The Bible depicts Man’s transformation from beas t to priest in and through Jesus Christ. Two sets of people have their garments designed by God in the Torah: Adam and Eve and priests (of which the High Priest’s garments garner most attention). The first garment is beastly, while the second is otherworldly. The Tabernacle process tracks the transformation between the two—from entering the Complex as an animal effectively, to being seated with God in His home, as a priest. My hope in this article is to demonstrate David’s intention in Psalm 23 to track this very transformation. Below I’ll share several strands of support for this interpretation. Finally, I’ll share some applicational benefits for interpreting the Psalm in this light—most particularly in that it elucidates our journey in Christ.

Consider several lines of reasoning that lend support for reading Psalm 23 as a meditation on God’s House, the Tabernacle Complex, and the transformation which takes place there:  

1. The book of Psalms, itself, is a meditation on God’s Law, the first five books of the Bible. Psalm 1 opens with blessing those who make “the law” their meditation “day and night” (Ps 1:2 ESV; see Psa 63:6; 119:148). Keeping that trajectory, each subsequent Psalm is meant to be read as a meditation upon the Law. Stylistically, the book of Psalms is broken into five separate books, while still meant to be received as a singular whole—like the Law. The longest Psalm within the book is wholly dedicated to depicting a love relationship with the Law (Psa 119). Beyond this, a thoughtful reading of Psalms demonstrates it to be the Law’s soul—the Holy Spirit’s meditation on the Law—innumerable ties binding the Law to the Psalms, while also elucidating it (see Psa 8; 50; 51; 78; 105; 110; 114).
2. In addition to the Psalms being meditations upon the Law, a central theme (if not the central theme) within the Law is God’s dwelling place with Man. The entire narrative of the Torah traces this storyline. Though the establishment of God’s dwelling with Man is interrupted by sin’s entrance in Genesis 3, the ideal is not abandoned. The narrative of Noah is riddled with threads of Eden’s replanting. Those of Babel attempt to build a pseudo-Eden. God’s call of Abram is predicated upon him going into a land which God will show him—in order that a dwelling place may be reestablished there. Exodus begins with Israel building cities for Pharaoh and ends with them building a city for God. The book of Leviticus’ prime concern is the intersection of God’s House in Man’s neighborhood—surfacing in the frequent reference to God’s Tent as “the tent of meeting” (41 times). The book of Numbers opens with God’s army being counted as well as directions for the Tabernacle’s formation and relocation in order that it may be planted in Canaan, and closes with another counting and His House ready to be settled within the land. The book of Deuteronomy takes place on the cusp of Canaan, and carries the theme of the “place” which God will “choose” to make His Name dwell—a phrase used twenty times within the book. In sum, a dense fifty chapters within the Torah are exclusively dedicated to the building of, and operations within and without the Tent—apart from its more subtly developed themes—demonstrating God’s House to be a, if not the, central theme within the Torah.
3. Understanding the book of Psalms’ intention to be a meditation on the Law within which God’s House plays a primary role, the reader is better poised to discern David’s preoccupation with building God a house: “Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies, the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent” (2 Sam 7:1-2 ESV). Due to his engagement in war, the Lord refrained from having him personally build Him a house, yet David clearly and openly acknowledges his deeply abiding hope to have built it, “David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God” (1 Chr 22:7 ESV). Further, 1 Chronicles 29 depicts all David amassed as king for building the Temple, all that he personally gave, and all that his leaders and people contributed—in response the Chronicler writes, “Then the people rejoiced because they had given willingly, for with a whole heart they had offered freely to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly” (1 Chr 29:9 ESV, emphasis added). The aforementioned passages demonstrate just how intimately interwoven God’s house was within David’s heart—thus preparing the reader of Psalms to see innumerable references to God’s dwelling place with Man. 
4. Considering the book of Psalms as a meditative response to the Law, the Law’s own emphasis on God’s House, and David’s personal preoccupation with building it, the reader’s senses are better trained to sniff out allusions within the Psalms to the Tabernacle Complex—which was God’s House as David knew it: “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent” (2 Sam 7:2 ESV). Keeping in mind, “It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out,” a reflective reading of Psalm 23 proves fruitful as a virtual walk-through, or tour, of the Tabernacle Complex  and the activity therein (Proverbs 25:2 ESV). Ultimately, Psalm 23 is a depiction of a lamb’s transformation to a priest who is seated with God—having ventured there in and through the Tabernacle Complex.
