시편 23편은 세계에서 가장 잘 알려져 있고 가장 사랑받는 문학 작품 중 하나이며, 지금까지 쓰여진 시 중 최고의 시일 수도 있습니다. 또한 비유적 언어의 힘을 보여주는 좋은 예이기도 합니다: 우리는 친절한 목자가 푸른 초장과 좋은 물로 인도하는 양이 된 우리 자신의 모습을 통해 깊은 것을 읽어냅니다. 사망의 음침한 골짜기로 두려움 없이 나아갈 수 있는 자신감과 주님이 차려주신 식탁과 넘치도록 가득 찬 잔의 사랑과 배려를 느낄 수 있는 힘이 생깁니다.

그러나 사람들이 모르는 것은 이 언어가 실제로 정확한 내적 의미를 가지고 있으며, 우리가 그것을 볼 때 시에는 더 깊은 아름다움이 있다는 것입니다. 그 이유는 이 시가 실제로 묘사하는 것은 천국으로 가는 길이며, 우리를 천국으로 인도하려는 주님의 강렬한 열망이기 때문입니다.

첫 번째 단계는 주님을 우리의 목자로 모시고 그분의 가르침과 리더십을 받아들이는 것입니다. 푸른 초원과 잔잔한 물은 그분이 여정에서 우리에게 가르치실 것들을 상징합니다. 그런 다음 주님은 우리 안에서 일하기 시작하여 우리의 영적인 삶을 질서 있게 정돈하여 우리가 선한 일을 행하고 서로 사랑하기를 원하도록 하십니다. 그것은 우리의 영혼을 회복시키고 우리를 의의 길로 인도하는 것으로 표현됩니다.

그러나 우리는 여전히 도전에 직면할 것입니다. 우리는 여전히 세상 밖에서 외적인 삶을 살고 있으며, 그 외적인 삶, 육체적인 삶에서 일어나는 욕망의 지배를 받습니다. 그것이 바로 사망의 음침한 골짜기입니다. 그러나 지팡이와 지팡이는 외적, 내적 차원에서 주님이 주시는 진리, 즉 그러한 욕망으로부터 우리를 보호할 수 있는 사상을 상징합니다.

우리가 계속 따를 때 주님은 우리 안에 사랑(기름부음)과 지혜(넘치도록 잔)로 채울 수 있는 식탁을 준비해 주실 것입니다. 이렇게 변화된 우리는 다른 사람에 대한 사랑("선")과 주님의 사랑("자비")으로 천국에 들어갈 수 있으며, 영원히 사랑하고 사랑받을 수 있습니다.

이것의 많은 아름다운 점 중 하나는 모든 일을 실제로 행하시는 분이 주님이라는 사실입니다. 본문 전체에서 양들이 취한 유일한 행동은 사망의 음침한 골짜기로 걸어가는 것뿐입니다. 그 외에는 주님을 따르고, 주님을 신뢰하고, 주님의 축복을 받아들입니다. 그리고 그것은 정말 사실입니다! 외적인 상태(골짜기)에서는 우리가 스스로 일을 하는 것처럼 보일 수 있지만, 내적으로는 영적으로 우리 자신을 주님께 드리고 주님께서 우리를 축복하시도록 내버려두면 됩니다.

여기서 근본적인 생각은 주님께서 우리를 사랑하시도록 우리를 창조하셨고, 우리를 사랑하시면서 우리가 행복하기를 원하시며, 우리의 가장 큰 행복은 천국에서 그분과 결합하는 것에서 비롯된다는 것을 알고 계시며, 그분 자신도 우리와 결합하는 것 이상을 원하지 않으신다는 것입니다. 그래서 그분께서 지구상의 모든 사람을 위해 매일 매 순간 행하시는 모든 일은 그 사람을 천국에 데려가려는 목표에 집중되어 있습니다. 그분은 우리가 상상할 수 있는 것 이상으로 우리 한 사람 한 사람이 천국에 가기를 원하십니다. 우리는 협력하기만 하면 됩니다.

