Psalm 23 is undoubtedly the most well-known and well-loved of all the psalms, with its illustration of the Lord as our shepherd. The shepherd's care for his sheep is, internally, describing the things that the Lord does for us in our spiritual journey.

As the psalm unfolds we hear about the Lord’s work for us, during states in our lives when we could be unsure and afraid, and of the Lord’s provision for us. Gradually the psalmist confirms his trust in the Lord’s guidance and declares the many blessings the Lord brings.

This psalm of six verses would surely have been known and loved by the Lord during his life in the world. It would have, for him, been a statement of faith in his purpose to overcome evil and glorify his humanity. Jesus, in states where his human heredity was strong in his mind, would have regarded his own divinity as his shepherd, and seen it as his anchor and provider. For us, spiritually, the same parallel applies -- that our faith in the Lord is to be our trust and guide at all times.

The shepherding care in verses 2 and 3 speaks about how the Lord leads us into acquiring new truths that bring heavenly peace and rest for us. Our state is lifted up and we live in goodness because we understand that this is the divine quality that God wishes for us to live by. (See Apocalypse Explained 375 and Arcana Caelestia 3696)

The valley of the shadow of death describes our states of being afraid, and of not seeing the Lord with us, during which our mind can be filled with disturbing and mocking thoughts. But we know that the Lord is there with us nonetheless. The “rod” and “staff” represent the power of the Lord’s truths for us to use; a rod - used actively to guard the sheep - stands for spiritual truths, and a staff is leaned on, representing natural truths or truths to do with life.”

(Apocalypse Explained 727)

With the provision of truth from the Lord, the psalm shifts to the picture of the bounteous table which truth brings to us as our spiritual nourishment and satisfaction. Our head anointed with oil has many associations of being the Lord’s chosen, of being loved and blessed by the Lord, and of how our mind with its understanding receives love and good to make it full of heavenly joy. “My cup runs over” means the unknown extent of the truths of the Word and the blessings of the Lord. (Apocalypse Explained 727)

The final verse is put in terms of our full conviction of being in the Lord for ever and in all the days of our lives. What we experience and say in terms of time and duration spiritually means what is certain, perpetual and to all eternity. The ‘house of the Lord’ is heaven. (Arcana Caelestia 650)

8760. 'And Moses went up to God' means the truth from God which was below heaven joining itself to Divine Truth in heaven. This is clear from the representation of 'Moses' as the truth from God, dealt with in 6771, 6827, 7014, at this point the truth from God which was below heaven, since he now represents the children of Israel as their head, and so represents those belonging to the spiritual Church not yet in heaven because they are not as yet governed by good formed from truths, 8753, 8754; and from the meaning of 'going up' as joining oneself to, for someone who goes up to the Divine joins himself to Him, even as the words 'going up into heaven' mean man's being joined to the Lord, and the words 'coming down from heaven' mean His being joined to man. Divine Truth in heaven, to which the other was joined, is what 'God' is used to mean; for in the Word the Lord is called 'God' by virtue of Divine Truth, and Jehovah' by virtue of Divine Good, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921 (end), 4402, 7010, 7268, 7873, 8301. And since the joining of Divine Truth to Divine Good is the subject here, this verse first says 'God', then 'Jehovah' just after, in these words, And Moses went up to God, and Jehovah called to him from the mountain.

[2] The expression Divine Truth in heaven is used, and then Divine Good in heaven, because the Divine Himself is far above the heavens; not only Divine Goodness itself is far above them but also Divine Truth itself which goes forth directly from Divine Good. The reason why they are far above heaven is that in Himself the Divine is the Infinite, and the Infinite cannot be joined to finite beings, thus not even to angels in heaven, unless He puts on some finite clothing and in that way adapts Himself for reception. Also Divine Good as it exists in itself is a flame of infinite intensity or love, a flame which no angel in heaven can bear; for he would be devoured by it, as a person in the world would be if the flame of the sun were to reach him without anything between them to moderate it. The light also from the flame of God's love, which is Divine Truth, would blind all who are in heaven if it were to flow in without abatement of its fiery brightness. All this goes to show what the difference is between Divine Good and Divine Truth that are above the heavens and Divine Good and Divine Truth in the heavens, which are the subject here.