Psalms 23:2 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, &c.— Rabbi Solomon tells us, (most likely upon the credit of ancient tradition,) that, when David went into the forest of Hareth, it became fruitful and irriguous, though it had been before dry, barren, and impassable; and that David alludes hereto in this psalm, where he considers God as his shepherd, who would, in his own time, lead him into fruitful pastures; and till then he was safe under his protection in the most dangerous scenes, Psalms 23:4. When he calls God his shepherd, he plainly implies, that he followed wherever it pleased God to guide; alluding to the practice of the Asiatic shepherds, who do not drive, but lead their flocks, which are trained to follow them, as David evidently did the guidance of God at this time. "This, I think, (says Dr. Delaney,) is the most rational comment transmitted to us by the rabbins; and surely it is not impossible, but that Hareth, which was before a barren desart, might now, by a singular blessing of God upon the industry of David and his companions, become a green pasture." Life of David, b. i. c. 7.