I was so happy to inherit that title,
Metaphysical 23rd Psalm,
Because there's so much confusion around certain passages and happenings in Bible stories and some folks have just jettisoned those gifts,
Those treasures,
Because they seem inexplicable or hard to understand and make relevant.
And yet this,
This incredible Psalm is not just something to quote at funerals.
This Psalm is transformative.
If you know our spiritual mind treatment affirmative prayer process,
Then this Psalm accomplishes the power phases,
Which are the first two phases of affirmative prayer.
The phase of acknowledging the living spirit,
The mighty presence of the living spirit and all of its good.
And then the second phase,
Understanding that we're of that,
That we are spiritual beings and that we have this relationship with the divine and it can unfold through us.
And so this is an incredible feast for us this day.
And I invite you to open your hearts to this song of love and praise that can really shift your consciousness into a higher bandwidth of good.
Now before we unpack this 23rd Psalm,
Let's just talk about a Psalm.
That word comes from the Greek meaning song and from the Hebrew meaning praise.
So the Psalms are songs of praise.
They actually were like the hymnal of the Hebrew people.
And there are 150 of them.
They're attributed to David,
King David.
Scholars now feel like he wrote probably 73 of them,
Not all of them.
And yet they're precious.
They're held in some cases by some individuals to be magical,
This body of work,
These Psalms.
Now the 23rd Psalm,
That most definitely was written by David.
You know in his early days in his youth,
David was a simple shepherd and he was a musician.
He was a romantic and a poet.
Now later on when he slew Goliath,
He became a hero.
And then he became king.
And as king,
He had some victories and then he had some huge tumblings.
He fell.
He fell to such a dark place he was hiding out in a cave.
He needed something.
It's the same thing I think we need,
Every one of us.
Because there'll be those times when it feels like we've been stuffed into a cave.
Nothing's working.
And we're trying everything we know how to do.
It just doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.
Or am I the only one that's walked through that?
And so you see David,
He had to come to terms with something that this Psalm invites us to come to terms with.
And that is the arrogance of the ego.
To come to terms with the arrogance of thinking that we really understand the universe.
The arrogance of thinking that we know what's best for ourselves,
Always.
That our knowledge is complete and sufficient.
And that we can just go our merry way.
And for a while we do those things until they fall short.
And we need something like David needed something.
We need to surrender.
Not surrender in a powerless way,
But we need to surrender into proper alignment with the source that is ready to give us ideas beyond anything we know.
Our knowledge is a speck of the divine wisdom.
And all our knowledge is from the past.
And the divine wisdom is ready to initiate us into what we don't even know we don't know.
Into that greater bandwidth of knowledge.
It's that right relationship with that power that can lead us beyond what we know.
And create serendipity and magic and can use us as a light,
As an opening for something.
And so yeah,
This Psalm says let's get out,
As Emerson said,
Let's get our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits.
The pretense we make of life.
There's power from time to time in remembering that when we become childlike and we access a greater bandwidth of intelligence and love,
We're one with it and yet we close ourselves off from it.
When we become childlike and open to that,
Life begins to work.
And we realize that we can access more than we know.
If we keep referencing that old stuff,
That's what we're going to get.
Same old,
Same old.
Creates same old,
Same old.
David surrendered.
He took stock.
And then he remembered when he was a shepherd and how much he loved the sheep.
And he remembered,
Oh,
The Lord is my shepherd.
I got it made.
Well,
He said,
I shall not want.
The Lord is my shepherd.
What a remarkably transformative and powerful declaration.
If our religion,
If your religion was simply that phrase,
Alive in you,
Awake in you,
You would move mountains.
And David got it.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Now,
Shepherds in those days,
That was a position of tremendous responsibility because sheep were so important.
Their wool was a source for clothes and for tents and they provided milk and butter and cheese and meat.
In many respects for a nomadic desert people,
Sheep were their only real property.
And so a skilled and dedicated shepherd was a high,
High position.
Many of them were even famous.
And a shepherd had to greet many,
Many challenges.
They had to find good grazing places and lots of water.
And so the really skilled shepherds,
They knew the secret wells and the best grazing and the best routes.
And they were so close to and caring for the sheep that the sheep loved them and they knew,
They recognized the voice of the shepherd.
And David thought,
How much more is this power for good of which I am an expression?
I'm going to get out of the way and let it work through me.
I'm going to go beyond my stinkin' thinkin',
As we say,
That's a theological term around here.
And I'm going to let myself be inspired.
And then he would proclaim,
I shall not want.
Having that awakening,
He entered into the fullness of the kingdom.
Jesus,
Centuries later would say,
The kingdom of God is within you.
It's the kingdom of ever expanding good.