   1. Vs 1, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. David is imaging himself as a sheep. A meditation on the Law escorts its reader into this understanding. Adam and Eve were clothed with skins (Gen 3:21). The sacrificer was to “…lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering…” (Lev 1:4 ESV). This act symbolized the sacrifice becoming him:“…and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Lev 1:4 ESV, emphasis added). From this point forward, in terms of the sacrificial process, what happened to the sacrifice symbolically happened to the one sacrificing. This being the case, David was not off the mark to see himself as the Lord’s sheep. According to the interpretation being proposed, David enters the Complex as a sheep readied for sacrifice, from the flock of God. As such he is well-cared for and healthy, “…I shall not want,” like an acceptable sacrifice according to the Law, “…a male without blemish” (Lev 1:10 ESV). 
   2. Vs 2a, He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Having entered the Complex he finds “green pastures” in the Courtyard and “still waters” of the Bronze Laver (see Ex 27:9-19; 30:17-21). While typical depictions of the Tabernacle Complex picture it atop dirt or sand in the wilderness, it’s notable that grass is promised, or referenced, for Israel within the land of Canaan—where David lived (see Due 11:15; 32:2; 2 Sam 23:4; Psa 72:6).
   3. Vs 3, He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Three times a year men were to travel to the Tabernacle Complex from their homes in Canaan, offering themselves—indicated in their festal sacrifices given before the Lord (Exo 23:14-18). These are where the “…paths of righteousness for His name’s sake,” begin. This path continues, however, upon entering the Courtyard to God’s Tent, and venture into the Tabernacle itself symbolically. Further, God’s Tent is specifically the place where His “Name” is explicitly said to “dwell” (see Deut 12:11; 14:23; 16:2, 6, 11; 26:2). 
   4. Vs 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. Having entered the Courtyard as a sacrificial sheep and witnessed the “green pastures” and “still waters”, David now encounters the Bronze Altar before which he will be slain. The Altar is symbolically representative of a mountain—a raised formation of uncut stones—ablaze with fire at the top—like Sinai (see Exo 20:25; Deu 27:6; Eze 43:15). Being slain at ground-level next to the mountain-like Altar leaves the sheep in “…the valley of the shadow of death…”, before being hoisted to the fiery “mountaintop” of the Altar (see Lev 1:10-13). 
   5. Vs 5, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Having ascended (olah)in the smoke as “…a pleasing aroma to the Lord”, David (the lamb) now symbolically passes from the Bronze Altar into the Holy Place of the God’s Tent—where God is stationed to receive the aroma (Lev 1:13 ESV). Within the Holy Place now, David is treated like a priest, who alone could enter this vicinity. There, he finds the Table prepared from the plunder of his “enemies”, namely Egypt—whose gold it formerly was (see Ex 12:36). Also like the priests, David’s head is anointed (see Ex 28:41). Additionally, his cup is “full” or “overflows”. Significantly, the priests would regularly pour out the wine of the flagons from God’s Table, as a drink offering to God—never drinking from them (see Ex 25:29, 40-41; 37:16; Num 4:7; 28:7; Lev 10:8-9; 23:13). Seeing this ritual performed day after day, it’s not difficult to see how David would interpret this as a rich abundance of “well-aged wine” [sekar, Num 28:7) within God’s House—so rich that the cup spills over. In Psalm 36:8, David writes, “They feast on the abundance of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your delights.” Similarly Isaiah, “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined” (Isa 25:6 ESV).
   6. Vs 6a, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…. Goodness and mercy are uniquely assigned to God, as will be seen below. Significantly, when the Ark of God moved, it followed the tribe of Judah, of which David was part—thereby following David (see Num 10). Additionally, David appears to be dancing before the Lord—leading the Ark into the city, “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it” (2 Sam 6:6-7 ESV). In addition, the frequency with which “good[ness]” (tob) and “mercy” (hesed, “steadfast love”), are seen as the banner over God’s House is absolutely stunning. Tracking the phrase, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good (tob), for His love (hesed) endures forever,” proves inextricably tied to God’s House, or the events immediately surrounding it (see Exo 34:6; 1 Chr 16:34; 2 Chr 5:13; 7:3-6; Ezr 3:11; Psa 100:5; 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136; Jer 33:10-11). David’s use of these words may have paved the way for this connection. In the writing of Psalm 23, then, David is living within intimate proximity to God’s dwelling place—being in the very midst of God’s House—where these attributes are experienced.
   7. Vs 6b, …and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23’s closing offers its interpretive key, demonstrating where David’s been meditatively all along—dwelling throughout the Psalm’s duration—“…in the house of the Lord.” Rather than “…and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,” expressing an “afterlife” sentiment—for David, it’s an ever-present reality. The phrase is meant to be a continuation of what’s been happening all along within the Psalm. David’s reflection has been the symbolic movement/ascension as a sheep from one realm to the next within the Complex of God’s House—moving from glory to glory. Having entered as a lamb, it closes with him seated as a priest. 

