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
Number the Stars they can open it when the soldiers leave. After they leave, the wake continues. Peter, who is present, reads the beginning of Psalm 147 from the Bible to the group, recounting the Lord God numbering the stars. As the psalm is not familiar to Annemarie, her thoughts begin to wander. She wonders how it is possible to number the stars in the sky and remembers Ellen saying that her mother is afraid of the ocean because her mother thinks it is cold and cruel. Annemarie thinks that the night sky and the world are also cold and cruel. Peter opens