The 23rd Psalm - An Absolute Spiritual Masterpiece
 

One of my favorite personal prayers is the very insightful 23rd Psalm, which I repeat many times a day and actually use it to time my yoga postures. (I say the 23rd Psalm when I start certain postures, and move on to the next posture once the 23rd Psalm is completed.)

There was one passage that somewhat troubled me for a while, but my difficulties with it were all completely resolved at a Quaker meeting of all places.

"Thou preparest a place before me in the presence of mine enemies."

Initially, I attributed that to possibly a poor translation as the statement definitely not resonate with me. Now, however, after the Quaker meeting, it makes complete sense and resonates completely.

During the Quaker meeting, which is observed in complete silence for those who are unfamiliar with Quaker services, an elder stood up halfway through the service with a very insightful comment. (If some one is inspired to speak, they can stand up and speak whatever inspiration came during the silent meditative service.)

He said that a passage in the 23rd Psalm had long puzzled him: "Thou preparest a place for me in the presence of mine enemies". He mentioned that he had no enemies so he was not sure what the passage really meant. However, he added, upon meditative reflection, he realized that he DID INDEED have enemies: Pride, lust, anger, greed, gluttony, envy, sloth. He then interpreted the passage to mean that he was placed in the presence of these internal "enemies" so that he could overcome them.

While the whole 23rd Psalm is very meaningful to me, that particular passage took on a very deep positive meaning for me after that Quaker spoke out during the otherwise silent service. I have never forgotten that ! Years later, I saw him at another Quaker service and reminded him of how his meditative statement had had such a lasting impact of me. He remembered that day and indicated that it was a major breakthrough for him as well since he had been contemplating that passage for years before the breakthrough.

I just thought that I would share that here, and I'm curious if anyone has alternative interpretations of that particular passage. If you want to discuss any of the other passages in that Psalm, it would be most welcome as I consider that Psalm to be a Spiritual Masterpiece.

The table to me is a place where I eat and share food with Family and Friends, physical nourishment.



' You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;'


The table holds Inner nourishment ( Spiritual Food ) given in abundance to feed my Spirit rather than my ego ( enemy ).



Ps, I love singing this Psalm.

Thanks for sharing ! :thumbsup:

Hello....I moved the thread over from the Judaism sub forum to this one where it seems to have a better home.
I left a re-direct in the other forum in case you wondered where it had gone!
Tobi.

....And yes....I find the 23rd psalm to have a great deal of spiritual force. We should not underestimate it. It is a great comfort to the Soul, especially in any problem or unrest.

To have no fear of my enemies that God prepares a feast and we feast and are comforted by the rod and the staff of my Sheppard and He is with me, since perfect Love casts out all fear. We celebrate knowing the adversary is a withering branch without hope. So yes those 7 sins above are a part.

This enemy is tsarar= to cramp. So it is an adversary that wants to bind you and hold you captive and oppress.

I used this psalm when I fell from a moving train and survived without a scratch, then, I met three demons when I tried to seek help at a bar, I am not joking... I was really afraid and I ran away, then, I felt this amazing joy and I started to say again and again the psalm 23 and to praise God for His help.

This is what I saw but there's a little difference, their faces were melting down.One more thing to add, they were laughing at me with this creppy laugh and I knew why they were laughing, because I was suffering... I felt it.They were really close to me, in front of my face there was the seller, she was normal ( a human being ) but scared, then I turned my face to the left side and I saw these three demons.

Were you "under the influence" at the time?

Are you talking with me? At that time I was around 17, I was in high-scool, so, the train was one of the ways I used to go back home.I was in the wrong train but I was not alone in this situation, there was an elderly couple too.I was super scared, this train had another route, one that would take me far away from my house, so, it happened, I was close to some doors, these doors were still open...

I don't do drugs, don't drink and don't smoke and I will never do such things.

You said that their faces were melting down

Did you mean that their faces were melting down "moment by moment", as you were looking at them.

Or did you mean that their faces "had" appeared to have been, melted down at some stage prior.

I new a spiritualist person, who was in a car crash, that involved the vehicle smahing down trees and eventually hurtling off of a clff, & landing upside down in a river of water at the bottom of the cliff.

And almost as soon as the vehicle went out of control, the loan male driver, felt as if he was in a soft cushion like cocoon within the vehicle, he did not feel any pain, & did not suffer any injuries.

The rescue teams could not believe the whole incident, as far as they were concerned he should not have survived, the car was a wreck and he just walked away and went to work.