Luther on Psalm 23
by Dr. Martin Luther
1536
In this psalm, David, together with every other Christian heart, praises and thanks God for His greatest blessing: namely, for the preaching of His dear Holy Word. Through it we are called, received, and numbered into the host which is God’s communion, or church, where alone—and nowhere else—we can find and have pure doctrine, the true knowledge of God, and the right worship of God.
Blessed David, however, lauds and magnifies this noble treasure most beautifully in delightful figurative and picturesque language and also in metaphorical expressions taken from the Old Testament worship of God.
First he compares himself to a sheep. God Himself is carefully tending it as a faithful, diligent Shepherd. He is feeding it in a pleasant green pasture full of fine, heavy grass, where there is an abundance of fresh water and nothing at all is lacking. He is leading and guiding it with His rod on the right paths so that it may not stray. And He is protecting it with His shepherd’s staff so that the wolves may not rend it. Then he compares himself to a guest for whom God is preparing a table at which he finds strength and comfort, refreshment and joy in abundance.
The prophet accordingly applies many kinds of names to the Word of God. He calls it a fine, pleasant, green pasture;fresh water; the path of righteousness; a rod; a staff; a table; balm, or the off of gladness (Ps. 45:7); and a cup that is filled to overflowing. This he does quite appropriately, for the power of God is also of many kinds. Think of a sheep that is grazing in a fine, pleasant meadow, in green grass and near a cool body of water, that is, in the presence of its shepherd. He directs it with his rod or staff so that it may not go astray, and guards it with his staff that it may not suffer any harm but graze and rejoice in complete safety. Or think of a man who is sitting at a table at which there is an abundance of food and drink and all kinds of comfort and joy, and who is lacking nothing at all. And then think of those who are the sheep of this Shepherd about whom our psalm is singing, who abound much more in every good thing and are plentifully supplied not only in soul but also in body; as Christ says (Matt. 6:33): “Seek first the kingdom of God.”
For whenever God’s Word is preached properly and purely, it creates as many good things and results as the prophet here gives it names. To those that hear it diligently and seriously—and they are the only ones whom our Lord acknowledges as His sheep—it is pleasant green grass, a cool draught, by which the sheep of the Lord are satisfied and refreshed. It keeps them in the paths of righteousness and preserves them from suffering misfortune and harm. And it is to them an ever happy life, in which food and drink and all kinds of joy and pleasure abound. In other words: these sheep of the Lord are not only instructed and guided, refreshed, strengthened, and comforted by God’s Word; but they are also continuously kept on the right path, protected in body and soul in all kinds of distress, and finally they conquer and overcome all tribulation and sorrow, of which they must endure only as much as verse four mentions. In short, they live in complete safety as men whom no sorrow can befall, because their Shepherd tends and protects them.
We should, then, learn from this psalm not to despise God’s Word. We should hear and learn it, love and respect it, and join the little flock in which we find it, and, on the other hand, flee and avoid those that revile and persecute it. Wherever this blessed light does not shine, there neither happiness nor salvation can be found, neither strength nor comfort of body or soul, but only dissension, fear, and terror, especially when sorrow, anxiety, and bitter death threaten. As the prophet says (Is. 48:22), however, the wicked never have peace, regardless of whether they prosper or fail. For when they prosper, they grow presumptuous, haughty, and proud, and they forget our Lord God. Their only boast and trust is in their power, riches, wisdom, and holiness. These they are concerned to keep and increase while they persecute and suppress those that hinder them. But when their fortunes change, as eventually they surely must—for the tender Virgin Mary is a most truthful singer, and she has never missed even a single note in her song1—then they are the most miserable and sorrowful people, who speedily despair and lose heart. What ails them? They do not know where and how they may seek comfort. They do not have God’s Word, which alone can properly teach patience and good cheer in affliction (Rom. 15:4).
This ought to warn and move us not to consider anything on this earth greater and more precious than the blessing of being able to have the dear blessed Word and to be at a place where it may be preached and confessed freely and publicly. As often, therefore, as the Christian who belongs to a church in which God’s Word is taught enters this church, he should think of this psalm. With the prophet he should thank God with a happy heart for His ineffable grace in placing him, as His sheep, into a pleasant green meadow, where there is an abundance of precious grass and fresh water—that is, for being enabled to be at a place where he can hear God’s Word, learn it, and draw from it rich comfort for both body and soul.