And David realized that.
He was ready to receive,
Open,
Not dogmatic in his old stuff,
But open.
He would say,
I shall not want.
And notice that he wasn't pleading,
He wasn't begging.
Because in that moment he realized God isn't a distant,
Uncaring,
Withholding,
Judging being.
God is the very ground of my being.
It is all love and all intelligence.
It has produced me.
And I'm ready to let it work through me,
To bring forth my highest possibility in this life.
And so I offer humbly an alternative phrase for this.
So I'm going to put this up here.
This is another way,
Not to take away from the poetic beauty of that psalm,
But just to bring more light and understanding to it.
I would say that this means infinite love is my all knowing guide.
In divine supply I am secure.
Do you know that infinite love that's your all knowing guide?
Say this with me in the yellow.
Infinite love is my all knowing guide.
In divine supply I am secure.
And having that realization,
Then David would say he makes me to lie down in green pastures and he leads me beside the still waters.
And an incredible metaphor there because a good shepherd knows you've got to take the sheep into really good grazing land so they produce the best possible milk.
And that having graze,
Spent a long day grazing,
That the sheep would then delight in laying down in the grass,
The cool grass,
Digesting and being.
And David said,
Oh that's what happened.
This transformation that I've undergone here has guided me to my source of nourishment.
So much so that I can let go of my struggle consciousness.
And I can be in a very powerful way.
Then he said he leads me beside the still waters.
Very powerful as well because sheep instinctively know that if they fall into swift flowing waters,
The weight of their soaked wool will pull them immediately to the bottom.
They won't be able to stand up and they'll drown.
And so a good shepherd knows to lead the sheep to still safe waters where they can slake their thirst.
And so David said,
Yeah that's what happens.
That's what's happening in me now.
Even while I'm still in this cave,
What I know is I'm being nourished.
And I can relax from thinking my struggles are going to win the day.
And I can let power work through me and guide me and become me.
And I can drink.
I can eat and I can drink from the life giving resources of God.
So this is how I would invite us to consider and think about this.
I rest in God's fullness.
I am guided into inner peace.
Let's say that together.
I rest in God's fullness.
I am guided into inner peace.
Ah yes.
And then David would say he restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Now the shift that David make and that I'm inviting us to make energized the transformation at the core of his being.
He was no longer operating in this arrogant separate consciousness.
But he was back plugged in.
And the minute we return to our oneness and don't superimpose our own limited consciousness upon it but open to it transformation begins to happen.
We don't even have to make it happen.
It begins to happen at the level of our thought,
Our emotions,
Throughout our body,
Through the body of our experience.
Because we're really in that open surrendered space to allow this work to happen through us.
And we're participants and yet we're also learning how to cooperate with that.
And so we find ourselves restored,
Brought back to our original state of blessedness.
We're restored to a right relationship with the all providing source that has always wanted to bless you,
Me and everyone and that can only do so at the level of our acceptance,
Our cooperation.
And at this point David's wide open and he proclaims I'm transformed.
And he leads me in the paths of righteousness.
Now righteousness metaphysically means right paths and for his name's sake.
So very often in the Bible it brings forth light when we shift name to nature.
So I'm guided to the highest paths according to my true nature.
That's how I would put this.
Let's read this one or I'll read it.
Then you get to read it.
I'm restored,
Transformed in true oneness.
I'm shown the highest paths for expressing my true nature.
Doesn't that feel good?
To realize that if we'll get out of the way the transformation occurs and we just are in this inquisitive constant listening and accepting and readiness to respond to the nudgings and the leading.
So let's say this together.
I'm restored in true oneness.
I'm shown the highest paths for expressing my true nature.
And then David reaches this incredible PowerPoint in his message,
In his song of praise.
Perhaps the most often quoted part of this.
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.
You see,
David knew all about the high times in life but he found himself in the deepest valley.
And we can all have,
We've all had valley experiences on our path.
But the presence is just as with us in the valley as it is at the peak.
And David is realizing this.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow,
Now he says walk through and the nice message there is if we just keep moving,
Don't pitch tent in your dark times.
Keep moving,
Keep moving through the valley of the shadow.
Now that was a very real thing for a shepherd.
The valley of the shadow were what they called the valleys,
The deep crevices between the mountains where they would try to lead the sheep to better grazing.
And they were perilous.
They were very perilous because the sheep could fall off these paths on the sides of these mountains in the valley or he could,
The shepherd could.
And also there were robbers there.
So there are perils in the valley.
I think for us the greatest perils are our encounter with change and with loss.
None of us can get through this life without experiencing unexpected and challenging,
Soul-wrenching change and the loss,
The loss of a loved one,
The loss of a pet,
Loss of a business,
Loss of a dream,
Loss of a relationship.
