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 117 Psalm 117 Psalm 117 is the 117th psalm of the Book of Psalms. With just two verses and sixteen words in Hebrew, it is the shortest of all 150 psalms. It is the 595th of the 1,189 chapters of the King James Version of the Bible, making it the middle chapter. It is also the shortest chapter in this version of the Bible. "O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. / For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord." In the Hebrew