Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever!
Psalm 23:6
This is an amazing ending to this Psalm…this song! The Shepherd King looks back on his life of mountains and valleys…a life of waywardness and thriving and he lands on goodness and mercy being with him for all the days of his life.
And not just goodness and mercy randomly out there being bumped into now and then. NO! The picture here is goodness and mercy pursuing David, running after David, chasing David; you could even say stalking David (in the very best sense, of course!) This king knew that any effectiveness he had throughout his life was directly impacted by God’s goodness and mercy chasing after him; day in and day out; month after month and year and year. In the good days and the bad David was pursued by God in all His goodness and mercy!
There is a sure connection for David between verse six and the previous verse five. If we feast at God’s table, if we are anointed with pouring oil, and our cup overflows…It is ALL God…AND all that feasting, pouring and overflowing pursues us and should be shared and outpoured and spilled over wherever we go and with whomever we meet. We shouldn’t just splash around in the excess and get fattened on the feast. In fact, Jesus has very strong words for any sheep (in or out of His pasture) who settle for splashing and fattening up!
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
Matthew 23:25
Let’s not be Pharisees!!
David was no Pharisee, either! He was a man after God’s own heart. A sinner clinging to his Savior, Shepherd King! He kept his heart turned into God’s sanctuary and looking forward to dwelling in the house of the LORD forever! Eternal life with His Creator was David’s longing and his heart song. Dwelling in God’s Sanctuary was foundational to this shepherd’s day; good or bad. David realized that though there was (and is) an eternal home with the Savior (“I go and prepare a place for you”) that he could and did thrive in God’s presence which pursued him every day of his life here on Earth!
When I believed that Jesus is the Son of God and that He shed His blood on the cross for my sins, thus paying the penalty I deserved and He paid it wholly and completely with no need of help from me AND when I believed that He rose again on the third day and conquered my greatest enemy…death…AND when I believed He did this by grace alone…through faith alone…In Christ alone…at that very day…in that very moment…on my six-year old knees bowing before the King of Kings…I gained eternal life and have been living this eternal life ever since!!
Grant it my address is earthly and I am just a stupid sheep…for now. BUT, I have eternal life right now and have had it since I was six years old! I am just waiting for God to change my address and my last breath in this life is simply God holding my hand and guiding me into His perfect pastures and eternity with Him in Glory!
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them to me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.
Anointing the head with oil is taken seriously in the Bible. It is for specific purposes and administered by specific offices. And those who hold such an official duty must be qualified in their own lives (See James 5:14) to perform this sacred ceremony. It is not something we should participate in flippantly or for show or out of superstition. Anointing the head with oil is an extension of prayer and fasting; it is not a magic trick or bartering with God. It is a sign of God’s extravagant protection, provision and eternal prosperity for His anointed.
David, knew all about having the head anointed with oil. When his own head was anointed by the prophet Samuel, David, the shepherd, knew firsthand the symbolism of such a ceremony. David would have anointed his father’s sheep regularly to ward off insects and disease which could have quickly and painfully disseminated an entire herd. This anointing was not just a “little dab will do ya” either! Oil was poured and rubbed in all over the sheep’s head for its protection and the prosperity of the herd.
As oil dripped down his own face, David would realize the divine protection and authority and comfort covering him not only for his eventual kingship but for the days, which turned into years, leading to his coronation. Surely the myriad of moments in which God protected David and orchestrated his life were on the Psalmist’s mind when he wrote; “You anoint my head with oil.” This reflection of God’s anointing is not just about Samuel’s physical anointing of David, the shepherd. It is a reflection by David, the King of Israel, praising God for His continual anointing…of pouring the oil: protection, provision and prosperity. A little dab was not enough for David!
Anointing is seeking God’s blessing, His protection and guidance, His healing. Ultimately it is seeking His will and asking for our faith and trust to be increased to be able to thrive in God’s will, whatever it may be. And if that is true, and it is, I don’t think “a little dab will do ya” is what God had in mind. At least it was never just a dab in our biblical examples. The oil was always poured.
When Mary administered a costly perfume on Jesus’ feet, she poured it…all of it…all over Jesus’ feet! Let’s not forget that a certain disciple (Judas) was incensed over this “waste” of resources. One (Mary) wanted God’s extravagance above all else. The other (Judas) wanted all the world could give him and nothing else, not even God.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5a
Who wouldn’t want to have Psalm 23:5 happen to them? I mean, you have The Shepherd preparing a feast for you and anointing your head with oil and filling your cup to overflowing with God’s own specialty beverage, which has to be amazingly delicious.
