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Writer's pictureDan Potter

Psalm 23 - A study from the Caribbean - Part 1

The Bible. 66 different books written by over 40 different men that simply wrote down the Words that God had given them. These men were sailors, farmers, ranchers, fishermen, and yes, even shepherds. But I’m none of these. In fact, at 47 years young I have never even met a real shepherd. In this part of Texas, I don’t even know where you would go to find a real shepherd. But here we find, in one of the most famous passages in all of God’s Word, an amazing praise to God from a man who started his life as a simple, humble shepherd boy. David.


My Pastor at Southcliff Church here in Fort Worth started a sermon series on this passage and along with it recommended a great little accompaniment book to really help understand the depth of the comparisons made by the shepherd David. “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.” by W. Philip Keller. So who would be qualified to write such a book? Well, a shepherd of course. Mr. Keller grew up in East Africa surrounded by simple native sheep herders that closely resembled their counterparts in the middle east that would have been so similar to David’s trainings and practices in shepherding. After spending 8 years as a sheep owner and sheep rancher, Mr. Kelly now a pastor, decided to write a book to educate the modern urban masses on the beautiful underlying shepherding examples in this passage. If this passage was written by a shepherd, it only makes sense to have it fully explained by a real modern day shepherd. The sermon series along with this little book has greatly helped me to understand the depth and beauty of this passage of care, provision and guidance. One of the most misunderstood and mis-used passages in our world today deserves to be understood for the reason it was written.


Shift gears. A few months ago, Marge and I decided to get away. We love to cruise so we called up our great friend and great cruise agent, Mary Kay, and it took her all of a few minutes to get us on the right sailing date out of Galveston. As we excitedly planned our trip, I started to wrestle with what to do with the 5MC. I of course would be taking my Bible and even my commentary with me. You can take a vacation from a lot of things, but you cannot take a vacation from God. I’m sure God has been on a lot of cruises (including with Noah) but this week God is going to the Caribbean, because that’s where we’re going. What a blessing we have in a God that goes everywhere with us!


In the weeks leading up to the cruise I was constantly consulting Marge about the 5MC. Should I write on the cruise and just not post? Should I write and buy an internet package on the ship and write and post each day? (too expensive) Should I write and then just post them all when I get back? I love the 5MC and it has become a part of me. Or rather I should clarify, my daily study of God’s Word has created a hunger within me, so much that it’s literally like food to me. I would not wake up one day and forget to eat, how in the world could I forget to feed on God’s Word? God continued to speak to me about this all the way up until the time to pack the bags and pull out of the house. I packed my Bible, my commentary, ‘A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23’ and my laptop. God would reveal.


We talked about it at dinner on the first night of the cruise and decided that Marge and I would have a joint bible study together each day of the cruise. We’d find a book in the New Testament that had around 6 books and study one book each day for about an 30 minutes to an hour, including discussion time and application to life. But what to do with the 5MC? I rose early on Monday morning, the first full day of the cruise, grabbed my stuff and headed off in search of two things…a quiet place on a cruise ship to meet with God and a strong cup of coffee. I found both and sat down on the 14th deck of a 1000 foot long cruise ship. The sun was rising in the east as the open waters of the Gulf spread out to the distant horizon. The smell of the sea air filled my lungs as I opened up in prayer. God what do you want me to do? I opened up my eyes and saw the small book on Psalms 23 and started reading. The intro moved me, so I opened up my laptop and started to write. The scattered pre-coffee thoughts started forming into clear concise patterns as my mind awakened and heard God clarify. Spend the week expounding on Psalms 23 using this great little book as a guide. I’ve got 6 mornings, God as my travel partner and advisor on the topic, and I’m sure the cruise ship has plenty of coffee so it’s game on. Welcome to the study of Psalm 23 from the beautiful high seas of the Caribbean.


