The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are
with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil;
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the
house of the LORD Forever. Psalm 23
This entry will be short and sweet Lord, just like the Psalm above. And more on target, I’m staring at verse 3 and the “paths of righteousness”. There’s more than one? Well that’s a twist: A path of righteousness, what exactly is that? I always thought that Your WAY was The Path of righteousness, and who would argue? But apparently, from Your Path, extends other paths? Roads out into the world for me to follow?
Except then the map gets a little fuzzy; turns out there are two kinds of righteousness! One is very well defined and easy to understand, that’s the tsedâqâh (tsed-aw-kaw') kind of righteousness. I’m thinking this is the righteousness that commandments are made of; handed down, passed on by example—Visible and Tangible to humankind as a whole. It’s full of law and structure and gavel pounding. It’s the righteousness that wears robes and seems to grow because I keep finding loop holes and it doesn’t want to let me redefine it so it must be constantly clarified to me by others who demonstrate more tsedâqâ than I. Powerful stuff, but this is not the Psalm 23 righteousness.
Psalm 23 speaks of tsedeq (tseh'-dek) which is more… abstract. It talks to me inside more than is given to me from outside. It speaks in a quiet, sometimes pestering, sometimes soothing (and infrequently thunderous) voice depending on my reception to its suggestions…
“Mark, you know better, it you do that you’ll…”
“Mark, that’s right, you’re definitely on track…”
“Mark, did you really do that?”
“Mark, good job.”
And isn’t it interesting that righteousness would even have a voice and that I could choose or not choose to listen to it? Some would call it their “conscience”, but where does it come from… experience? What about when I’ve had good experiences, but choose the opposite direction? Why does the voice nag me to choose honor when my experiences have been just the opposite?
The choices are all paths; some righteous (good, honorable, pure), some unrighteous. And that voice? That’s where the Psalm comes in… “You lead me in the paths of righteousness”. And not just me, anyone who would choose to listen to the voice; watch the walk; experience the trek. Why, that might even look like a RUT to some.
But what’s so interesting about this RUT and this Psalm is that it isn’t a choice of paths in front of me; not a tsedâqâh kind of path - trying to keep me and all others who walk it on the straight and narrow for our own good. The Psalm 23 tsedeq path is INSIDE of me. It’s a path I walk either totally alone or with one other only. That one other… is You Jesus; the only one who has ever trekked the tsedeq path from beginning to end with perfect execution (sic) and resurrection.
So as I Trek through the valley of the shadow of death, I have a choice and it has nothing to do with whether or not I choose to Trek that portion of that path—the past choices I’ve made guarantee I’ll pay a visit to the Shadow Spot. My choice is whether I do a “solo” or seek a traveling Companion. Only One can come, only One will do—not just on this path, but on the others as well. That’s the thing about You as my Companion Lord. Like no other; You’re in it for the long haul—through the green pastures and still waters of my spirit or the hellish places my enemies might invite my soul to encounter.
And because You’re walking with the Inner me; all directions I travel—each path I take—becomes one of tsedeq. On this Trek my cup runs over with oil undeserved, but very much appreciated—anyone who would wish me harm has to just watch in frustration and envy. I travel this RUT with amazed confidence because I shouldn’t even be allowed to take one step along its invisible route; yet, it shines clearly in front of me, goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life. Where is it leading me, Lord? No need to answer… I’ve even been given a Map to read. Unlike the inner journey, The Map is very visible, tangible; very easy to read. The road sign I see on The Map at this moment points in the direction of “Psalm 23 verse 6 as my ultimate destination—see You at Your place!
RUT On!
Mark A. Cornelius
This entry will be short and sweet Lord, just like the Psalm above. And more on target, I’m staring at verse 3 and the “paths of righteousness”. There’s more than one? Well that’s a twist: A path of righteousness, what exactly is that? I always thought that Your WAY was The Path of righteousness, and who would argue? But apparently, from Your Path, extends other paths? Roads out into the world for me to follow?
Except then the map gets a little fuzzy; turns out there are two kinds of righteousness! One is very well defined and easy to understand, that’s the tsedâqâh (tsed-aw-kaw') kind of righteousness. I’m thinking this is the righteousness that commandments are made of; handed down, passed on by example—Visible and Tangible to humankind as a whole. It’s full of law and structure and gavel pounding. It’s the righteousness that wears robes and seems to grow because I keep finding loop holes and it doesn’t want to let me redefine it so it must be constantly clarified to me by others who demonstrate more tsedâqâ than I. Powerful stuff, but this is not the Psalm 23 righteousness.
Psalm 23 speaks of tsedeq (tseh'-dek) which is more… abstract. It talks to me inside more than is given to me from outside. It speaks in a quiet, sometimes pestering, sometimes soothing (and infrequently thunderous) voice depending on my reception to its suggestions…
“Mark, you know better, it you do that you’ll…”
“Mark, that’s right, you’re definitely on track…”
“Mark, did you really do that?”
“Mark, good job.”
And isn’t it interesting that righteousness would even have a voice and that I could choose or not choose to listen to it? Some would call it their “conscience”, but where does it come from… experience? What about when I’ve had good experiences, but choose the opposite direction? Why does the voice nag me to choose honor when my experiences have been just the opposite?
The choices are all paths; some righteous (good, honorable, pure), some unrighteous. And that voice? That’s where the Psalm comes in… “You lead me in the paths of righteousness”. And not just me, anyone who would choose to listen to the voice; watch the walk; experience the trek. Why, that might even look like a RUT to some.
But what’s so interesting about this RUT and this Psalm is that it isn’t a choice of paths in front of me; not a tsedâqâh kind of path - trying to keep me and all others who walk it on the straight and narrow for our own good. The Psalm 23 tsedeq path is INSIDE of me. It’s a path I walk either totally alone or with one other only. That one other… is You Jesus; the only one who has ever trekked the tsedeq path from beginning to end with perfect execution (sic) and resurrection.
So as I Trek through the valley of the shadow of death, I have a choice and it has nothing to do with whether or not I choose to Trek that portion of that path—the past choices I’ve made guarantee I’ll pay a visit to the Shadow Spot. My choice is whether I do a “solo” or seek a traveling Companion. Only One can come, only One will do—not just on this path, but on the others as well. That’s the thing about You as my Companion Lord. Like no other; You’re in it for the long haul—through the green pastures and still waters of my spirit or the hellish places my enemies might invite my soul to encounter.
And because You’re walking with the Inner me; all directions I travel—each path I take—becomes one of tsedeq. On this Trek my cup runs over with oil undeserved, but very much appreciated—anyone who would wish me harm has to just watch in frustration and envy. I travel this RUT with amazed confidence because I shouldn’t even be allowed to take one step along its invisible route; yet, it shines clearly in front of me, goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life. Where is it leading me, Lord? No need to answer… I’ve even been given a Map to read. Unlike the inner journey, The Map is very visible, tangible; very easy to read. The road sign I see on The Map at this moment points in the direction of “Psalm 23 verse 6 as my ultimate destination—see You at Your place!
RUT On!
Mark A. Cornelius
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