And the idea here is not just a one-time feast or a one-time anointing or just one cup overflowing, but rather a continuous lavishing of The Shepherd on you…on me…His stubborn self-absorbed sheep!
Sounds great, right?
Until maybe we catch the phrase, “in the presence of my enemies.” We may not be real comfortable with that idea. We like our enemies at a distance; out of sight and out of mind. We don’t want enemies lurking about or invading too close to our personal space. We avoid contact with enemies at all costs. We may even be tempted to tell God to get those enemies out of our banquet hall or we won’t be able to enjoy any of the feast or specialty drinks He has prepared.
But, as is always the case with God, The Shepherd knows what He is doing and the enemies will stay “in presence”. To help us understand, the why of our enemies being present at our feast; lets expose just who are the enemies. Some of these categories are obvious, but some may surprise us.
First, let’s expose the category of a true mortal enemy; the bad guy or bad girl (don’t want to exclude the females here.) This is a person who has actually done us or someone we love physical harm, maybe even caused the death of someone we love. This person may or may not have been convicted of their crime, but the guilt of what they have done is not disputed. They did physical harm. Interestingly, whether they have been convicted or not, the trauma of being such a victim and its effect on our daily lives is always with us. Even if we never speak with them or communicate with them in any way, this enemy is with us. How much influence and power we allow this person to have on us solely depends on how much we believe Psalm 23:5.
Second, the next enemy category is that of a social enemy. This person, again, male or female, has harmed us, but not physically. But, by a host of means, this person has harmed us materially, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually or any combination of these. This enemy can be very sly and deceptive and in one simple Tweet can transform a comfortable and full life into a disheveled heap of disaster and pain.
This category differs from physical harm in several ways.
A: There is often less legal recourse to the victim. Or, as can be the case, the justification for legal action to take place just isn’t there.
B: There may be no way to “prove” that harm has been done though with so much of this type of harm invading social media in our modern culture, the proof seems always to be “out there”.
C: It is often harder for us to separate ourselves from these enemies.
D: We must admit that sometimes, these enemies are only in our own minds. Or, at the very least, the extent of their harm to us is only in our minds.
But, whether with concrete evidence or with our own conjecture, the social enemy ends up being in our presence 24/7 and 365 days a year…year after year, after year. They seem to always be in our head and, if we are honest, we let this enemy camp out there…in our head. We deny this vehemently to anyone and everyone who will listen, but our social enemies are ever present with us at the table feast.
Third, and sadly, the next category of enemy is the mob enemy. Social media has exasperated a hundred-fold the power of the mob. These enemies use the power of the “crazed mob effect” to perpetrate their truly evil terror on an innocent soul or on a whole populace. From the online girl bullies perpetrating lies about the person who doesn’t fit in at their school to radical beheading haters who laugh at their own vile videotaped executions; the mob feeds on its own mentality. The mob relies on the fact that a single person would never treat another human being with the planned cruelty, but the promise of anonymity allows the mob group to do just about anything to others and even enjoy being as cruel an enemy as possible.
Side Note: These true mob groups escalate the plight of false enemy groups. In most cultures, these people groups are considered enemies simply because of the color of their skin or their religious beliefs. For them, simply existing is tantamount to treason in their culture. The largest percentage of Christians around the world live as such enemies in their countries though they do not commit any criminal offense save for the one of loving Jesus. In the good ‘ole USA it is hard for us to imagine such a daily existence though we may not be far from joining our brothers and sisters around the world who truly sit in the presence of their enemies every day.
Fourth, the enemy we face here is much harder for us to admit and face because the fourth enemy is ourselves! This enemy goes with us everywhere we go. Sits everywhere we sit. Sleeps where we sleep. This enemy is relentless! We try to hush this enemy up with meager results. Maybe we exercise three hours a day or we eat three hours a day. We may drink or smoke or shoot up daily just to keep this enemy at bay for a little while. We buy clothes and toys and houses and pay for people to keep up all the barns we fill up just to quite the enemy.
But until we realize it is The Shepherd who sets our table called “life”, we will never win the victory over the enemy of ourselves.
Fifth, this enemy is the curse of this world which gives us all kinds of disease and sickness and pandemics. The curse also gives us man’s ill treatment against man and against the animal kingdom and against creation itself. The curse pits creation against creation and the powerful against the powerful leaving the weak in their destructive path.
Sixth, and our ultimate enemy is the Father of Lies, Satan! He sets in motion the hate groups, the bullies, the criminals, the mobs. He spreads the lies of prejudice and superiority. He glamorizes evil and calls evil good and good evil. He tries to exchange The Truth with his lies and he tries to sabotage The Shepherds table. Notice I say, he tries to. Ultimately, he cannot and never will. But he can keep us from the table that is set before us. That is the real battle and one we must win and one we can only win through Jesus Christ!
