“In the migration through the Spring landscape in search of ever-elusive grass and water, the flock must pass at times into and through the deep, rugged wadis – dry stream beds cut through the semidesert hills by the seasonal torrents unleashed by the winter rains. The air in the bottom of these wadis is heavy with the rising heat of the day, and the canyon depths are swathed in dark shadows as the rising cliff walls exclude the distant sun. At this moment of crossing the wadi floor, the pleasant scenes of green pastures and still waters seem far removed – there is not grass or water, the heat can be oppressive, and the whole flock must struggle up the steep sides of the canyon to resume its journey toward the next feeding place.”
Gerald H. Wilson
tsalmaveth
tsal (shadow) + maveth (death)
= deep, death-like shadow
“Perhaps the most basic of the theological promises is the assurance “I am with you.” This is the promise God offered Jacob (Gen. 28:11). It is the word of assurance God proclaimed to young Jeremiah (Jer. 1:8, 19), which he in turn passed on to the people of Judah (15:20; 30:11; 42:11; 46:28). It is the promise that the Lord spoke to the exiles through the anonymous prophet known as Second Isaiah (Isa. 41:10; 43:5). It is the heart of the message that Haggai announced to those who had returned from exile (Hag. 1:13; 2:4). And it was the promise that fueled the early church for perseverance and mission (Matt. 28:20; Col 2:5; Acts 18:10).”
Rolf A. Jacobson
“This is the true setting of the psalm: the existential space of being in the presence of something that is terrifying, a space in which every reflective human being finds himself or herself at some point, and a space which, according to the witness of the poem, the Lord can also be found.”
“…it is an element that critiques and subverts the dominant cultural theology of glory, which can only understand God’s presence in the good moments. The psalm asserts that, yes, the Lord is present in green pasture, peaceful waters, and along the paths of righteousness. But the Lord is also present ‘under the sign of the opposite’ – in the darkest valley.”
Rolf A. Jacobson
