The 23rd Psalm - An Absolute Spiritual Masterpiece

[Still_Waters]

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.