Psalm 23—When I meet the shadow falling between the way I wanted and the way I went—I will fear no evil.The Lord is my shepherd. With him, I lack nothing. He guides me in the last way left— Farthest round and the first home. He walks me to the river And settles stillness over me Like a tree at the water's edge. He seeks me when I wander Into danger and don’t come home. He leads me along the good paths For his name’s sake. Even when I wander at the violet hour; When wolf fears steal in to take A share and howl in the hills; When the count of days only climbs And nothing goes right; When I meet the shadow falling Between the way I wanted And the way I went— I will fear no evil. You are with me. Your rod and staff are my comfort, My shepherd and chevalier. I wanted to be swept off, Taken somewhere safe, But you met me here instead And set a table down in the middle Of the people I learned To love to hate. You striped my brow with oil. The cup of my lifted hands Is fuller than I could hope to hold. None of it is what I wanted, But you shepherd me still. Surely, goodness and mercy, With rest and trust and consolation, Will hallow round me, Will find and bind me, All the days of my life. And I will live where you live forever.
Also — the phrasing “the good paths” reminds me of the term that Terry Wildman (and co.) gives the Gospel in the First Nations Version of the New Testament and also in his Harmony of the Gospels *When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us.*
Not that this phrase is actually new to the psalm itself, nor to the canon of Scripture as a whole. Path imagery is quietly profuse! It’s just the amazing power of a little fresh phrasing and rewording — or in Wildman’s case the power of hearing the Good Story through the voice of a culture that’s not my own — to bring out a concept so familiar.
Also — the phrasing “the good paths” reminds me of the term that Terry Wildman (and co.) gives the Gospel in the First Nations Version of the New Testament and also in his Harmony of the Gospels *When the Great Spirit Walked Among Us.*
Not that this phrase is actually new to the psalm itself, nor to the canon of Scripture as a whole. Path imagery is quietly profuse! It’s just the amazing power of a little fresh phrasing and rewording — or in Wildman’s case the power of hearing the Good Story through the voice of a culture that’s not my own — to bring out a concept so familiar.
Loving these lines today from the Psalm 23 rendition:
“He seeks me when I wander
Into danger and don’t come home.”
“I wanted to be swept off,
Taken somewhere safe,
But you met me here instead
And set a table down in the middle
Of the people I learned
To love to hate.“
“And I will live where you live forever.”
Such good reminders of things I sometimes (lately) forget.
The third one was something I needed today. Thank you.
Thank you.