하나님께 가까이 함이 내게 복이라(시편73:28)

SPR Reading Psalm 23

Eun Suk Cho

1 The Lord is my shepherd,

I shall not be in want.

2. He makes me lie down in green pasturers,

he heads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

3. He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name's sake.

4. Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of fdeath,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5. You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6. Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This is an Exodus Psalm. Like Israelites from Egypt, David, the poet, confesses that YHWH God, as the Shepherd, guides him through the ways to the eternity.

There are two SPRs found in Psalm 23: verses 1-5; verse 6.

SPR 1

S. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.

P. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before in the presence of my enemies.

R. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

SPR 2

S. By SPR in verses 1-5

P. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

R. and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

This double SPR structure is made out of a Hebrew poetry character by incompleteness, lacking "S" for the second P and R in verse 6, ironically, highlights the completeness of the SPR spirituality. Here we find a strong evidence that SPR itself serves as S, the holiness, leading another paths of SPR. This way, the walk of faith with Jesus Christ never ends until we arrive at the Kingdom of God.