Loss happens and yet notice that when he says I will fear no evil,
Evil is often translated as error.
The error that we make when we're going through change and loss in these valley times is that it's forever or that it has crushed us,
That it has diminished us in an unhealable way.
And so we're being told,
Hey,
You know what,
Keep moving.
Don't fall into that error of fear that you've been deserted,
That God doesn't work for you but for others,
That the law isn't the law in your case.
Hold faith to that.
And know this.
He talks about the shadow of death.
That's perhaps one of the greatest changes that we experience and we all know we'll go through that experience we've mislabeled as death which we call a transition.
He says the shadow of death because you know all of these changes happen at the surface of life and yet there's something unchanging and consistent and reliable at the core of all life,
The core of you and me in any situation or circumstance such that the phoenix of spirit always rises out of the ashes of loss.
And David's realizing,
Well,
It's like death is like a shadow.
It's like an illusion.
If you cast a shadow by playing with your fingers in front of a light,
That shadow is real.
It's just an expression of what's going on and it's temporal.
And he said,
Yeah,
Death is like a shadow because it's an illusion.
Nothing really has died.
The essence,
The spirit never dies.
He was acknowledging birthless,
Deathless,
Changeless spirit and saying even in those changes whether in my life or in those around me,
Thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff,
They comfort me.
Now the rod was a two or three foot club that the good shepherd would use to beat away predators and the staff was a long pole with a hook on the end,
The shepherd's crook that the shepherd would use to rescue a sheep if it was wobbling on a precipice,
Grab it by the neck,
Pull it to safety.
So the club,
The rod represents courage and I believe that that shepherd's crook represents truth.
And so that's what supports us and comforts us.
What a beautiful passage that we all need as we navigate the changes of life.
Let's see how we might understand that even more fully.
Even when I walk through times of change or loss,
I will not become lost in fear for God is the reality of my being and with courage and truth I am uplifted.
Let's say this.
Even when I walk through times of change or loss,
I will not become lost in fear for God is the reality of my being and with courage and truth I am uplifted.
Ah,
Then at this point David,
He soars to a crescendo in this incredible song of truth.
He says,
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil,
My cup runneth over.
I love that because he's saying even in the presence of what looks in our lives like the enemy,
Like that which is intimidating or limiting us,
The banquet feast of the divine is still spread.
It's still spread.
And we can partake of that.
We can derive the good of that,
The nourishment of that.
And I don't know about you but I have often found out the truth in that cartoon from Pogo.
I have met the enemy and he is me.
I mean sometimes my biggest enemy is my stuff that I won't let go of.
My certainties,
My limiting beliefs,
My judgments,
Resentments.
All of that stuff is an enemy to my higher good,
To the impulse of the divine to prosper me and grow me.
And so even in that presence though there's that feast,
The banquet feast of the divine is available to you and me right now.
I don't know what you're facing that's a challenge,
A valley time or these quote enemies outward or inward.
But the feast is available and we can change our thinking.
We can open to the highest and truly be available to it.
And then we can return to the banquet feast and we can eat of the bread,
The bread of faith and peace and love.
We can eat of the meat of the presence of God and sip the wine of spiritual joy.
Then when things are looming in our lives.
A table before me in the presence of a.
.
.
And now anointest my head with oil.
That was one of the great pleasures in that day if you were lucky enough to have someone anoint your head with fragrant oil.
It was a beautiful thing and David also knew that a shepherd will regularly,
Almost daily,
Check the heads of the sheep for any cuts or stickers and apply a balm of healing oil to them.
And he said,
That's what's happening to me.
My inner wounds are being healed.
It's like a spiritual spa treatment happening here.
And I'm loving it.
There's this healing balm upon our hearts when we return to the feast.
And then he just exclaims from a place of sheer delight,
My cup runneth over.
Meaning I'm back in the flow and in alignment and connection with unlimited abundance of ideas of good,
Of inspiration,
Of healing energy.
I'm letting the light shine through and I can see the way.
Sometimes I have to take it step by step but the light will always be there.
At the end of the light I see there'll be more light.
And my cup runneth over.
I love that.
Now in that day if you were a really welcoming host,
Somebody stopped by your tent or your abode,
You gave them a cup and then you brought out a tea or some refreshment and you not only filled that cup but it was tradition then to fill it and let it overflow as a statement of how welcome and how open and generous your heart was.
And so David proclaimed,
My cup runneth over.
Here's how I see that to add to this.
No matter what I face a feast of support is prepared for me.
Spirit anoints me with truth awareness,
My blessings overflow.
Let's joyously proclaim this.
