As the Psalmist concludes this Psalm he alludes to the distinction between prevenient and subsequent grace. The mystery of salvation is set forth in its full splendor and many contrived paradoxes are resolved.

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The Psalmist shifts the metaphor to that of a feast, which in the movement of the Psalm speaks to the progress of the spiritual life. The sacraments are prophesied in this passage, as well as the "sober inebriation" of the table of the Lord.

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The shadow of death is this life of exile, and the Psalmist exclaims the there is no fear when one follows the good shepherd. The rod and the staff are the corrections of our sins and the mercy that God provides to stay on the right path, both of which figuratively formed the cross on which the Author of Salvation died.

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The Psalmist speaks to the "turning" of conversion, as God's grace "takes the reigns" of the soul and turns it towards Himself. The Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation are alluded to and fleshed out in the Good Shepherd's care for the sheep as He leads them on the narrow path to salvation.

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The pastures in which God sets His sheep to feed are the words and God and His commandments, and these lead to faith. The waters are a symbol of Baptism which brings faith to fruition, and this entire sacramental reality reveals the Church as the fullness of the truth and the means by which God distributes grace to world.

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In this well-known Psalm, the Psalmist casts the relationship between himself and the Lord as that between sheep and shepherd. To be shepherded by the Lord is to be ruled and led and to have complete dependence on Him for all that is good and total submission of one's will. The care of the shepherd for the sheep is such that the sheep will want for nothing, and this is preeminently fulfilled by our Lord the Good Shepherd in the Eucharist.

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The coming of the Lord is judgment closes out this Psalm, as the Psalmist speaks of the judgment in justice (aequitas) and truth (veritas). The impending and inevitable judgment is not a source of fear for those united to Christ but rather of hope, as it culminates their redemption.

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The Psalmist describes the exultation of the physical world at the presence of the Lord, and these various aspects of nature signify the work of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. The fields are those who in humility are prepared to receive from the Lord, while the trees are those who were formerly barren who have had the "woodiness" of sin cleared away so as to be transformed.

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The Incarnation and Second Coming of the Lord is now prophesied by the Psalmist who sets it in terms of the praises of the physical world. The ancient Gnostic heresies could not accept the Incarnation as a reality, but it is the bedrock of redemption in which the totality of man in soul and body participates.

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Adoration is the end of sacrifice, which is perfected in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. By uniting ourselves to Christ we are able to render to God the homage and worship and adoration He is due. The admixture of reverence and adoration forms the ground of the "fear of the Lord," which recognizes His supremacy over all things. The Psalmist prophesies His two comings in the Incarnation and the Second Coming, wherein the earth is moved at His presence, and we are likewise to be "moved" as we approach the Blessed Sacrament of the altar which contains His true and entire presence.

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