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When Psalm 23 Began Reading Me

When Psalm 23 Began Reading Me

Last updated on: August 5, 2026 at 11:24 am by Jeff McLain

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When Psalm 23 Began Reading Me 2026-08-05T11:24:50-04:00 Jeff McLain

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When Psalm 23 Began Reading Me. Photo by Ingmar on Unsplash.

I’ve written before about Psalm 23. Last month, I referred to it on a Lead a Quiet Life Blog Post as A Poem for the Pilgrimage. I preached on the imagery recently. On my personal website, I discussed it as a way of Rediscovering Our Shepherd. There is no shortage of beautiful theology in this familiar psalm. As David Gibson writes in the 2026 version of his book The Lord of Psalm 23, “The imagery of the psalm is dominated with food, water, rest, security; it’s about going to a banquet where you have perfumed oil poured on your head, and you have a cup of wine in your hand, where you have to say to the host, “No, stop, it’s overflowing! Psalm 23 is about abundant life.” Though I love getting into the imagery in the context, I don’t want to revisit all of its imagery in this post. Since posting last month on Psalm 23, I have continued to sit with it, because I think the longer we sit with a passage, the richer it becomes for us, the more layers emerge, and the deeper it gets into who God is forming us to be. In this post, rather than revisiting all the layers, I want to share a different way I’ve found myself praying through it.

I don’t think this is necessarily the way David intended the psalm to be used. Nor do I think it’s an entirely unique approach. But over the past few weeks, it has become a meaningful way for me to allow Scripture to read me instead of simply reading Scripture.

A Prayer Garden and a Different Way of Reading

A few weeks ago, during a personal spiritual direction day, I spent time at a small prayer garden in New Holland, Pennsylvania. The garden is built around Psalm 23; it is called The Psalm 23 Prayer Garden, and it is full of prayer prompts and stations that invite slow reflection. I’m grateful to my friend Kevin Bradford, who first introduced me to this quiet place years ago, when he was attending River Corner Church. I’ve returned to this special place many times since.

Before I entered the prayer path this past visit, I sat on a bench with a cup of coffee and my journal overlooking the gardens. I sat there and tried to face and name everything that seemed to be happening within me—the discernment I was wrestling through, the areas where I sensed God inviting deeper surrender, the anxieties I carried, and the questions I couldn’t yet answer. The heat of the day was beating down on me, and the sweat escaping me felt as confessional as the work in my journal.

When I finally began walking through the Psalm 23 prayer garden, something shifted. Often, I simply admired the beauty of the Shepherd, or the rich layers of the Psalm and what they teach me about God. They are reminders of God’s character and God’s desire for my life. The journey becomes reflective as I move through the emotions and weights that I am carrying. However, right from the start, I found myself going about this in a different way. As I approached the first words, “The Lord is my Shepherd…,” I found myself asking if and where each line was already true in my life. I had been reading Psalm 23 for the past few weeks, and all of a sudden it was now reading me.

Where are the green pastures? Am I lying down in them?
Where are the still waters? What is stopping me from enjoying them?
Where has God been restoring my soul? Where have I resisted?
Where is He leading me in right paths? What detours do I continue to take?
Where has God’s rod and staff already been at work in my life? What is the rod and staff in this season?

As I moved through the garden and as I read Psalm 23, instead of only studying the theology of the psalm, every line became a question. Things were coming to the surface that I had not considered in the hour I spent facing and naming all that I could in my journal. I truly believe it was God’s Holy Spirit that was asking the questions in my life, causing me to look at life, the season I am in, and even this passage in new light. The Holy Spirit, when given space, will always illuminate the scriptures for us in transformative ways.

Looking for the Rod and the Staff

Though each petition and phrase was meaningful, I think the line that captured my attention most was from Psalm 23:4: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (NASB).

I have learned that many of us struggle with this image because we have seen authority abused. Too often the rod and the staff have been used as symbols of punishment, control, or spiritual manipulation. This verse has been used to reinforce bad theology that creates an abusive, angry father image of God, and it has been used to give license to abusive leaders with heavy hands.

But that’s not the picture David paints. It is not what the scripture intends. The shepherd’s staff provided stability and protection. It supported the shepherd on uneven ground, helped him navigate narrow places, rescued wandering sheep, and defended against danger. The rod was a tool of protection and guidance. It could gently tap a sheep to redirect it, keep it from wandering toward a cliff, or bring it back into the safety of the flock. I love how Loretta Pehanich reflects on this line: “It’s not such a comfort when the Shepherd is nudging me along with that rod. Get moving! What are you waiting for? But it’s a loving reminder, full of gentle intention. I wake up from my reverie and take a step forward.”

These are not weapons of authority and abuse. They are instruments of leading and care. I can learn to lie down in green grass, enjoy still waters in chaotic moments, and sit at a table prepared for me (even with my enemies around me) because there is one who is stable, protecting, and guiding me along the way. I just have to choose to see it, accept it, affirm it, and live that reality out.

They remind us that God does not abandon people when the terrain becomes difficult. They are tools of presence and guidance, reminding us that God is still leading, still there, and has not abandoned the children of God when the terrain and journey become difficult.

As I reflected on the rod and the staff, I realized God had already been guiding me through some difficult financial decisions. For weeks I had been praying, “Lord, where are You leading me?” and, if I’m honest, I often felt like I wasn’t hearing much at all. But as I sat with Psalm 23, I began to realize that I had been looking for a dramatic answer while overlooking the gentle guidance already present. The needs of my family, the attention my health requires, and the financial realities I have been wrestling with were not evidence of God’s absence—they were, in many ways, the rod and the staff. They were the places where God was creating loving resistance, inviting me toward healthier patterns, greater faithfulness, and deeper dependence on Him. The Shepherd had been leading me all along; I simply hadn’t recognized the way that God was choosing to do it.

