About this print

Out of the Valley, Psalm 23:1

Tall dark cliffs behind, open meadow ahead, and a very small shepherd bringing his flock out into the light.

What is painted

Steep mountain walls rise on both sides in deep charcoal and slate, closing in on a narrow ravine. At the mouth of that ravine, so small you need a moment to find them, a shepherd with his staff walks ahead of a handful of sheep. In front of them the land opens into a broad, still meadow in pale sage.

The composition is minimal, almost all landscape. At the top, lettered simply: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want”, with Psalm 23:1 below. The contrast between dark and light is the whole story.

Through the valley, not around it

Psalm 23 is only six verses long, yet it covers a whole journey. It starts with the confidence of verse 1, moves through green pastures and still waters, and then goes down into “the valley of the shadow of death” in verse 4, where the psalmist says “I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”

This painting reads the first verse in the light of the fourth. The shepherd does not lift his sheep over the gorge or lead them around it. He walks through it with them, and brings them out the other side. “I shall not want” is not a promise that nothing hard will happen; it is a promise that the shepherd will not be missing.

The small scale of the figures matters too. The trouble is enormous, the flock is tiny, and yet the path out is already under their feet.

For grief, and for fathers

Because Psalm 23 is read at so many funerals, this print is often given as a sympathy gift, especially to someone who has walked a long illness with a loved one and is only now stepping out into the meadow. Its muted, modern look also makes it fitting Christian wall art for a man's study or office, and a meaningful Father's Day gift.

It is printed to order in the US on heavy archival matte paper, and shipping within the United States is free. It comes unframed, with a white margin around the landscape, in sizes from 5x7 to 24x36 and metric and A formats. A digital version is available too.

As a Christian poster for a counseling office, a recovery center or a chaplain's room, the scene carries hope without forcing it. Its muted colors look right against gray, white or dark green walls, and the minimal composition leaves space for the eye to rest after a long day.

Other verses of Psalm 23 are painted in this series, each with its own landscape. Read Psalm 23 and what it means