away nourished. “He restoreth my soul” indeed!
This blog post is an excerpt from my recently published book, Is Jesus Real? available on Amazon in print and Kindle.