Several benefits surface when reading Psalm 23 in this light: 

1. It allows for David’s beloved Psalm to be derived from one motif versus two, or even a smattering of several. 
2. It demonstrates the Psalmist to be doing exactly what the opening chapter of Psalms has encouraged, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night” (Psa 1:1-3 ESV). In meditating thoughtfully on God’s Law, David has observed an important theme and creatively depicted it with great longing and satisfaction.
3. It illustrates the centrality of God’s House as a theme within the Law, in that as David meditated on the Law day and night, he came to have His dwelling dominate his thoughts. 
4. In lingering upon God’s House, David found himself gladly within it, moving from one realm to the next, increasing in glory as he went—giving believers a beautiful paradigm in which to think about their lives:  All of life is to meant to be lived within His House where we’re transformed from one degree of glory to another. “Blessed is the one You choose and bring near, to dwell in Your courts! We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, the holiness of Your temple!” (Psa 65:4 ESV). “How precious is Your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psa 36:7-9 ESV, “…shadow of Your wings…” being a reference to the the Ark, “…in Your light…” a reference to His Lampstand; see Exo 25:20; 25:31-40).
5. It places the reader in a better position to understand the hairy garments of Elijah and John the Baptist. They answered him, “He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite” (2 Kng 1:8 ESV). “Now John wore a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist…” (Mat 3:4 ESV). Both Elijah and John embraced Man’s station post-Garden—as beasts—yearning and aching for renewal. John recognized the One through whom that renewal was to come, in seeing Jesus effectively dressed as him. “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Joh 1:29 ESV). The renewal was to come in and through One who wore our flesh and carried us in Him.
6. The greatest benefit related to thinking of Psalm 23 in light of the Tabernacle Complex is that it perfectly illustrates the journey we as believers have taken in Christ. As David imagined this journey, symbolically, from sheep to priest—so Christ navigated the same route: from a sacrificial sheep to being seated at the right hand of the Father (see 1 Pet 1:18; Col 3:1). So us in Him. The path of sacrificial ascendency was Christ’s to traverse—carrying us in Him as He did—leaving us to be seated with Him at the Father’s table.

Ben Lovelady (M.A., MTS) serves as a pastor in northwestern Illinois, where he and his wife live with their six children.