The 23rd Psalm is one of the best-known and most-loved literary works in the world, and it may well be the best poem ever written. It is also a fine example of the power of figurative language: We read deep things into the vision of ourselves as sheep, led to green pastures and good water by a kind shepherd. It’s empowering to feel the confidence to go fearlessly into the valley of the shadow of death, and to feel the love and caring of a table prepared by the Lord and a cup so full it overflows.

What people don’t know, however, is that this language actually has precise internal meanings, and that when we see them there is an even deeper beauty in the poem. That’s because what it actually describes is the path to heaven, and the fierce desire the Lord has to lead us there.

The first step is to let the Lord be our shepherd – to accept His teaching and His leadership. The green pastures and the still waters represent the things He will teach us for the journey. Then He begins working inside is, setting our spiritual lives in order, so that we desire to do what’s good and to love one another. That’s represented by restoring our souls and leading us in the paths of righteousness.

But we will still face challenges. We still live external lives, out in the world, and we are subject to desires that arise in those externals, in our bodily lives. That’s the valley of the shadow of death. But the rod and staff represent truth from the Lord on both external and internal levels, ideas that can defend us against those desires.

And if we keep following, the Lord will prepare a table for us – a place inside us that he can fill with love (the anointing oil) and wisdom (the overflowing cup). Thus transformed, we can enter heaven, with love for others (“goodness”) and love from the Lord (“mercy”) and can love and be loved to eternity.

One of many beautiful things about this is the fact that it is the Lord who really does all the work. In the whole text, the only action taken by the sheep is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. Other than that, they follow the Lord, trust the Lord, accept the blessings of the Lord. And that is really true! In external states (in the valley) we might seem to be doing the work ourselves, but internally, spiritually, we simply need to give ourselves to the Lord and let Him bless us.

The underlying idea here is that the Lord created us so that He could love us, in loving us wants us to be happy, knows that our greatest happiness will come from being conjoined to Him in heaven, and Himself wants nothing more than to be conjoined to us. So everything He does, in every moment of every day for every person on the face of the planet, is centered on the goal of getting that person to heaven. He wants each and every one of us in heaven more than we are capable of imagining. We just need to cooperate.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 375 [34], 727 [2]; The Inner Meaning of the Prophets and Psalms 273)

3605. 'Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father had blessed him' means that natural good found the conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - repugnant. This is clear from the meaning of 'hating' here in the internal sense as repugnance, dealt with below; from the representation of 'Esau' as natural good, and of 'Jacob' as natural truth, dealt with above; and from the meaning of 'a blessing' as conjunction, dealt with above in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584. As regards its being a conjunction with truth - inverted as regards order - that is represented by Jacob, this is clear from what has been stated and shown above in 3539, 3548, 3556, 3563, 3570, 3576, 3603.

[2] The reason why 'hating' in the internal sense means repugnance is that it has reference to good, represented by 'Esau', and good does not even know what hatred is, since it is the complete opposite of it. Things that are opposites cannot possibly coexist in the same subject. But instead of hatred, good - or the person in whom good is present - feels a certain kind of repugnance, and this is why hatred here in the internal sense means repugnance. Actually the internal sense is intended primarily for those who are in heaven, and therefore when it comes down from there and passes into the literal sense, the feeling of repugnance enters into words that denote hatred when historical narratives refer to hatred. Yet at the same time no idea of hatred is present in the minds of those in heaven. This is similar to what has been told from experience in Volume One, in 1875, about the words in the Lord's Prayer, Do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. The idea of temptation and evil is rejected until something purely angelic, that is to say, good, devoid of any idea of temptation or evil remains. And coupled with this purely angelic idea there is a kind of indignation and a repugnance to any thought of evil when thinking about the Lord.

[3] It is similar with those places in the Word where one reads about Jehovah or the Lord hating, as in Zechariah,

Let none of you in your hearts think evil of his companion, nor love any lying oath, for all these things I hate, says Jehovah. Zechariah 8:17.

In Moses,

You shall not erect for yourself a pillar, which Jehovah your God hates. Deuteronomy 16:22.

In Jeremiah,

My heritage has become to Me like a lion in the forest It has lifted up its voice against Me, therefore I hate it. Jeremiah 12:8.

In Hosea,

In Gilgal I hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house; I will love them no more. Hosea 9:15.

Here 'the hatred' that is attributed to Jehovah or the Lord is not in the internal sense hatred but mercy, for the Divine is mercy. But when that mercy flows down to someone who is under the influence of evil he is exposed to the punishment that goes with evil, in which case mercy looks like hatred. And because it looks like hatred it is also called such in the sense of the letter.

[4] The same applies when in the Word anger, wrath, or fury are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, dealt with in 245, 592, 696, 1093, 1683, 1874, 2335, 2395, 2447. The Jewish and Israelitish people more than all others were such that as soon as they detected any enmity present even with allies they believed that they were entitled to treat them cruelly, not only killing them but also exposing their bodies to wild animals and birds. And because the Lord's inflowing mercy was converted in this way into such hatred with them, a hatred directed, as has been stated, not only against enemies but also against allies, they inevitably believed that Jehovah too was capable of hating, being angry, wrathful, and furious. This is the reason why the Word has spoken in this way according to the appearance. For what a person is in himself determines how he sees the Lord, 1838, 1861, 2706. But the nature of hatred in the case of these in whom love and charity, that is, good, are present, is clear from the Lord's words in Matthew,

You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who hurt and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:43-45.