Psalm 23 Psalm 23 was not used for funerals until the 1928 revision of the prayer book. The theme of God as a shepherd was common in ancient Israel and Mesopotamia. For example, King Hammurabi, in the conclusion to his famous legal code, wrote: "I am the shepherd who brings well-being and abundant prosperity; my rule is just... so that the strong might not oppress the weak, and that even the orphan and the widow might be treated with justice." This imagery and language was well known to the community that created the Psalm, and was easily imported into its worship. Psalm
Psalm 110 specifically refers to Jesus as the Messiah. Spurgeon concurs that while David composed the psalm, the psalm is solely about Jesus. The difference in interpretation between Jewish and Christian sources pivots on the translation of the Hebrew word אדני ("Adonai") in verse 1. This is usually translated as "my master" or "my lord", thus rendering the verse as "The Lord spoke to my master". While "Adonai" is one of the names of God, thoughout the Tanakh it refers to a human "master" or "lord". Since David wrote this psalm in the third person, to be sung by the Levites in