the Lord in what is called “the fields of the forest” and also how to avoid losing
your way.
What is a spiritual forest?
A forest means the Church in respect to its knowledge, thus its external aspects, as
in David: “We found Him in the fields of the forest.” – (Arcana Coelestia 9011)
The Church is called a forest, a garden and a paradise. It is called “a forest” by
virtue of its knowledge, “a garden” by virtue of its intelligence, and “a paradise”
by virtue of its wisdom. For “trees” are perceptions of goodness and truth, and
also the knowledge of them. Since “a forest” means the Church is in respect to
its knowledge, thus in respect to its external aspects, it also means its religious
practices. (Ibid.)
The meaning of the Psalm, therefore, is that you find the Lord in the
knowledge of the Church, in its external aspects, and in its religious practices.
It is an obvious statement. How else would a person know anything about the
Lord?
A forest beautifully represents the quantity and variety of knowledge that
are possible. It is the most densely populated of all habitats, both in numbers
and the variety of life forms. When you walk in the woods you never know
what you might find. At any point where you stand there are hundreds and
even thousands of living things within only a few feet of you. Most of these are
unseen, hidden behind leaves, overhead, inside of trees, or underground. Even
in winter the woods teem with life.
The knowledges of the Church present you with a similarly large array
of information and possibilities. Every part of the Word can be endlessly
examined, and it contains vast truths hidden within it, like the hidden life of
a forest.
A forest, however, only represents the external knowledge of the Church
or the Word. In the Psalm, to find Him in Ephrathah means “to do so in the
spiritual celestial sense of the Word,” (Arcana Coelestia 4585, 4595), whereas
to find Him “in the fields of the forest denotes in the natural or literal sense of
the Word.” (Ibid. 9406, 3220, 9011; also Apocalypse Explained 700)
You can find the Lord in the literal sense of the Word, for it frequently
speaks of Him and describes Him. You can find Him more clearly in the
spiritual sense of the Word, where the inconsistencies of a God who is
sometimes angry and punishing, who prefers His chosen people to all others,
and who is somehow pleased by animal sacrifice, disappears and is replaced by
a Lord who is love and wisdom itself. This is Ephrathah.
The name Bethlehem takes this same idea to an even higher level. For
Bethlehem is knowledge that is so full of heavenly love that the Lord is present
there absolutely, a new state of knowledge that bridges the gap between earth
and heaven. (See Arcana Coelestia 4585)
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