When it is said
Anyone can pray it, at any hour. Family keeping watch can read it aloud, slowly, at the bedside of someone who is dying.
In the Russian prayer book it is the first psalm of the prayers before Holy Communion.
Where it comes from
Author by tradition
Who wrote it?
The Hebrew heading calls it “a Psalm of David”. Orthodox prayer books number it Psalm 22, as the Greek Bible read in their churches does.
Psalm 23 in Hebrew, on Mechon Mamre; Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, Prayer Book (2011), on the Holy Wisdom Orthodox Mission website
In the life of the Church
St Athanasius of Alexandria told his friend Marcellinus to sing this psalm with joy whenever he saw the Lord shepherding and guiding him. The Church also reads it aloud at the burial of a priest.
Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus on the Psalms (Greek text); Isabel F. Hapgood, Service Book of the Holy Orthodox-Catholic Apostolic Church (1906): the burial of a priest
What the words mean
The wording in Orthodox prayer books
Orthodox prayer books translate the psalm from the Greek, so their English reads a little differently. The Jordanville Prayer Book has “In a place of green pasture, there hath He made me to dwell; beside the water of rest hath He nurtured me,” and it ends “I will dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days.”
Holy Trinity Monastery, Jordanville, Prayer Book (2011): the order of preparation for Holy Communion
The Scripture in it
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.