In this psalm, after the Israelites had been exiled in Babylon for seventy years, we see God’s restoration of His people—not merely restoration from exile but foreshadowing our spiritual restoration in Jesus’ death and resurrection, as well as the total restoration to come at Christ’s return.

Psalm 22 has one of the most memorable opening lines, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” These words are instilled into our memories as the words Jesus spoke from the cross. Psalm 22 is appropriately one of the two psalms appointed for Good Friday in both the three-year and one-year lectionaries (along with Psalm 31).

“The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” Psalm 23 is one of the best-known Psalms, often a poem we turn to for refuge during times of distress or uncertainty. But why has this passage become so popular? Read from the latest Concordia Commentary, Psalms 1–50, by Timothy Saleska, answering this question below.