No one would dispute the fact that these beautiful words have a deeper meaning. Obviously, we are not literally sheep, and the Lord is not literally a shepherd. But this is not just poetry; the words have a specific spiritual meaning.

According to the Writings, a shepherd represents someone who teaches people what they need to know to live a good life, and leads them toward that life. To "want" for something means that you lack the knowledge and the inspiration you need to live that good life.

What this verse means, then, is that if we turn to the Lord for knowledge, guidance and leadership, we will get what we need to lead a good life.

(Ссылки: Apocalypse Explained 375 [34])

8609. 'And they took a stone' means the lowest level of God's truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a stone' as truth, 643, 1298, 3720, 3769, 3771, 3789, 3798, 6426, in this instance the lowest level of truth since it was put underneath him and he sat on it. An ordinary stone furthermore means a lower level of truth, while a precious stone means a higher or more internal level of truth. What the lowest level of truth is becomes clear from what has been stated above in 8603 about the levels of truth that follow one another in order; that is to say, there are interior truths and exterior truths, the lowest of which are meant by the lowest level of truth.