The Manx Den

I was reading Psalm 23, and here’s the thoughts that were coming to me while I worked my way through it:

• Psalm 23:8 :: I can’t mistake this as anything else than referring to Jesus prophetically, even though David wrote it.
• Psalm 23:9 :: I still wonder exactly what humble means. I think it really reffers to being willing to admit fault or sin, and that you’re not perfect, and to expect God to lead you rather than to try and lead yourself around everywhere.
• Psalm 23:10 :: I’ve heard the term ‘wandering in the Lord’. I can only really interpret this as being open to listen to Jesus in the holy spirit. To keep a covenant – well, the covenant is to say Jesus, I’m a sinner, I need your blood from the cross to wash me clean of all I’ve done. I’ve walked out of the covenant plenty of times! I’ve had cybersex online, and role-play relationships, because I wanted love, affection and intimacy. I’ve had to repent that several times. It doesn’t make me feel full of love any more. To keep Jesus’ testimony is to remember what he did and said, and be willing to share it without shame. All his ways – the ways he leads folk who believe in being born again. Where paying lip service in a church pew is not being Christian; it is learning what the holy spirit is, why we need it, and to be willing to receive it so you can understand the bible not just with your head, but with your heart. Real love from God comes from this.
• Psalm 23:11 :: Because of who you are, God, forgive my guilt. I feel a lot of it, and I am ashamed of my sin. For your name’s sake God’s name is special, and the Jews game him several names. Elohim, loving god, el Shaddi, almighty, the sufficient God. The names are full of feeling, meaning and depth, they’re worth reading about.
• Psalm 23:12 :: I don’t know why this is asked as a question. To fear God… he is absolute authority, power, creator, father, sacrifice — the missing part to a life that feels empty, hopeless, miserable, frustrated, angry, depressed, stressed. He is the reason we don’t live with real love in our lives every day, and why we struggle so hard to feel good about ourselves. Fearing God is knowing more and more of just who and what he is.
• Psalm 23:13 :: To fear is not to be afraid of someone – it’s to respect and love them. To fear God is to give over control and trust Jesus. People full of love from Jesus hate to lie, cheat, steal, hurt others and see others suffering. They live with all their needs taken care of, even if they live in the poorest circumstances, and they are happy because they know there is an answer from god for every trouble and every hard decision. And they shall inherit the land honest businessmen have happy customers and loyal customers. Patient, hard-working officemen become trusted with their coworkers, and receive promotions. Good neighbors stop to talk with the people that live next door just because they’re curious – just because. Ever heard ‘love your neighbor as yourself’? This can’t be done out of your own power. Forcing yourself to look like a christian, without getting your love and security – your self-worth and self-image from God, the god of love and forgiveness.
• Psalm 23:14 :: I find… Nothing’s quite so sweet as having Jesus as a friend. To the world Jesus is dead 2,000 years ago. To a curious, hungry heart, just maybe, just maybe he really did cheat death, and fulfills his promises. It all has to do with that idea that we are all doomed to die after our bodies pass away, because we are all selfish and afraid and suffering sin. I know I have – I hate it when I feel misery and fear. I still do sometimes.
• Psalm 23:15 :: Sometimes I feel so entangled, confused and out of energy.. all my hopes and desires fall to pieces. He plucks my feet out of the net in prayer he shows the way out of the troubles. He unveils the answers to the pain that haunts your inner being. He shows the way to heal the long-lived rent in your soul from something someone else did or said to you as a little kid. He shows how his love is revealed in the unselfish actions of others. He shows you how to get the money you need when you are broke and your car is dead.
• Psalm 23:16 :: Look at me and love me! Give me all your attention! Fill me up with love. Give me living water to drink from, I feel like I’ve been wandering in the sahara and baked in the sun for weeks and I’m going to die. I need you, Jesus. I need to see your promises become real.
• Psalm 23:17 :: My anguish and frustrations are too great. I feel like everyone around me is distant and disappointed with me. I feel as if I am not loved. Everything is so overwhelming – rescue me and show me out of here!
  Psalm 23:18 :: Forgive me again, I’ve wandered from you and been blind. Open my eyes and forgive the stupid things I have done.
• Psalm 23:19 :: Consider how many are my foes – enemies, both people and fallen angels. There is nothing Lucifer hates more than a human, and all he wants is them in pain, in blindness, filling up their needs with success, money, girls, power, sex… It’s all like drinking beer to forget a problem. It solves the stress and troubles temporarily, instead of getting rid of the cause of your anguish and stress. Your broken marriage, your dead love life, your need for money and happiness… Only the cross goes to the root of the problem.
• Psalm 23:20 ::
• Psalm 23:21 ::
• Psalm 23:22 :: Save Israel from all the suicide bombers, the hatred and misunderstanding from Muslims, the people who use religion as a cover for political statements in their ignorance, the dislike from other countries when outsiders don’t understand what their military does. Israelites are not orthodox Jews, they are Americans, Russians, Europeans, Christians and non Christians alike. They throw ‘missionaries’ and ‘preachers’ out of their country because they are not poor and ignorant natives. They are like an America, just surrounded on all sides by hateful or mistrusting neighbors. They need works of love and service for their poor and lonely, not ‘the end is near’ street-prophets.

My thoughts and reflections hardly match the same thoughts you’ll have when reading Psalm 23, but you know, that’s part of having the Holy Spirit – everything you fnd there is different, for each person. If you’re curious, or hate Jesus, or just wanna know WTF is all this stuff about, It’s a good idea to read about the man himself and what makes him unique in the bible and why christianity is a good idea and different from other religions.

I’m open to questions, but if you ask me one that’s really hard, I might google it and find a page for you that gives a better answer than I can. <:3