John Calvin Commentary Psalms 23:1

"Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want." — Psalms 23:1 (ASV)

Jehovah is my shepherd. Although God, by His benefits, gently allures us to Himself, as it were by a taste of His fatherly sweetness, yet there is nothing we fall into more easily than forgetting Him when we are enjoying peace and comfort.

Indeed, prosperity not only intoxicates many to such an extent that it carries them beyond all bounds in their mirth, but it also engenders insolence, which makes them proudly rise up and rebel against God. Accordingly, there is hardly one in a hundred of those who enjoy God’s good things in abundance who keep themselves in His fear and practice the humility and temperance that would be so fitting.

For this reason, we should more carefully note the example David sets before us here. Elevated to the dignity of sovereign power, surrounded with the splendor of riches and honors, possessing the greatest abundance of temporal good things, and in the midst of princely pleasures, he not only testifies that he is mindful of God, but by recalling the benefits God had conferred upon him, he makes them ladders by which he may draw nearer to Him.

In this way, he not only restrains the waywardness of his flesh but also stirs himself with greater earnestness to gratitude and other practices of godliness, as appears from the concluding sentence of the psalm, where he says, I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah for a length of days. Similarly, in Psalm 18, which was composed at a period of his life when he was widely acclaimed, by calling himself the servant of God, he showed the humility and simplicity of heart he had attained. At the same time, he openly testified to his gratitude by dedicating himself to celebrating God’s praises.

Using the image of a shepherd, he praises the care that God, in His providence, had shown toward him. His language implies that God cared for him no less than a shepherd cares for the sheep entrusted to him. In Scripture, God frequently takes upon Himself the name and character of a shepherd, and this is a significant sign of His tender love toward us.

Since this is a humble and simple way of speaking, He who does not disdain to stoop so low for our sake must bear an exceptionally strong affection toward us. It is therefore surprising that when He invites us to Himself with such gentleness and familiarity, we are not drawn or allured to Him, so that we may rest in safety and peace under His guardianship.

However, it should be noted that God is a shepherd only to those who, deeply aware of their own weakness and poverty, feel their need of His protection, and who willingly remain in His sheepfold and surrender themselves to be governed by Him. David, who excelled in both power and riches, nevertheless frankly confessed himself to be a poor sheep, so that he might have God as his shepherd.

Who is there, then, among us who would exempt himself from this necessity, since our own weakness clearly shows that we are utterly miserable if we do not live under the protection of this Shepherd? We should remember that our happiness consists in this: His hand is stretched out to govern us, we live under His shadow, and His providence watches over our welfare.

Therefore, even if we have an abundance of all temporal good things, let us be assured that we cannot be truly happy unless God condescends to count us among His flock. Besides, we only attribute to God the office of a Shepherd with due and rightful honor when we are convinced that His providence alone is sufficient to supply all our needs.

Just as those who enjoy the greatest abundance of outward good things are empty and famished if God is not their Shepherd, so it is beyond all doubt that those whom He has taken under His care will not lack a full abundance of all good things. David, therefore, declares that he is not afraid of lacking anything, because God is his Shepherd.