I’ve been leading a Bible study here at my house with a study guide on the 23rd Psalm. I saw something quite beautiful and profound as I read the scripture attributed to King David.
King David writes of the Blessing of God and who he is to him. He uses allegory and poetic notions to give us a good idea, yet we could take this scripture to a much deeper level and look at what it would mean in the realm and experience of God’s presence.
The Scripture starts with:
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want…
The Lord God is my guide and guardian, I on my own do not have the plan for my life. When I can see God in His role of the good shepherd and I surrender my ego to His wisdom and protection I then am fully provided for and have all that I need in abundance. The notion of wanting is part of ego, coveting, and is formed from the belief. This suggests that I am missing something. That there is something wrong with my life and God’s plan for me. This does not mean you cannot imagine a beautiful and wondrous present and future life. Intention, the idea fueled not with longing and desire but a pure intention for something wonderful is indeed aligned with God’s blessing. In accepting all of what has been given, feeling very full and grateful, deeply getting the depth of love and the richness of what you do have puts you in the mindset of receivership. I want for nothing, my life is overflowing. I am deeply and profoundly blessed.
He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside still waters…
I have someone who loves me enough to help me stop, slow down and see the blessings all around me. Like my daughter, who will refuse bed, I make her rest and she is so richly blessed for this rest, waking refreshed bright and excited to go. I also need a strong but gentle hand that reminds me to stop and smell the roses, lie down, rest, take a vacation, get a massage, walk in nature, this inner urge to rest and care for self is God in me saying all is well take rest in my glorious kingdom. I always see the word ‘water’ and think about the calm emotion that still water represents. If I actually were a sheep, with bushy fur, in rapidly moving water I would be washed away in the current unable to get myself to safety. This still water is always available even when feeling like I am being washed away in the new wave/current of emotion, I can say, God, take this from me and within minutes I am back in still waters. Still, waters for me can be felt in prayer, contemplation, meditation, and walking in nature. It can be felt in a warm bath with candles and lovely fragrances. Still, waters can be felt in every moment. It can also be shared. I was in the massage club, setting up my next massage and the lady’s behind the counter agreed and told me my voice to them was so soothing, that they felt better just listening to me…they were feeling the still waters of God that I am able at least at times to emanate through my voice.
He restores my soul: He leads me in the path of righteousness, for His name’s sake…
He restores, this is not a rescue, but a nourishing of my soul. The soul back then referred to as mental. emotional and spirit. When we restore something in classes, a big part of it is disappearing from all the negative harmful issues so that we might return to our pure state. I am led, and I want to be led in the path of righteousness, the path that is deeply aligned with God’s purity and truth: righteousness. The word righteous has been used in a bad connotation where someone accused of righteousness would be a ‘holier than thou jerk’ who was accused of being wrong in his attitude and behavior. This notion has nothing to do with how righteousness is being used here. If we were led in the path of purity, truth, honorable and noble, we lived in service to life and sought only to be a blessing to our environment and to those around us, this would be the path of righteousness.
For His name’s sake. I looked up namesake and how it is used in common language and found a child named for a beloved elder is a namesake. It is like you get to wear the blessing of the elder you are named for, and simply by wearing their name, you have the blessing of belonging in a special way. I named Adelia after my grandmother, who was a faithful, quiet, very gifted cook and craftswoman. At first, our family gave no support to the adoption because of the skin color, my age, and other issues. I was met with opposition. But an interesting thing took place, being the namesake of the respected and loved elder, Adelia found herself quickly with aunts, uncles, and over not a long time grandparents who accepted and loved her as their own. My aunts were so pleased, they told me little secrets only Grandma Adelia’s daughters would know about Grandma. Because Adelia was a namesake she landed beautifully in our family. Had she not been given this blessing of being namesake it is unlikely this would have progressed as it did. Being HIs namesake, named for God automatically gives us the blessing of His children, worthy, loved, and helped by the vibration and frequency of His name.