The first 2 days of our cruise has been at sea. It takes a few days to get farther south where the ports are at, so the sea days are basically travel days. These days I have spent studying the book and taking extensive notes to begin writing. This morning as I finally begin to write, it is the day of our first port of call, Roatan, Honduras. I rose up early and made my way to my usual spot at the top of the ship, deck 14, to take in the site of the approach of the island as I write. There is not much more inspiring than this experience, it’s so beautiful to behold. The distant island starts as a speck on the horizon and as the ship steadily sails along, the island appears with more detail by the minute. Before long you can see green and then the vague green materializes into a treeline and then the treeline into individual trees. Small villages begin to take shape as the turquoise Caribbean slips by below. Roatan is a small island 23 miles off the coast of mainland Honduras, which sits on the eastern coast of Central America. As I sit here to start writing on Psalm 23, it’s hard to focus. I look over the deck railing and down 140 feet to the sight below. The ship has not yet docked, we are still slowly approaching the pier. We are coming in from the north, gliding through the water along the hilly, green landscape. So much to see. Small homes dot the scene, all brightly adorned in their lively Caribbean colors. The water shimmers in the morning sun. In the distance I see a small white church nestled in the foothills. I wonder about the souls on this small island. In the far remote corners of the Earth like this, are people being told about Jesus today? Has someone relented to the call of God and came here to tell of the Gospel?


We’ll be getting off the ship shortly to spend the day in Roatan and explore its sights. We have a guided excursion planned and of course it centers around a beach and snorkeling. I never got to see an octopus (Tako) in the waters of Hawaii and it’s still on my bucket list to hunt one down. There’s also sea turtles in the Carribbean and it’s always a super treat to get to swim with these beautiful behemoths. I’ll never forget one day in Maui, we encountered about 7 huge green sea turtles as we snorkeled off Canoe Beach on the west coast. There’s something purely surreal about snorkeling. With your head below the water, silence envelopes. The watery view distorts your normal reality and accompanied by the silence of the depths it carries you to a place that’s foreign. You are a foreigner in a new world with a rare invitation to visit its inhabitants. What a day lies before us. I am blessed.

Let’s move on to David’s 23rd Psalm and our study of it. Let's look at the Psalm in it's entirety and then break it down piece by piece in our study.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me besides still waters

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

For His names sake


Even though I walk through the valley of the

Shadow of death.

I will fear no evil,

For you are with me;

Your rod and your staff they comfort me.


You prepare a table before me

In the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup overflows.


Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life,

And I shall dwell in the house

of the Lord forever.”

Psalm 23


Before we get started really looking intensely at each individual verse, there’s a few points to note as an overview. First, David is writing this as a sheep would look at its shepherd. Be sure and keep that in mind as we study it. He doesn’t shift gears anywhere in the passage, it all has to do with the imagery of how a sheep would relate to a loving, caring, shepherd. Remember that David grew up as a shepherd boy and was intensely aware of the close, intimate relationship between a sheep and the needs that only its shepherd can provide. I’ve seen many mis-interpretations made of Psalm 23 because people pull the verses out of the context in which David has written it. A sheep addressing its shepherd, keep that in mind.


Next, I would like to request that you approach Psalm 23 with a fresh new heart, a blank mind and a fresh set of eyes. This is one of the most pigeon-holed passages in all of God’s Word. Because of the word death in verse 4, this passage (or parts of it) has forever been relegated as a funeral passage or one that specifically deals with death and loss. A passage that we turn to in the times of personal loss. This makes me sit back and ponder. After you have been through the entire study, I hope you as well will scratch your head. David’s Psalm actually has very little to do with death and personal loss. It has everything to do with a good shepherd that knows the needs of his sheep and provides all of those needs abundantly. A shepherd that fiercely protects his sheep at all costs, even willing to lay down his life for his sheep. A shepherd that ultimately only wants the best for his little flock of sheep. So, as we proceed with our study of Psalm 23, please approach the passage with a blank slate, ready to see it anew. I pray that God will show you many things that you had not previously seen or comprehended.


Since I’ll be writing early every morning of the cruise for the next 5 days, I will include personal anecdotes, stories and observations from the trip as well. As we enjoy the blessing of being able to see more of God’s world and are able to spread His love in the Caribbean, I’m sure the stories will abound. For now, I am going to write freely and concern myself with the published form later. Right now I’m thinking I will write until I’m done and then break the whole study into different parts as I post it on the 5MC. I think that would make it easy and more enjoyable to take it in smaller bits. I notice as I wrote the last few paragraphs, the ship has docked. It dwarfs the small little Honduran village below. Compared to home in Fort Worth, this place could not be more different. There’s exploring to be done. A new coast, a new land, a new people. I’m excited. I am blessed.


Join me tomorrow as we start our study of the first few verses of the 23rd Psalm from the high seas of the Caribbean.


God bless your day.



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