How dare I, you might ask, muse about a Bible psalm, not being a theologian or a scholar? I do dare doing so. My credentials are being a human being and growing up as a preacher’s kid in the Deep South Mississippi Delta, U.S., in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Thereafter, I have continued to wonder and imagine how we can all live together in more peace, in better health, and with more love for all living beings, no matter our circumstances, genetics, traumas, or abilities.
In December 2025, the 23rd psalm came to me one day out of the blue, perhaps divinely inspired. I grew up with these words and I still remember them well. I wondered as I went about my day, why this psalm, why these verses? Instead of quickly finding answers to my questions, I began writing.
How do these beautiful words inspire me now, when I don’t go to an organized religious church these days? How did these verses last for over 70 years in my body, my brain, and my heart? Maybe because I love many human beings on this earth, Mother Gaia. Possibly because I have known fear. Perhaps because I have worked in my psychotherapy career with many people, and have found ways to love them, no matter how troubled they might be. I have watched us all struggle, at some times more than others, and I still wonder how we can be a part of bringing more peace, more love, and more compassion to our world.
The words of this psalm are in my bones, in the very cells that helped me grow within my mother’s womb, and then from infancy to adulthood to my crone years, even when I didn’t consciously think about them much throughout my life.
Let’s look at these words from the King James Version, which I grew up with:
Psalm 23 (King James Version, The Bible)
"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 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 they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”
I have finally realized after all of these years that what we people do have in common, or at least many of us, is a longing, or a need to find meaning and purpose in life, whether that is being connected to a spiritual being, a plant, a tree, a group, a person, Mother Nature, or to a theory, a set of beliefs, or an icon of some sort. We so want to feel like someone or something knows the Truth, is capable, wise and loving, and can take care of us and protect us.
If I were writing these words in 2025, I would not use words like the “Lord, he," or “thou,” or “maketh,” but I might use one of these sets of words listed below for the Almighty - and “me” or “you” for “thou.”
- The Divine
- Spirit
- Source
- The Divine Feminine
- The Great Mysteries
- The Divine Intelligence
- Love Intelligence
- Unconditional Love
- Mother God, and so on
What I hear now reading this psalm is great comfort, being what many of us humans have longed for and desired. A sermonette about how we will be taken care of, how we have a leader or a shepherd of sorts who will watch after us and protect us, how we will sometimes be delighted although sometimes feel restricted or limited by the “rod,” which may actually offer a healthy structure which gives us freedoms within it.
My preacher dad explained and interpreted all sorts of Bible verses back in the 1960’s, and onwards. He said, that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” actually means that whatever we call God, we shall not lack it in our lives,” not that we should or shouldn’t desire it. And that that god-type of Being is always with us. This from my father who lived during the Great Depression, and who fought in two wars, WWII and the Korean War, all traumatic enough.
My dad was so good at interpreting the Bible in ways that children and adults could hear and understand, not literally or concretely, but as a set of stories, metaphorical and symbolic every step of the way. He also helped us realize how they pertained to our present times, not just describing a history of the way back past. I was taught that we didn’t really need to be concerned about the details of the stories, which sounded to some people like facts (like don’t eat pork or shellfish), but to just read them like we would witness a dream, a longing, or a set of stories about how people find meaning in their lives, and how many people long for not only a Creator but a Savior.
Whatever I learned about praying as a child transformed into “talking to God,” when I was pregnant in my late 30’s, a conversation of sorts, a discussion. I would take long outdoor walks in nature and talk with some holy one.
I now think of the Divine as a powerful source of unconditional love energy inside us, outside of us and all around us. How soothing the 23rd psalm’s words can be during these current times. Not that we want to just stay in our little corners of the world, in our own homes and soothe ourselves, but so that many of us can also go out into the world and help to soothe the world as well. Whether “world” means Mother Earth Gaia, the climate, children, people, and/or all living beings.
We can all take whatever actions we can to help the poor and needy, the oppressed, those minorities and immigrants who are targeted with violence, including helping ALL who are targeted with violence, even those people who were raised with great privilege and seem “successful” to us. Sometimes they have had terrible violence or huge neglect enacted upon them, too, especially when they were children.
I think we all need, at times, to step away from our quiet, calm, and comfortable spaces and try to affect or influence our world as much as we can - in the best and most non-violent ways we can, whether we do that through creative actions, like writing, painting, building, writing and performing music, or by joining together as community advocates, or by standing up to our corrupt government leaders, or by praying for the health and well being of all living beings.
We can all do something. But first, we do need to soothe ourselves and take good care of ourselves. Because, if not, we won't have the energy to look outside of ourselves at all. For so many who have been so wounded and traumatized so much in their lives, it is part of the normal process of healing to feel self absorbed during some stages of life, and to not be able to look outside of oneself, much less help anyone outside of oneself. That can be seen as a stage of growth, recovery, and healing, and not just viewed as a mental illness or a personality disorder.
Once people become aware of their deep wounds, traumas and neglect, we hope they find ways to work with those kinds of tragedies, losses, deaths, and abuses, to deal with and manage through the feelings, develop new coping skills and a gentler understanding of themselves - and not act out the feelings unconsciously doing harm to themselves, or others.
What I hope we can all do is to reach out into the world and radiate the love and warmth that we have found somehow for ourselves after doing such inner and creative healing work - as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
Amen.
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