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 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 love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23 New International Version
This twenty-third psalm from the NIV translation of the Bible highlights how even though the author is in an evil world that threatens them, they “fear no evil” because of God’s presence. Because of said presence, not only are they safe, not only are they protected, not only are they calm, they are prospering. God anoints them with oil, which can signify blessing of the receiving person. All of this courage is via the grace of God, as shown in the first few lines.
This calm is shown in various other ways. The author states that God “prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Not only is God providing safety in an evil place, he is setting out a blessing in front of the author because of their faith. One would hardly consider sitting down and resting in a strange land filled with death. However, the author does. All because of God’s protection, the author has no fear of anything the world may have in store.
All of this calmness and protection the author feels I can relate to. All of the aforementioned peace I feel because of the knowledge of God’s presence around my life. Reminding myself of these verses is crucial to my success because I need to remember that even though I may be afraid, God is with me always. These few lines successfully and succinctly sum up the way I feel about surviving in this current society.
“ successfully and succinctly sum up”
The reoccurring sound in the sentence draws more attention to the individual words, thus adding more emphasis to how effectively the passage summed up the broader point. The reader is forced to focus on the words more than they usually would.
“ However, the author does.”
The shorter sentence adds an abrupt pause to the paragraph, which makes the reader stop short and consider the simple point that was made.