One Hebrew verb at the end of Psalm 23 changes everything. Goodness and lovingkindness do not follow you. They pursue you. Today we hear the whole letter.

In this letter

- The opening claim — Psalm 23 is about life, not death

- The three movements of the psalm — pastoral, valley, banquet

- Nephesh (the deep word for soul) and what restoration means

- Tsalmaveth and walking through the valley, not around it

- The banquet imagery in verses 5 and 6 — a guest at the table while the enemies watch

- The Hebrew word chesed — the covenant lovingkindness of God

- The verb radaph — and why goodness and mercy follow you is mistranslated as too gentle

- The shepherd who leads from the front and pursues from behind

- A direct word for the pursued, the third-person prayer-er, and the one who does not yet know the voice

Scripture

- Psalm 23 (full)

- John 10:11 (referenced)

Hebrew word studies

- chesed (חֶסֶד, Strong's H2617) — steadfast lovingkindness, covenant love, loyal kindness. The word that runs through the whole Old Testament for God's relationship to His people.

- radaph (רָדַף, Strong's H7291) — to pursue, to chase, to hunt down. What an army does to a retreating enemy. What a hunter does to game. The verb mistranslated as follow.

- nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ, Strong's H5315) — soul, life, self, the whole inner person. What the shepherd restores.

- tsalmaveth (צַלְמָוֶת, H6757) — the valley of deep darkness (carried from Thursday).

- ra'ah (רָעָה, H7462) — to shepherd (carried from Tuesday).

Next week's letter | Luke 15 — The Long Way Home (the prodigal son).

> That's this week's letter. We'll see you Monday with another.

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Most of us do not want to be sheep. But the psalm calls us one anyway. And the valley is where the language has to change.

In this letter

- Why our culture does not bless dependence — and why Psalm 23 cuts against that

- The structural hinge of the psalm in verse 4

- The Hebrew tsalmaveth — the valley of deep darkness, the place where you cannot see

- Why the third person becomes the second person in the valley

- The honest question — where are you still talking about God when you should be talking to Him?

- A pastoral word for the diagnosis, the phone call, the grief, the marriage that is breaking

Scripture

- Psalm 23:1-4

Hebrew word studies

- tsalmaveth (צַלְמָוֶת, Strong's H6757) — shadow of death, deep darkness. The compound of tsel (shadow) and mavet (death). The place where you cannot see, where the road may not continue.

The question to sit with

Where in your life are you still in the third person? Where are you talking about God when you should be talking to Him?

Coming tomorrow | The Whole Letter. The Hebrew verb that changes how you read all six verses.

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The future king of Israel killed lions with a stick. The story David told Saul before fighting Goliath is the back-story of Psalm 23, and the New Testament picks the same metaphor up in the mouth of Jesus.

In this letter

- 1 Samuel 17:32-37 — David's conversation with Saul before fighting Goliath

- The story of the lion and the bear, told plainly

- Why the shepherd metaphor in the Hebrew Bible is bloody, not sentimental

- A boy with a stick, running after a lion that has a lamb in its mouth

- John 10:11 — Jesus picks up the same metaphor and adds the cost

- What it means that the good shepherd gives His life for the sheep

- The sheep's job, and why we resist it

Scripture

- 1 Samuel 17:32-37

- Psalm 23:1

- John 10:11-18

- Ezekiel 34 (referenced)

Coming tomorrow | The Address. The valley where the language has to change.

> There'll be more mail tomorrow.

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