Lent

March 15, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
   He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
   he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
   for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
   I 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;
   my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
   my whole life long.

I memorized Psalm 23 when I was a child from the King James version of the Bible. It remains etched in my mind in that format. Grammar rules have changed, and even the meaning of the words has been realigned. I still prefer “and will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” over “my whole life long.” My bias has nothing to do with my concept of life after death. It has to do with the level of my commitment. I do not like the idea of setting a cutoff time for my commitment. It is also not as poetic. I would have left the word “long” off.

I do, however, recognize that times changes, so I have a grammar/spell checker on my computer because grammar is particularly different from when I was in grade school. We use a lot more commas now, for one thing. I do like the change to using the word “they” instead of she or he as the pronoun to correspond to the person.

It is not just grammar or spelling that we need to adjust.  Worldviews change over time. When we read something written 2000 years ago, we must consider the worldview of that time and place and sift out the context of the writing, which is eternal and as meaningful to us today as it was to Abraham or Sharah.

Prayer: Lord, help us to do our best to present ourselves to God as approved by him, workers who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15.) Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.