Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 11

for work or business of the day for the purpose of protection, security, success, healing and provision. There are churches in Nigeria that will always close their worship services with the recitation of Psalm 23:6. This study seeks to investigate the reason for the recitation of Psalm 23: 6 in worship services after prayer and benediction or doxology in some churches and by some individual Christians in Nigeria. Psalm 23:6 is interpreted in the light of Security which is fundamental to the survival of the African (Yoruba) people. The study adopted the African Biblical Hermeneutics. The central focus of this method is to provide a useful lens to reread biblical text in African context. This is done to make the Bible relevant to the African situations and times. This actually distinguishes African Christianity from western Christianity. As far as the Africans are concerned, the western way of reading the Bible are too foreign to meet the urgent needs of Africans (Adamo, 2005: 39). This is not to jettison or abandon the western interpretation but to make an African contribution to the existing scholarship. To this end a review of the western interpretation of Psalm 23:6 will be done before we consider the African Yoruba approach to it. II. T he T ext in H ebrew and E nglish L anguage 6 יָמִֽים׃ �ֶ ׀ ט֤וֹב וָחֶ֣סֶד יִ֭רְדְּפוּנִי כָּל־יְמֵ֣י חַיָּ֑י וְשַׁבְתִּ֥י בְּבֵית־יְ֜הוָ֗ה לְאֹ֣ר �ַ֤ א 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psa 23:6 NIV) a) Psalm 23 in Western Biblical Scholarship This Psalm opens with a powerful metaphor: ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’ (Adamo, 2018: 7).Shepherd is a title that is synonymous with a King. This metaphor is used as a polemic argument that the vocation of a King is protection, guidance, care, and even substituting ones’ life for the people (Botha, 2015: 283-300). A metaphor is when a word or a phrase is used to describe somebody or something else, in a way that is different from its normal use, in order to show that the two things have the same qualities and to make the description more powerful (Hornby, 2015: 976). Metaphor does not describe by comparison but only identifies by equation (May, 1994:115-119). Many symbols are actually metaphors, because they are based on analogies within human experience. A symbol could be culture and history bound. That explains why the symbol of God as a Shepherd was so prominent in Israel’s early history. In a society where the main means of subsistence was sheep-farming, a symbol such as that of the Shepherd could easily be associated with God (VanGemeren, 1997: 1225). As far as Foreman (2011) is concerned, Psalm 23 possess one of the powerful animal metaphor in biblical literature as he classified its imagery as mammal and pastoral. Yahweh being described as a Shepherd in this Psalm reflects the image of the God of Israel as seen in many Old Testament Scriptures (Exod. 15: 13, Psa. 77: 21; 78: 52- 53) and prophetic oracles in exile and the return of God’s people from exile to their home in Jerusalem. From the content of Psalm 23, it appears the author is very familiar with the history of the ancient Israel and when they went through (Botha, 2015: 283-300). The author made use of the life and experiences of the Israelites in the composition of the text under review (Bullock, 2015: 169). However, many scholars are of the view that Psalm 23 originated from late Babylonian exile and was recited in the post- exilic Israel (Adamo, 2018: 6). It is clear from this Psalm that the Shepherd considered it his responsibility to provide for the Sheep. The Sheep is expected to be loyal, rely and depend absolutely on the Shepherd for provision, protection and guidance from time to time. According to Botha, Psalm 23 best describe the story of an individual in the journey of life (2015: 283-300). Goulder (2006: 463-473) opined that this Psalm may have been composed by a King in ancient Israel because it has national overtones and as such regarded it as a royal Psalm. Also, this Psalm fit into the royal Psalm in the light of Yahweh being referred to as King and Shepherd in ancient Israel, the Author thus becomes a vassal to the King (Merrill, 1965: 354- 360; Tanner, 2004: 270-283). b) Literary Analysis of Psalm 23 This Psalm is a Psalm of trust and confidence in Yahweh for his goodness in life and in the life to come. The Psalmist speaks of Yahweh in a personal way as his Shepherd and guidance. Psalm 23 can be divided into three parts and three basic images namely: Shepherds verses 1-2, the wanderer (verses 3-4) and the host, verses 5-6 (Weiser, 1998: 226-231; Clifford, 2002:130). Since God is the Shepherd all that is required from the Psalmist is to trust absolutely in Yahweh. The first word of the Psalm, “The LORD”, evokes the rich images of the provision and protection of God of covenant. The Psalmist maintains that the LORD is “my” Shepherd I shall not want. The common thing in ancient Israel was to address God as “our” Shepherd (Deut. 6: 4). This expression of the Psalmist is an indication that the God of Israel is also the God of individuals as well. The metaphor of the Shepherd point to the relationship between God and his Children (Baker & Kohlenberger III, 1994:823). A good Shepherd is primarily concerned about the welfare of the Sheep and as such provides all the necessities of life for the enjoyment of the Sheep. Due to the trust and confidence that the Psalmist has in the Shepherd he or she is not afraid of evil; ‘because you are with me’. In verse 5, the Psalmist changed the image of God from being a Shepherd to a host in a banquet serving a meal in the presence of his enemies (Adamo, 2018:3). Verse 6 is the response of the Psalmist to the care of the shepherd Volume XXII Issue XI Version I 38 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 © 2022 Global Journals A Hermeneutical Study of Psalm 23: 6 in the Light of Insecurity in Nigeria