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

5147. There was some of every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'food' as celestial good, dealt with below; and from the representation of 'Pharaoh' as the interior natural, dealt with in 5080, 5095, and also the natural in general, since the interior natural and the exterior natural make one when they correspond. And because food exists to provide nourishment, 'every kind of food for Pharaoh' means full of celestial good for nourishing the natural. It is said that this food was in the highest basket, meaning that the inmost degree of the will was full of celestial good. For good from the Lord flows in by way of the inmost degree in a person; and from there it passes degree by degree, so to speak down a flight of steps, to what is more exterior. For in relation to other degrees the inmost one exists in the most perfect state, and can therefore receive good from the Lord directly, in a way the lower ones cannot. If these were to receive good from the Lord directly, they would either obscure it or pervert it, since they are less perfect in comparison with the inmost degree.

[2] As regards the influx of celestial good from the Lord and the reception of it, it should be recognized that the will part of the human mind is the receiver of good and the understanding part is the receiver of truth. The understanding part cannot possibly receive truth so as to make this its own unless at the same time the will part receives good; and vice versa. For one flows as a result into the other and disposes that other to be receptive. All that constitutes the understanding may be compared to forms which are constantly varying, and all that constitutes the will may be compared to the harmonies resulting from those variations. Consequently truths may be compared to variations, and forms of good may be compared to the delights which those variations bring. And this being pre-eminently the case with truths and forms of good it is evident that one cannot exist without the other, as well as that one cannot be brought forth except by means of the other.

[3] The reason 'food' means celestial good is that angels' food consists in nothing else than forms of the good of love and charity, and that these serve to enliven angels and to rejuvenate them. Especially when they are expressed in action or practice do those forms of good cause angels to feel rejuvenated, for they are the desires they have; for it is a well known fact that when a person's desires are expressed in action he feels rejuvenated and enlivened. Those desires also nourish a person's spirit when material food supplies nourishment to his body, as may be recognized from the fact that when no delight is taken in food it is not very nutritious, but when delight is taken in it, it is nutritious. The delight taken in food is what opens the meatus or channels which serve to convey it into the blood, whereas the opposite closes them. Among angels those delights are forms of the good of love and charity, and from this one may deduce that these are spiritual kinds of food which correspond to earthly ones. Also, just as forms of good are meant by different kinds of food, so truths are meant by 'drink'.

[4] In the Word 'food' is mentioned in many places, yet someone unacquainted with the internal sense will inevitably suppose that in those places ordinary food is meant. In fact spiritual food is meant, as in Jeremiah,

All the people groan as they search for bread. They have given their desirable things for food to restore the soul. Lamentations 1:11.

In Isaiah,

Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and he who has no money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Isaiah 55:1.

In Joel,

The day of Jehovah is near, and as destruction from the thunderbolt-hurler will it come. [s not the food cut off before our eyes, gladness and joy from the house of our God? The grains have rotted under their clods, the storehouses have been laid waste, the granaries have been destroyed, because the grain has failed. Joel 1:15-17.

In David,

Our storehouses are full, yielding food and still more food; our flocks are thousands, and ten thousands in our streets. There is no outcry in our streets. Blessed are the people for whom it is thus. Psalms 144:13-15.

In the same author,

They all look to You, that You may give them their food in due season. You give to them - they gather it up; You open Your hand - they are satisfied with good. Psalms 104:27-28.

[5] In these places celestial and spiritual food is meant in the internal sense when material food is referred to in the sense of the letter. From this one may see how the interior features of the Word and its exterior features correspond to one another, that is, how what belongs inwardly to its spirit and what belongs to its letter do so; so that while man understands those things according to the sense of the letter, the angels present with him understand the same things according to the spiritual sense. The Word has been written in such a way that it may serve not only the human race but heaven also, and for this reason all expressions are used to mean heavenly realities, and every matter described there is representative of these realities. This is so with the Word even to the tiniest jot.

[6] Furthermore the Lord Himself explicitly teaches that good is meant in the spiritual sense by 'food': In John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:27.

In the same gospel,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood is truly drink. John 6:55.

'Flesh' means Divine Good, 3813, and 'blood' Divine Truth, 4735. And in the same gospel,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. The disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought Him [anything] to eat? Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:33-34.

'Doing the will of the Father and finishing His work' means Divine Good when expressed in actions or practice, which in the genuine sense is 'food', as stated above.