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My Shepherd Over the past few years I have been attracted to a re-examination of the Judeo Christian foundation that most of the western world's spirituality is based upon. It was my discovery of the New Thought Christian Churches, such as Unity, Science of Mind and others that brought me to the realization that properly understood, Christianity remains a viable system that will continue through the coming age. Indeed, there is as much of value in the Bible as in any of the other sacred teachings in the world. In a period of doubt and struggle I was guided to look up the 23rd Psalm. Unable to find the Bible that was given to me as a boy, I went to the internet and quickly found many sites containing this particular shining jewel from our spiritual heritage. In this moment of need I began to recite the prayer in a fervent heartfelt manner and continued to seek refuge in it for several days. It worked. To this day, in any moment of doubt or fear I find that it has the power to change my thoughts and feelings. I want to share this with all who are receptive. I was raised in a primarily fundamentalist Christian family, and for many summers I went to a Christian Camp that ran for several days. Though I was always possessed of a deeply spiritual streak I was also very independently minded, and early on rejected many of the doctrines of the church that did not make sense to me. Before I was even a teenager I had rejected the church of my youth and indeed Christianity itself. In the final summer of my going to camp I was hanging with the bad boys. I remember one particular counselor, whose name is lost to me but whose face and voice I clearly recall. On day he sat us down and said, "Boys, I want to tell you about something that saved my life and some day may save yours." He proceeded to tell us about the 23rd Psalm and how in a dark and hopeless period in his life he had used it and found redemption. He told us that in order for it to work we needed to believe it and feel it and practice it in all sincerity. He was the counselor who we considered much cooler than the others. He was tolerant and understanding of our attitudes and our lapses in language control and we could be ourselves around him. He did not condemn us as the much more uptight counselors and church leaders did. We knew that he had seen the darker sides of life himself. We respected him enough to try to listen as he pleaded with us to try to remember what he was telling us. Well, you can imagine how receptive we really were. As hard as we tried, it wasn't long before the giggling began. I mean, "The Lord is our Shepherd"? By the time the first one of us started going baa, baa, and another started in with singing "Baa, baa, black sheep" we were rolling on the floor. He had the good humor and the good grace to laugh along with us. He understood that we were too young to appreciate or to even perceive that we'd ever have any need for what he was giving us. But he made us promise that we'd try to remember it, for if and when we ever did. I for one promptly forgot it and did not even remember him until a few days into using it myself over twenty-five years later. I'm sure, however, that what he said stuck in my subconscious mind, and I thank him for his kind effort now. You can understand how the 23rd Psalm sounded to a group of preteen boys already given to bad attitudes. It sounded ludicrous. The King James Version language was impossible for us to deal with and its meaning was largely lost on us. Even today it needs to be interpreted properly to get the benefit out of it. Keep in mind that our thoughts and emotions, along with our deeds, make our lives what they are. If negative thoughts and fearful emotions dominate then our lives will reflect them. The 23rd Psalm is an antidote to negative thoughts and emotions and is a very powerful re-programming technique. It is all the more powerful for its age and past usage. It is some three thousand years old and has been recited by millions of people. When we use it today it comes with all of the residual power invested in it by our ancestors. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to 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. 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. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 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. The Book of Psalms is commonly thought to have been written by David, yes, who slew Goliath, and went on to become King. This is important because of the historical context that the writing occurred in. It is an age of Aries document and that fact explains some of the imagery. I believe that to be fully useful in our era the message needs to be transposed. Let's go through it line by line. The Lord is my shepherd; when most people think of the Lord they get the image of the old guy with the white beard, often looking down on His creation in condemnation. This image of a vengeful God that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of many should be seen to have little in common with the Shepherd of the 23rd Psalm, especially as it may be useful to us. When Moses was encountered the Burning Bush and he asked, "What is your name?" the response was, paraphrasing, "I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. I AM THAT I AM" This is the God whose name was considered unspeakable and was shortened to YHVH and later said as Yahweh. This is the God of the I AM consciousness. That same I AM consciousness that resides in us all, as the Voice of the Silence, the still small voice, the connection to the All and One which is the power and intelligence behind all of creation. To say that the Lord is my shepherd is to declare and affirm that you have become aware of the reality of that connection to the One, and have committed to listening to that voice of divine inspiration and taking its advice. The first line continues, The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want: I shall not want is a powerful affirmation. Think of it, if you are listening to the Lord and following the advice, how then should you fall into a position of distress, poverty or lack of any kind? To make that statement, with belief and emotional conviction is a very powerful self-programming technique. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. It may not sit well with many people in this day to think of themselves as sheep being tended by a shepherd. But remembering the time that this was written and the fact that this is the indwelling God part of ourselves that we are talking about, I think we can get past the imagery and reap the benefit. If you are being tended by a shepherd then being led into lush green pastures and to the pure, still waters is a good thing. This passage simply affirms that when we listen to the God voice within we are given good advice, not led astray but very well taken care of. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. In our time, when there are such techniques as soul retrieval and so many other ways of recovering our fragmented selves, the first part of this line should be easily understood. When we listen to the inner voice we can be made whole again. The second part affirms that the voice, Yahweh-I am that I am, always provides the proper course of action-or quite simply it is not the voice of God, but our human mind pretending to be. With practice it is easy to tell the difference. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; What powerful programming this section is. Death, being the thing that most people fear most of all, here represents whatever one may be fearful of. When we are in touch with the God part of ourselves, what then should we fear? If we are listening to the voice and following the advice then there is nothing that cannot be dealt with. As is stated in one of the other Psalms, "If God is with me then who can stand against me?" thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Well, you can imagine how this line made a group of adolescent boys roll on the floor laughing. But of course the meaning continues to affirm that there is no greater protection than the conscious connection to God within provides. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: I really like this line. I know that it has become unfashionable to think in terms of enemies but again remember the times in which the Psalms were written. People had enemies. In our time you may wish to think of these enemies as being whatever problems you have in your life. This line is affirming that your connection to the God part within not only provides protection from your enemies but that you prosper in the face of them. Who tries to harm you ends up helping you. thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. You and I may not have much interest in having our heads anointed with oil but in the time of the writing of the Psalms this was a ritual reserved for royalty. This part of the affirmation shows clearly that following the advice from within brings not only riches but honor as well. Taken with the second part though, it's obvious that the alliance with the Lord within does bring prosperity. Most of the Old Testament is the story of how when the Hebrews listened to the Lord they prospered and were exalted, and when they didn't they suffered. 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. The 23rd Psalm ends with this further affirmation that as long as you are in touch with the voice of God within at the center of your being you will be blessed. It speaks to all levels of life, both the momentous and the mundane. The 23rd Psalm is one very powerful affirmation. It has the quality of being truth. It has the effect of having been used by countless people over the centuries. If we will use it to reprogram our minds and hearts and will truly seek out and listen to the voice of God within, then what more could we need? |
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