Psalm 23

Verse 1-6 ESV

A Psalm of David.

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.

 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

 4 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.

 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Prepare Before Memorizing and Digging Deeper 

• Read through Psalm 23 every day for 1 week
• Gather Background information:  Who wrote the Psalm, to who was it written, What kind of style is the book of Psalms.  When was it written?  
• Get the Context by asking the 5 W’s and H (Who, What, Where, Why, When and How)
• Who is speaking?
• Who are the recipients?
• Who is this about?
• What is the subject? 
• What is the setting?
• Can you identify repetitive phrases?
• Do you see any parallelism?  (Repeating structure or rhythm in successive lines Example: “He makes me lie down… He leads me… He restores…” (Psalm 23)
• Do you see any similes (use of LIKE or AS)
• Do you see any Metaphors being used (this is a direct comparison without using “like or as” 
• Do you identify any personification?  (giving human qualities to non human things
• Do you identify any hyperboles? Exaggeration for emphasis 
• Example: “My tears have been my food day and night.” Psalm 42:3 
• Identify Keywords (Click here to know how to mark Keywords for Psalm)
• Look up the word in a dictionary

Dig Deeper into keywords by looking up the word in its original form (Hebrew/Greek) by using the Blue Letter Bible Lexicon to get a better understanding of how the word is used. (Click here for instructional video)

Verse Map - Click here for an instructional video 

Choose a verse

Look up the verse in multiple translations - KJV, NIV, NASB, Amplified, Legacy are among a few options