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 118 Psalm 118 Psalm 118 is the 118th psalm of the Book of Psalms. Its themes are thanksgiving to God and reliance on God rather than on human strength. This psalm is centered on God, in a movement that expresses gratitude, admiration, joy and praise. In the translation of King James, we read of the Lord in every verse. Its benefits are magnified, the narrator testifies that he benefits from it and exhorts to enter into the same attitude of praise. The Psalm is one of the so-called Egyptian Hallel. These words are parallelled in the Song of Moses () and