Healing Comes From Outside of Us

One realization kept surfacing as I reflected on this image. David says, Your rod and Your staff. The stability isn’t mine. The guidance isn’t mine. They belong to the Shepherd. The Shepherd is in charge; I just need to accept the next step. In fact, when I think for myself or try to find a better path to a better pasture, I get myself into deeper financial trouble, my health suffers, or I hurt relationships. We are perfectly designed to get the results we are getting, and it is time to look outside of ourselves. I love this thought from Got Questions: “We are like sheep wandering away from the Shepherd through our own futile self-remedies and attempts at self-righteousness. It is our nature to drift away (Hebrews 2:1), to reject God, and to break His commandments. When we do this, we run the risk of getting lost, even forgetting the way back to God.”

We live in a culture that constantly tells us to look within ourselves. We are told that everything we need is already inside us—that the right self-help book, therapist, personality assessment, or life hack will unlock our truest and realist selves. There is certainly value in wise counsel and professional help. But Christianity begins with a different assumption. We need rescue from outside ourselves. Our lives today are largely producing the results our current patterns are designed to produce. If we want different fruit, we need more than better techniques. We need a Shepherd.

This is true in so many areas of life. Loneliness drives us toward unhealthy relationships. Emptiness drives us toward excess. Fear drives us toward control. Financial anxiety drives us toward impulsive decisions. Our deepest longings cannot ultimately be healed by looking further inward. They require the gracious work of God to come in, move in, clean house, and transform our lives.

Where Is God Resisting You?

Perhaps the rod and the staff are already present in your life. As I considered what the rod and staff might be providing direction and guidance in my life, I considered my finances, health, family, etc. Perhaps the rod and the staff are already present in your life. As I considered what the rod and staff might be providing in my own life, I found myself reflecting on my finances, my health, my family, and several areas of discernment that have occupied my prayers lately. Where was God creating resistance to keep me from wandering? Where was He providing stability when I felt like I was losing my footing? Instead of asking where God was punishing me or withholding something from me, I began asking where He was already guiding and sustaining me. The rod and the staff became less about correction and more about the Shepherd’s faithful presence, gently redirecting me and helping me stand firm on uneven ground.

Maybe the resistance you’re experiencing isn’t God’s punishment but the tension formed from God’s loving interruption. Perhaps God is preventing you from walking farther down a path that would ultimately wound you or others. Sometimes the Shepherd’s guidance feels like resistance before it feels like a blessing. Maybe the instability you’re feeling is exposing a foundation that needed to be rebuilt. Maybe your finances, your relationships, your health, or your spiritual dryness are not invitations to shame but opportunities to notice where the Shepherd is redirecting you. It is true for me. Rather than asking, “Why is God doing this to me?” Perhaps we should ask, “How is God guiding me through this?” or “Where is He inviting me to stand on firmer ground?” The rod redirects and protects. The staff steadies and guides. Both are expressions of His care. They are the reason I can lie down, enjoy still waters, and sit at the table. The rod and staff are also those things that reorient me back on the path after my own missteps.

Let Psalm 23 Become a Mirror

The next time you read Psalm 23, try slowing down. Maybe read through it really slowly. Instead of rushing through familiar words, ask three questions:

Where is this already true in my life?
Holy Spirit, where would You have me pause?
How is Jesus inviting me to respond, and who has God placed in my life to help me walk this out?

Then read it again, reading one line at a time with an open journal. Pausing after each literary image. Seriously, read slowly. Allow each phrase to become an invitation to confession, gratitude, surrender, or worship. You are asking, where is this true in my life? Where do I need to accept it?

A More Rooted Church

More than ever, I believe the Church needs to recover ancient habits of reflection, prayer, and discernment. This is what Paul was trying to plant in the Thessalonian church when he gave them 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.

We live in a world marked by anxiety, distraction, political division, global conflict, economic uncertainty, and endless digital noise. Every day there are voices competing for our attention and loyalty. If we are not deeply rooted, we will eventually mistake what merely sounds convincing for what is actually true. Paul reminds believers that the fruit of a Spirit-shaped life is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23, NASB 2020). Those qualities are not produced by louder opinions, stronger personalities, or more persuasive social media posts. They grow as we remain with Jesus.

Pastors cannot manufacture this maturity from the pulpit.

Podcasts cannot produce it.

Social media certainly cannot produce it.

Street evangelists can’t proclaim it.

Only a life that repeatedly returns to the presence of the Shepherd can cultivate it. The Church becomes discerning when ordinary Christians develop ordinary habits of abiding in Christ day after day. Perhaps one of those habits is simply reading Psalm 23 until it begins reading us.

Conversation

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Have you ever experienced a passage of Scripture reading you rather than you simply reading it?
Where do you currently see God’s rod or staff at work in your life?
Which line of Psalm 23 do you find yourself returning to most often—and why?

If this post resonated, subscribe for future reflections, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. You can learn more about his journey to recover a rooted Christian way of life through the Lord’s Prayer, ancient habits, leading a quiet life, and simple Jesus communities online at JeffMcLain.com, the Lead a Quiet Life blog on Patheos, or the Discovering God Podcast.

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About Jeff McLain

Jeff McLain is a Doctor of Ministry Student on the Lord’s Prayer at Kairos University, Director of Pastoral Ministries at Water Street Mission, and a pastor at River Corner Church. Mobilized by 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Jeff blogs about recovering a rooted Christian way of life through the Lord’s Prayer, ancient habits, leading a quiet life, and simple Jesus communities. You can read more about the author here.

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