Psalm 23 is a true reflection of the poet’s spiritual life and a beautiful expression of his inner life. It’s not about an external artistic conception. Because David was a man who valued prayer and praise, he gained a realistic view through constant prayer. It was also his complete trust in the Lord. It is impossible for a person to realize that Jehovah is his Shepherd without praying.

Even if I am soaked in the Lord’s grace every day, I still don’t know how to be grateful and repay the kindness. Only David spoke of the length, breadth, height, and depth of the Lord’s grace. Only a person who completely relies on God can have such an expression of inner life.

Extended information

How the author wrote it

Strictly speaking, the Psalms were written by David, Moses, Asaph and other unknown people. Written by the inspiration of God and inspired by the Holy Spirit. The final form of the psalm was probably determined by Ezra, Nehemiah, or later scribes after them. About Ezra's editorial work. The first thing that tells us the origin of the poems is the inscriptions at the beginning of two-thirds of them.

In the original Hebrew text, these epigraphs are part of the main text. Although these epigraphs existed before the Septuagint, many scholars still believe that they were added after the collection of Psalms, thus Doubt their validity and reliability. The reasons for these scholars are:

1. The origin of these inscriptions is unknown;

2. The content is sometimes unclear;

3. The statement or language of the inscriptions The following meaning seems difficult to reconcile with the content and style of some poems.

The reliability of the inscriptions

The more conservative Psalms scholars believe in the reliability of these inscriptions. The reasons are:

1. The origin of these inscriptions can be traced back to the beginning of the second century BC, because they are in the Septuagint (in fact, their origin is much earlier than the Septuagint, Because the translators of the Septuagint did not understand many of the words);

2. They have been handed down as part of the Hebrew text to this day;

3. Ancient Eber All poems are accompanied by inscriptions;

4. The inscriptions provide useful background knowledge for a fuller understanding of the meaning and message of the poems. This note supports this view.

Eight people's names appear in the inscription as writers, contributors, editors, musicians and other personnel involved in editing, writing and singing of the Psalms. Their names are: David, Asaph, Korah, Moses, Heman, Ethan, Solomon, and Jeduthun.

Chief among these men was David. Although some modern scholars deny that David was the primary author and contributor of the Psalms, there are many reasons that support the traditional view. David himself was a poet and musician (1 Sam. 16:15-23; 2 Sam. 23:1; Amos 6:5).

He has rich emotions and a broad mind (2 Sam. 1:19-27; 2 Sam. 3:33, 34). He is full of faith and passion, so he serves Jehovah enthusiastically. Under his wise and benevolent leadership, music flourished in Israel. After the enemy's stronghold of Jebus was captured and the Ark of the Covenant was brought up Mount Zion, the importance of the Catholic liturgy increased, thus promoting the creation of hymns and music used in the holy scriptures.

David’s familiarity with nature, his understanding of the law, the lessons he learned in adversity, sorrow and temptation, his years of closeness to God, and his colorful life as the king of Israel, God showed him The assurance that an everlasting King would rise on his throne—all these experiences enabled this shepherd-turned-son of Jesse to sing the sweetest and saddest songs of the human soul's longing for God.

In addition, David’s life is mentioned or quoted everywhere in the Psalms, showing David’s personality and skills. There are many references to David's name in the Psalms, some of which are quoted in 2 Samuel 22 and 1 Chronicles 16:1-36. All this is strong evidence of David’s authorship.

The New Testament is in Matthew 22:43-45; Mark 12:36, 37; Luke 20:42-44; Acts 2:25; Acts 4:25; Romans 4:6-8; Romans 11:9-10; David’s name is mentioned in Hebrews 4:7, which further proves the correctness of the above proposition. The writings of Ellen White also provide ample testimony (see Patriarchs and Prophets, pp. 642-754; Education, pp. 164, 165).

There are 73 psalms in the Psalms with the inscription "Psalms of David".

There are 37 articles in the first volume, 18 articles in the second volume, 1 article in the third volume, 2 articles in the fourth volume, and 15 articles in the fifth volume. These 73 psalms are generally called the Psalms of David. However, "the psalms of David" alone are not enough to prove that David was the author. According to the original Hebrew text, this can refer to the psalms written by David or to the psalms David collected.

But taken together with other evidence, it can be proved that at least many of them were written by David. Regarding the issue of using the preposition "le" (of) with proper nouns in the original text, Barnes said: "Although this statement cannot show or even prove that all these poems were written by David, it can show that the author is the most The outstanding one is King David, the greatest of Israel."

There are 12 psalms with the title "Psalms of Asaph" (Psalm 50:73-83). Like the "Psalms of David", the "Psalms of Asaph" cannot be proven to be written by Asaph. Several of them are clearly written by David (see the prologue to Psalms 73, 77, and 80). Asaph was a Levite and one of the leaders of David's choir.

Like David, Asaph was a prophet and musician (see 1 Chronicles 6:39; 2 Chronicles 29:30; Nehemiah 12:46). The descendants of Asaph are the only singers mentioned in the list of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:41).

There are 11 psalms with the title "Psalms of the Descendants of Korah" (Psalms 42, 44-49, 84, 85, 87, 88). Korah was punished for opposing the authority of Moses, but his descendants were not implicated. They served as leaders in temple worship (see 1 Chronicles 6:22; 1 Chronicles 9:19).

There is a "poem of the descendants of Korah" and it is also noted as "the instructive poem of Heman the Ezraite". Heman was the son of Joel, the grandson of Samuel, a Kohathite from the tribe of Levi, and one of the leaders of the music in the temple (1 Chronicles 6:33; 1 Chronicles 15:17; 1 Chronicles 16:41, 42) .

There are three psalms with Jeduthun’s name on them (Psalms 39, 62 and 77). He was the leader of the temple choir. But there are other names in the inscription. These three poems may not have been written by Jeduthun, but composed music and lyrics by him.

There is a poem marked as "a psalm of instruction by Ethan the Ezrahite" (see 1 Kings 4:31; Psalm 89).

There are two psalms marked as "Psalms of Solomon" (Psalms 72, 127).

There is a poem labeled "The Prayer of Moses" (Psalm 90).

One-third of the psalms have no inscriptions, and it is unknown who wrote them. It is speculated that these poems may have been written by other famous figures in the Old Testament, such as Ezra, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Haggai, etc.