The Bible

 

Psalms 23 : The 23rd Psalm

Study

1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Commentary

 

The 23rd Psalm

By Brian David

The Lord as Shepherd, by Nana Schnarr

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)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10206

Study this Passage

  
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10206. 'Or a burnt offering, or a minchah' means that nothing representative of regeneration by means of the truths and forms of good belonging to celestial love should be there. This is clear from the meaning of 'a burnt offering' as that which is representative of purification from evils, of the implanting of goodness and truth and joining together of them, and so of regeneration, dealt with in 10042, 10053, 10057; and from the meaning of 'a minchah' as celestial good, to which a person is brought through regeneration, dealt with in 4581, 9992, 10079, 10137, and also as that which is representative of regeneration, 9993, 9994. From all this it is evident that the words telling them 'not to cause a burnt offering or a minchah to go up' on the altar of incense mean that nothing representative of regeneration by means of the truths and forms of the good of faith and love should be there, only that which was representative of worship of the Lord that springs from them. For regeneration is one thing, worship another; first there is regeneration, and according to the nature of what it brings about in the person there is worship. To the extent that the person has been purified from evils and consequent falsities, and to the extent at the same time that the truths and forms of the good of faith and love have been implanted, worship is acceptable and pleasing. For by worship everything which emanates from love and faith present with a person and which is raised up to the Lord by the Lord should be understood.

Since this phase marks the completion of the process, the altar of incense, by which worship was represented, is described last, for all things follow in the same order as the sequence in which they are described. First the Testimony is described, by which the Lord should be understood; next the ark containing the Testimony, by which the inmost heaven where the Lord dwells is meant; after this the table on which the loaves were placed, by which the good of love from there is meant; then the lampstand with the lamps, by which Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good is meant; next the actual tent, by which heaven and the Church consisting of these entities is meant; at length the altar of burnt offering, by which regeneration by means of truths springing from good is meant; and finally the altar of incense, by which worship springing from all those things in heaven and in the Church is meant.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.