Martin Luther said that ‘the Psalter is a little Bible, and a summary of the Old Testament’ (Gibson, ‘The LORD of Psalm 23’, p.82). If this is true – and it is – then this Psalm contains, in verse 4, a summary of the key theme of the whole Bible: ‘for you are with me’.

Located at the very heart, the middle, of the Hebrew of this Psalm, these five words capture the key truth of God’s revelation: the LORD created his people to live with him, to be with him, and he has committed his nature to restoring this.

Moreover, in this crucial verse, we see how personal such a commitment is – did you notice the change in person, from third person (‘the shepherd’) to second person (‘you’)? As the sheep walks through the valley of darkness, which is their life, they are led there, and through there, at a walk, by the shepherd who is their shepherd, the one committed to enabling them to be free from slavery to dwell with him.

The shepherd is at their side, the shepherd has led them here, the shepherd is with them, the shepherd will walk them through… and that ‘comfort’ is so much bigger than anything we can ever self-generate or pursue on our own.