The church that I attend is doing a series on Psalm 23. The subject today was “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
The pastor highlighted that sheep in the ancient world were dependent
on their shepherd. Sheep were not particularly bright. They wandered
off. They would fall down sideways or on their backs and be unable to
get back up. Feces and dirt would get caught in their wool. They needed
their shepherd, as we need God and God’s love and grace.
The pastor asked if God being our shepherd means that we will not get
the Coronavirus. He answered “no”: God being our shepherd means that
God delivers us from sin and death, not necessarily earthly sickness and
problems. We have forgiveness from God and the hope of eternal life.
I felt that the pastor was projecting Christian ideas onto Psalm 23.
My impression is that David was hoping God would deliver him from peril
in this life. As a professor of mine said years ago in a class on
Psalms, if David believed in divine reward and punishment in the
afterlife, the Psalms would not read as they do. David hoped for peace,
prosperity, and healing in this life, and his hope was that God would
provide it. When God did not provide it, David either waited for it,
protested his innocence, or felt as if God were punishing him for some
sin.
At the same time, I do take what the pastor says seriously. He is an
educated man. In his Bible studies, he takes original context and
scholarship seriously, even as he reads the Old Testament
Christocentrically. He is planning to offer a class on how to read the
Psalms through Zoom on 9 am on Sundays, and I hope to take it. I am
hoping that Zoom does not require me to show my face online, since, in
this age of Corona, I tend to crawl out of bed at 9 am on Sunday
mornings, even later, without having bathed, combed my hair, shaved, or
changed out of my pajamas. I also hope the pastor remembers to send me
an invite. Then there is learning to use Zoom. Zoom has my audio, but I
do not have a microphone. I hope it does not require me to have that,
since I plan to listen rather than talk.