Blessed David well knew how dear a treasure it is to have it thus. Therefore he could also glory and sing about it in so masterful a fashion and exalt so great a blessing far above anything that is precious and splendid on earth, as can be seen from this psalm and others. We ought to learn this art from him and follow his example. Not only should we be thankful to God, our dear faithful Shepherd, and praise His inexpressible gift, which He has presented to us purely out of kindness, as David does here in the first five verses; but we should also sincerely pray and ask Him, as he does in the last verse, that we may keep this possession and never fall away from His holy Christian Church.
Such a prayer, however, is extremely necessary, because we are very weak and have that treasure, as the Apostle Paul says (2 Cor. 4:7), “in earthen vessels.” And our adversary, the devil, is murderously hostile toward us because of this treasure. Therefore he does not rest, but goes about as a roaring lion and seeks how he may devour us (1 Peter 5:8). He also has another claim on us because of the old sack of our flesh,2 which we are still bearing on our necks and in which there are still many evil desires and sins. Moreover, the dear Christian Church is bespattered and befouled with so many horrible offenses that, because of them, many fall away from it. Therefore I say it is indeed necessary that we pray and preach the pure doctrine without ceasing, and thus protect ourselves against all offense, so that we may endure to the end and be saved (Matt. 10:22).
The mad, blind world knows nothing at all of this treasure and precious pearl. Like a sow or other irrational beast, it thinks only about filling its belly; or, at best, it follows lies and hypocrisy and abandons truth and faith. Therefore it does not sing a psalm to God for His sacred Word. Rather, when He offers it the Word, it blasphemes and damns this Word as heresy. It persecutes and kills those who teach and confess it as corrupters and the worst scoundrels that the world bears. Therefore it will undoubtedly be up to the little flock to know this blessing and, together with the prophet, to sing to God a psalm or song of thanks for it.
But what do you say about those that cannot have the Word of God, for example, those that are dwelling here and there among tyrants and enemies of the Word? It is true: wherever God’s Word is preached, there fruit will not be lacking, as Isaiah says in his fifty-fifth chapter (Is. 55:11); and pious Christians in such places have an advantage that they truly prize. For Christians consider it a great privilege to be at a place where God’s Word is taught and confessed openly and publicly and the Sacraments are administered according to Christs command. But such Christians are not very plentiful, for there have always been many more false Christians than devout ones. The great throng cares nothing about God’s Word, nor does it acknowledge it as a blessing that it can hear this Word without harm or danger. Indeed, it soon becomes sated and disgusted with it and considers it a burden to hear it and receive the Sacraments. On the other hand, those who must submit to tyrants cry for it day and night with great longing. And if by chance they get even a small fragment of our bread, which Christ has richly distributed to us, they receive it with great joy and thanksgiving and make very good use of it. Our sows, however, who have this precious bread in abundance and many basketfuls of fragments (Matt. 14:20), are sated with it and do not even care to smell it. Indeed, they thrust it about with their snouts, root around in it, trample it with their feet, and run over it.
Thus the saying is true: When something is in common use, it is not appreciated but is despised, however precious it may really be. Unfortunately such a saying is proved especially true in the case of our dear Word. Where men have it, they do not want it. But where men do not have it, there they would be sincerely glad to have it. Where men have the church, in which God’s Word is taught, at their doorsteps, there they go strolling along the market place during the sermon and sauntering about the moat. Where they have to go ten, twenty, or more miles for it, there, as we read in Psalm 42:4, they would gladly go with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving.
So this, in brief, is my answer to the question about those who live under tyrants. Blessed are they, be they scattered among the Turks or under the pope, who are robbed of the Word but would sincerely like to have it and meanwhile, until their lot improves, gratefully accept the fragments which come to them. If they are not far from places where God’s Word is preached and the Holy Sacrament is administered according to Christs command, they may, of course, travel to such places and make use of that treasure—as indeed many do and, on that account, are punished in body and possessions by their godless governments. If they live far away from such places, let them not stop sighing for the means of grace; and our Lord Jesus Christ will surely hear their sighing and in time restore their fortunes. But unhappy and more than unhappy are those that have this treasure at their doorsteps in abundance and still despise it. In the case of such the Word of Christ will be fulfilled (Matt. 8:11): “Many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”; in the case of others: “The sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness.” Let this be said by way of introduction. Now let us briefly consider the psalm.
-Gnesio
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