My own interpretation of 23rd Psalm

“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 comfort me. Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of 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 forever.”

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death – Each day, as I live each moment, I never know if there will BE a next moment. I have always heard that tomorrow is not promised, so my philosophy is to live life as if there is NO tomorrow – after all, if there’s no tomorrow, it would make sense to cling to what we have today!

I will fear no evil, for thou art with me – I do fear evil, naturally. Who doesn’t?!!! This part of the Psalm means, to me, that God is with me. He has His divine hand on my shoulder, as I think of it, and He is guiding me lovingly through every situation I find myself in. That is a great comfort to me.

thy rod and thy staff comfort me – The disciplines set by my Savior and Lord help me. I envision Him walking beside me as His hand rests upon my shoulder, and I see His staff, as He places it before us each step we take. That is why His staff comforts me. It shows that I am not alone in anything.

Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies – God knows how our enemies make us feel. The point, as I see it, to this line of the quotation, is that when we reach Him, He will prepare us a place where even our enemies are our friends, at long last. That is why I cannot find it in myself to hold on to grudges. Everything will be forgiven.

Mikey just called, so I will continue this entry later……

Love,

Hermy