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Psalm 23
One passage. Several ways in.
Psalms 23:1-6 · KJV
Five questions on the six verses most people half-remember — and the words that are actually there.
Read the passageWays to explore this
A closer reading
Led, not driven
The first three verses are all things done for someone who is not doing them for himself: made to lie down, led, restored. “I shall not want” is not a claim about wealth but about lacking nothing that is needed.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Psalms 23:1-3 · KJVThe change of person
Read verses 1–3 and then verse 4 aloud and listen for the switch. He becomes thou. The psalm stops talking about God at the exact moment the ground gets dark.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
Psalms 23:4 · KJVA table, not a rescue
The last two verses change the picture from pasture to hospitality — a host, a meal, oil, an overflowing cup, a house to stay in. Notice what is not promised: the enemies are still present, and the table is set anyway.
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”
Psalms 23:5-6 · KJV
About the shepherd psalm
Psalm 23 is six verses long and most people can start it from memory, which is exactly why it repays a slow read. The images arrive in a deliberate order: first a shepherd and an animal that lacks nothing, then pasture and water, then a path, then a valley, and only at the end a table, a house, and a stay that does not run out. It moves from being led to being hosted.
The turn happens in verse 4, and it is a turn in grammar as much as in mood. The first three verses talk *about* God — he maketh, he leadeth, he restoreth. In the valley the psalm stops describing and starts addressing: “thou art with me.” The comfort offered there is not an argument that the valley is safe. It is a change of person, from him to you.
The last line is easy to soften in memory. It is not a wish. “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” is a statement, and the verb is a pursuing one — the two of them come after him, the way trouble might have been expected to.
Written and checked against the King James text by Random Bible. Last reviewed September 17, 2026.
Psalm 23: common questions
What is Psalm 23 about?
It is a psalm about being cared for — first as a sheep is cared for by a shepherd (pasture, water, a path), then as a guest is cared for by a host (a table, oil, an overflowing cup, a house to stay in). The centre of it is verse 4: “thou art with me.”
Who wrote Psalm 23?
The psalm carries the traditional superscription “A Psalm of David.” David is described in 1 Samuel 16:11 as a shepherd before he was a king, which is the background readers have long heard in the opening line.
What does “I shall not want” mean?
In the English of 1611, to want something is to lack it. The line means “I will lack nothing,” not “I will not desire anything.”
What are the rod and the staff in Psalm 23?
A shepherd's two tools: the rod for driving off what threatens the flock, the staff for guiding and recovering a straying animal. Verse 4 offers them as comfort in the valley — the shepherd is still working, and still there.