By: Mike Kelly
Retired Pastor
One of the great benefits of living when we do is that we can read different translations of the Bible. Some friends recently gave us a copy of the 1966 version of the Jerusalem Bible which is used in many Catholic traditions.
It’s not a Bible I would use for my personal study but that has to do with more theological reasons that I can get into here.
That said, I was struck by the translation of the 23rd Psalm. A couple of familiar passages took on a new life when read in this translation.
The KJV that many of us memorized reads in V2 “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” He maketh me to lie down…can be read in my mind as He forces me…or he created me to…he directs me to lie down.
TJB reads “In grassy meadows he lets me lie…” That means to me he blesses me by allowing me to lay down. The concept of being blessed makes what He does feel even more special. He goes out of his way to find places I can feel safe in.
It goes on to read in V3-4a “By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit….” Where the KJV reads “he leadeth me beside the still waters. He renews my strength.”
The leading to still streams has a purpose: to restore my spirit. I often need my spirit renewed. It is a thought pattern I understand. When I think about “strength” I think physical stamina, not spiritual need. Being a kind of “energizer bunny” I see my spirit depleted a lot more often than my body.
Knowing that the quiet spaces are for my spiritual renewal helps me to both seek them and appreciate them more.
The last verse is another that struck deeply. KJV says “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:…” While the TJB reads “Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life…”
My first note is “mercy” is often quickly defined as not getting the punishment or the consequences you do deserve. So mercy withholds judgment but “faithful love” goes way beyond that. It incorporates God’s entire character.
Attributes like holiness, omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), and omnipresence (everywhere). And his key moral character traits include being loving, merciful, gracious, compassionate, just, and faithful as well as immutable (unchanging) and eternal.
Doesn’t that make your heart sing to know that God is pursuing you? Pursuing seems so much more action-oriented, passion-driven than simply “following.” God is actively chasing after me.
He wants to make sure I don’t get lost or attacked without him being close by. To my mind, it feels like being wrapped up in a security blanket.
Here is the entire Psalm 23 in the Jerusalem Bible: “[Psalm Of David] Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing. In grassy meadows he lets me lie. By tranquil streams he leads me to restore my spirit. He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits his name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side. Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me. You prepare a table for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims over.
Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life. I make my home in the house of Yahweh for all time to come.”
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Mike Kelly is the founding pastor of Bryan’s Grace Community Church (retired) and Board Chairman of Bryan’s Sanctuary Homeless Shelter and Williams County’s Compassion (free) Medical Clinic.