A Patristic & Scriptural Commentary on the 23rd Psalm: Scholastic Edition

ISBN-13: 9781545014769 / Angielski / Miękka / 2017 / 26 str.

Fr Joseph Irvin

Opis

The 23rd Psalm is perhaps the most beloved of Christians everywhere. Frequently memorized in one's childhood, it provides a constant reminder and assurance of Christ the Good Shepherd that stays with one throughout life, and even unto the end, when old age and disease have pushed out all other memories. And even in the times when one has strayed from the Church and religion, and is caught up in the trials and vicissitudes of the world, it remains as an unchanging song of hope eternal; a promise of God's presence even in one's darkest hour. From the throat of the sweet singer (the psalmist, St. David) comes forth notes of satisfaction, peace, trust, rest, joy, guidance, and fellowship. Language could not be more simple, more chaste, more realistic, or more penetrating. The 23rd Psalm pictures God in love with His people, with rest in His bosom, with grace for all our needs, with comfort and joy in sorrow, with a message of hope so sweet and clear that music breaks forth from the soul. To know the 23rd Psalm is to love it. To believe in it is to live a life of victory, a life of joy and peace. To be swept by it, one will find his life triumphant in prayer, in faith, in wholehearted service. Its poetry and its piety are equal, its sweetness and its spirituality unsurpassed. 1/ In it, we are reminded that with God, we need fear nothing, for, as He takes care of the birds of the air and the flowers of the fields, so too will He take care of us. We need only have faith and trust in Him, and follow Him where He leads. This psalm has much in it that is rich and helpful to Christians who think seriously of the kind of preparation for the other world which Jesus emphasized. In the midst of toil and hard work, in the midst of suffering and pain, in the midst of sorrow and distress, we have the abiding presence of the Man of Galilee who loves us and who loosed us from our sins, who has made us a royal priesthood and who has made for us a heavenly kingdom. Surely the sorrows and the dangers of this earthly life will be lightened and transformed by the presence of Him who walks by our side. 2/ In hopes of illustrating the fullness of the psalm's beauty, I have included both the King James version and the Septuagint version, along with a verse by verse commentary from Scripture and the Church Fathers.