Bethberry wrote:
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I offer this as one example of a passage in LotR which can legitimately sustain two interpretations. Is this a passage which Tolkien niggled at?
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Indeed it is. In the first draft, the conversation with Denethor ended just before the passages you quoted.
As a matter of fact, I would say that this constitutes one of the few actual pieces of evidence in support of Tolkien's assertion that LotR was "consciously so [Christian] in the revision". The words may puzzle the reader who does not know Gandalf's true nature; in light of the further information found in the appendices and in UT, it seems clear that Gandalf is referring to a kind of stewardship over Middle-earth, in service of Manwe (the King of Arda) or perhaps even Iluvatar.