The Lord Is My Shepherd (I Lie Down in Pastures Green)

Описание: We hope you enjoy this setting of the beloved Psalm 23 with lyrics by Mark Shipp & Michael E. Showalter and music by Michael E. Showalter.

As we close out 2025, we pray that our work in creating a new metrical psalter will encourage you to use the psalms in worship and private meditation more and more, as the early Christians did. If you want to help us continue to record this music, please consider donating to our current fundraiser at: Givebutter.com/TimelessPsalter. This fundraiser ends tomorrow.

We only have 64 songs left to record, so we are hoping that donors will assist us in paying for the recordings as we are a nonprofit. We do not receive pay for the work that goes into the recordings, but must still pay the singers, producers, and the studio. These recordings help you to learn the songs and provide a good listening experience for you to use as you meditate on God's word.

Below is the literal translation of Psalm 23 from our first book, Timeless: Ancient Psalms for the Church Today: Volume 1, which you can purchase here: https://www.tfaforms.com/4672488/

The Lord is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
He makes me recline in lush pastures; he leads me beside placid waters.
He restores my life; he conducts me along straight paths for the sake of his name.
Also, when I go in the valley of gloom, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and staff console me.

You spread out a table for me in front of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cupᵃ overflows.
Surely good and steadfast love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwellᵇ in the Lord's house for a long time.ᶜ

ᵃ The Septuagint reads "your cup" instead of "my cup," emphasizing the role of God as host of the banquet and owner of all the dishes on the table. While the Septuagint reading seems more likely to be original, the weight of English translations and their usage in the church's worship leads us to follow the Hebrew MT in this case. Probably "your cup" is the better reading, though the image differs little in implication.

ᵇ Several ancient versions correct the Hebrew "and I will return..." to "and I will dwell..."

ᶜLiterally "length of days."

Literal Translation: Mark Hamilton (PhD Harvard University), Onstead Professor of Biblical Studies at Abilene Christian University.