Thursday, January 8, 2009

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters,
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

I received a very inspiring interpretation of this passage broken down into individual bits. I remember when I had to learn Psalm 23 as a child. We had to memorize it for a weekly Bible class through my school. Just recently my oldest daughter had to memorize the same Bible verse and my little genius had it down in no time. Here is the inspiring e-mail with the passages broken down so we can interpret them a little better:

The LORD is my Shepherd = That is Relationship!
I shall not be in want = That is Supply!
He maketh me lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!
He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!
For his name's sake = That's Purpose!
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death = That's Testing!
I will fear no evil = That's Protection!
For you are with me = That's Faithfulness!
Your rod and your staff, they comfort me = That's Discipline!
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies = That's Hope!
You anoint my head with oil = That's Consecration!
My cup overflows = That's Abundance!
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life = That's Blessing!
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD = That's Security!
FOREVER = That's Eternity!

WOW! I was pretty amazed when I read saw Psalm 23 broken down into interpretations line by line. The lines are very true. God gives us all these things, we just have to reach out and grab on to them and use them wisely!

Relationship, Supply, Rest, Refreshment, Healing, Guidance, Purpose, Testing, Protection, Faithfulness, Discipline, Hope, Consecration, Abundance, Blessing, Security & Eternity ~ the good Lord will give us all of these things if we just ask. Pray and ask for each thing in your life and you will be granted the serenity of all the above.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was my grandpa's favorite verse. We had it read during his service on monday. I thought I understood it until I just read it all broke down. NOW I do understand it fully and why it always comforted him.... It now comforts me too....