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Easter Season · Fourth Sunday of Easter · Year A

Psalm 23

The Lord Is My Shepherd

April 26, 2026

Shepherd with his Flock in the Evening Light, August Fink
Shepherd with his Flock in the Evening Light, August Fink, 19th centuryPublic domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The flock spread out grazing across a wet meadow at the end of the day, the shepherd a dark figure among bare trees, and standing water catching the last of the light.The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.August FinkA Munich landscape painter of the later nineteenth century who worked outdoors and kept his skies low and damp.Public domain, via Wikimedia CommonsThe painting is long out of copyright and the photograph is in the public domain.Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Revised Common Lectionary
GospelJohn 10:1-10Jn 10:1-10
Epistle1 Pet. 2:19-251 Pt 2:19-25
Old TestamentActs 2:42-47
PsalterPs. 23Ps 23

Overview & Insights

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” (Psalm 23:1)

Psalm 23 is an individual psalm of trust (see the sidebar “Psalms of Trust” in the unit on Ps. 16).[1] Psalms of trust arise out of some trouble that the psalmist has experienced, although we cannot always determine specifically what it was. Yet through this experience the psalmist has learned to trust in the Lord. Sometimes these psalms include a petition (e.g., 4:1, 6) and a vow to praise God (e.g., 16:7), but Psalm 23 contains neither. As Goldingay says, it is “radically a psalm of trust.”2 While we do not want to contrive canonical associations among the psalms, we do want to recognize, even insist, that the psalmists and the editors of the book worked with word and phrase associations, and sometimes a word or phrase was enough to place two psalms next to each other and proclaim a message that the compiler of the book wanted to get across. This is illustrated in the relationship of Psalms 22 and 23.

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Take it further: Psalm 23

Commentary

Commentary on Psalm 23Commentary on Ps 23 Working Preacher

Reads the shepherd psalm alongside John 10, the classic pairing for Good Shepherd Sunday.

Psalm 23 Commentary: The Lord Is My Shepherd, Verse by VersePs 23 Commentary: The Lord Is My Shepherd, Verse by Verse Enduring Word · David Guzik

Verse-by-verse treatment of the shepherd, the table, and dwelling in the house of the Lord.

Psalm 23:1 CommentariesPs 23:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Classic commentators on The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Background & Word Study

Psalms 23Ps 23 Sefaria

Hebrew text with Jewish translations and commentary for word study on the shepherd psalm.

The Church Fathers

Psalms 23, Catena Bible and CommentariesPs 23, Catena Bible and Commentaries Catena

Patristic reading of the shepherd psalm, often heard by the fathers as baptismal and eucharistic.

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