Psalm 23:2 "He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness..."

"He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake" (Psalm 23:3 KJV).

Question:

This psalm is such a beloved favorite, but those four words just don't seem as poetic to me; they don't really sink in.

Comment:

I know what you mean. The rhythm seems to be off, somehow. That is often a matter of translation. And yet every translation into English I'm aware of uses the same phrase. In the Hebrew tradition there is great power attached to naming something—as witness the many biblical characters whose names are changed at key moments in their lives. The name for God was considered so sacred that it could not be written. So the metaphysical sense of this statement might be “the Lord of my being leads me in paths of righteousness as I believe in his power and guidance.”

  Blessings! Rev. Ed