No matter what I face a feast of support is prepared for me.
Spirit anoints me with truth awareness,
My cup overflow.
I love that.
Then David brings this incredible high vibration praise prayer in for a landing when he says surely or certainly surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
This is the science of mind and spirit right there.
This the all good of God freely and continuously given.
Mercy the unconditional love of the spirit no matter what has been or where we are always here for us.
God's good and infinite love and we can accept it.
We can have that.
If and as we live in the house of or we are in connection with this power for good all around us and within us.
Let's conclude this with this further elaboration here.
Surely peace love and abundance shall abide in me all the days of my life and I shall celebrate my oneness with spirit now and forevermore together.
Surely peace love and abundance shall abide in me all the days of my life and I shall celebrate my oneness with spirit now and forevermore.
To feel the power the vibration of this great song.
I just pray that this has new meaning and new activity in us this day.
You know a child she declared the first phrase of this song and she kind of got it wrong but in one way I think she got it right.
She said the Lord is my shepherd and that's all I want.
Out of the mouths of babes.
I close with this short vignette about a missionary in the 1800s.
His territory was a good swath of Canada and so he would ride to a certain settlement and bring inspiration,
Comfort,
Support and then he'd ride to another and often he wouldn't get back to that original settlement for a year or more.
And so in one particular case he pulled into a settlement and he was befriended by a family.
This family had an invalid sickly little boy and this touched the heart of the missionary and before leaving he wanted to give that little boy something that he could hold to in that predicament.
And so he thought I'm going to teach him that opening line of the 23rd Psalm.
The Lord is my shepherd.
I'm going to teach him to memorize it using the thumb and four fingers of his left hand.
The Lord is my shepherd.
So he worked with the child and worked with the child until the child had it.
He had memorized it.
And before leaving the missionary turned to that child and he said,
Remember the Lord is my shepherd.
Hold on to your ring finger when you say that.
The Lord is my shepherd.
So the missionary went on his way and a little over a year later he came back to that place and heard to his heart ache that the little child had passed.
And he went to meet with the family to offer them condolence and one of the parents said,
You know it was the strangest thing.
It was a very cold,
Cold morning when our son passed away.
And it was very strange.
He always was bundled up in all these covers but in this case his hands were outside the coverlets and his right hand was grasping the ring finger of his left.
We don't understand what that was about.
Ah,
But the missionary just smiled.
He knew.
That little child had done what I invite us to do.
Claim this right relationship with the divine.
Hold to it no matter what and you'll find yourself growing and becoming in glorious ways.
Our prayer together is going to be partially open eye and then partially closed eye if you choose.
So take a deep breath and I'm going to invite us to anchor deeply within ourselves this revised version as we also bless and use the classic version.
So as this appears just very lovingly declare this with me.
Together infinite love is my all-knowing guide.
In divine supply I am secure.
I rest in God's fullness.
I am guided into inner peace.
I am restored in true oneness.
I am shown the highest path for expressing my true nature.
Even when I walk through times of change or loss I will not become lost in fear.
For God is the reality of my being and with courage and truth I am uplifted.
No matter what I face a feast of support is prepared for me.
Spirit anoints me with truth awareness.
My blessings overflow surely peace love and abundance shall abide in me all the days of my life and I shall celebrate my oneness with spirit now and forevermore.
As you gently let your eyes close perhaps you'd like to grab your ring finger of the left hand with the right.
As we realize that the greatest gift ever given to each one of us is our unity in the holy of holies in the divine love intelligence called by many names God the spirit truth love.
Ever with and within us magnificent and expansive beyond our understanding always ready to flow into our consciousness and our livingness on this day.
May we surrender from our littleness our rigidness our limiting certainties and open for the great shepherd is my guide your guide.
When we find ourselves in a consciousness of our unity with all the ideas the love the peace the power and the possibilities of the infinite.
Many years later when Francis would say Lord make me an instrument of thy peace this is what we're doing right now.
Feel this activity happening surrender the struggling the holding the clinging and sense the presence ready to lead us to the highest and the best to shine through and as us.
Oh in this consciousness I bless this day and everyone present I speak the word of wholeness and comfort for our beloved Dr.
Michelle Madrano.
I know renewal and joy for Reverend Josh and his family.
May we just pause and give thanks for all the ministers practitioners board members volunteers the entire community that is my church such a spiritual beacon shining the light of the great shepherd of all life.
And I affirm for each one of us absolute transformation and growth the level of mind body emotions and circumstance.
And so we do declare as it is written lead kindly light lead thou me on.
As we move into our greater good may we feel profoundly grateful for all is well.
Our cup runneth over.
Oh thank you divine spirit with joy we let this be so and so it is.
