Teaching Psalm 23 in SRE: More Than a Funeral Verse

Most Australian children have encountered Psalm 23 in some form — usually at a funeral, or quoted somewhere in popular culture. The danger is that familiarity breeds gloss: students hear the words but don't engage the images. Your first task as an SRE teacher is to make the psalm strange again — to help students hear it as if for the first time, and to encounter the God it describes as genuinely good and genuinely present.

Sheep and shepherds are not part of most Australian children's daily experience. Before teaching the psalm, give students the context: in the ancient Near East, sheep were entirely dependent on their shepherd for food, water, protection from predators, and direction. A shepherd knew each sheep individually and would risk their life to protect the flock. David, who wrote this psalm, was himself a shepherd before he became a king — he knew exactly what he was saying when he called God 'my shepherd.'

The Enduring Word commentary on Psalm 23 (free at enduringword.com) gives excellent background on each image — the still waters, the rod and staff, the valley of the shadow of death, the table in the presence of enemies — that will enrich your teaching significantly.

'The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing' — not 'I will lack nothing eventually' but 'I lack nothing now.' This is a declaration of present sufficiency, not future hope.

'He makes me lie down in green pastures' — sheep will only lie down when they are not hungry, not thirsty, not afraid, and not troubled by other sheep. All four conditions being met is the shepherd's doing.

'Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death' — not 'I avoid the dark valleys' but 'I am not alone in them.' The psalm does not promise a valley-free life; it promises a presence in the valleys.

'You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies' — this is a feast in the middle of a battlefield. Not escape, but provision in the midst of difficulty. An astonishing image.

In John 10:11, Jesus explicitly takes up the shepherd imagery: 'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.' David wrote Psalm 23 about God as shepherd. Jesus claims to be that shepherd. For SRE students in Year 4 upward, this connection can be made explicitly: 'When Jesus says “I am the good shepherd”, he is saying: I am the one Psalm 23 is about. I am the one who will lead you through the dark valley. I am the one who will prepare a table for you in the face of your enemies.' That is a claim that demands a response — which is exactly where the lesson should lead.