Stay at God’s table that is set before us!
At God’s table we are protected as we feast!
Until heaven, we will always have enemies around us, but if we stay seated at the table the Good Shepherd has set before us then we will feast heartily, we will be blessed (on God’s terms, not America’s terms) and our lives will overflow for God’s Glory!
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
The question for a disciple of Jesus Christ is not whether the glass is half empty or half full, but rather why isn’t the glass full? And not just full…it should be overflowing. God’s extravagance is always with us, as His sheep, it is always available to us. We should always have overflowing cups! It doesn’t matter whether we are having the best day in our lives or the worst year in a lifetime.
I am not talking about an annoying Pollyanna sugarcoating of evil or a head in the clouds denial of bad things happening to us. I am talking about thriving in the bad…in the evil. We can do that. We are actually commanded to do that. We have thousands of years of saints (aka; sheep) witnesses who have done exactly that. I think the disconnect for us is that we have traded in God’s “My cup overflows” for the American version of self-reliance or as Oswald Chambers calls it, self-awareness.
Self-awareness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of our life in God, and self-awareness continually produces a sense of struggling and turmoil in our lives. Self-awareness is not sin, and it can be produced by nervous emotions or by suddenly being dropped into a totally new set of circumstances. Yet it is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him. Anything that disturbs our rest in Him must be rectified at once, and it is not rectified by being ignored but only by coming to Jesus Christ. If we will come to Him, asking Him to produce Christ-awareness in us, He will always do it, until we fully learn to abide in Him.
My Utmost for His Highest: August 19/Oswald Chambers…
One of the clearest proofs that the Bible is true; both spiritually and historically, is the uncompromising honesty found in the Bible. There is not one biblical hero (as we call them) who has it “all together”, other than Christ, of course.
And just for the record, Jesus is no mere hero. So, let’s keep the King of Kings out of that demeaning category, please!
Anyway, the history of the people in the Bible was not sugar coated. They were all basically a mess and in need of a Savior. The basic difference in the lives chronicled by the Bible are those who realized they were a mess and needed a Savior (Sheep in God’s Pasture) and found their cups overflowing in spite of themselves and circumstances. And those people who were a mess, but either didn’t care or didn’t want to acknowledge their messiness and therefore did not look for their Creator, so not in God’s Pasture, and no overflowing cups. And that is all of the human race in a nutshell. One is either in God’s Pasture as His Sheep or one is not.
Can we thrive in bad days? In a bad year or years?
For the sheep of God’s pasture, the answer is a resounding…YES!!
The steps of a man are established by the LORD and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One Who holds his hand. I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or their decedents begging bread.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
Psalm 23:5a
There are a lot of enemies running around in our world these days and most of them are not in the news every day! The beginning of this verse has two equal parts and they are both equally misunderstood and misused, at least by me. Maybe you will be able to relate.
I love this truth of God, The Shepherd, preparing a table for me. It actually blows my mind to think this God of Creation not only takes the time to do this, He wants to do it! God wants to take care of me! He wants to take care of you! Crazy, isn’t it!? He doesn’t begrudgingly go about giving me tidbits here and there or haphazardly throw scraps my way. He lovingly and graciously prepares a table for me.
In 2018, I set a milestone in my life by visiting my 50th state, Alaska! It is almost surreal to think of how God has allowed me to do this and the blessings and some heartaches that have come with this distinction. One of the blessings in being in all 50 states is eating! I don’t have a very adventurous pallet, but I have always tried to make a point of trying some of the local cuisine every trip or every new home location.
I’ve had everything from amazing Alaskan halibut to Maine lobsters to Nebraska beef and Louisiana jambalaya. And I’ve had just about every good, bad and ugly experience in a host of different styles of restaurants. I can honestly say that it made no difference if it was a “hole in the wall diner” or a 5-Star high rise restaurant, if the table set before me was thoughtfully executed and the service spot on, the food was just that much better.
But if the table set before me was sticky with food scrapes at my feet and the service rude or uninviting, even the most delicious food was spoiled and the meal experience ruined. So, let’s clean up the mess surrounding this precious verse, clean up the misunderstandings and really enjoy the feast God has for us.
See you at our next table reservation!
How blessed is the man who does not walk in counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor seat in the seat of scoffers.
Experiencing the valley of the shadow of death is common to all of us and not just physical death. There are many types of death in our lives.
The death of a lost relationship.
The death of losing a job.
The death of losing our mental faculties.
The death of financial security.
The death of success.
The death of a dream.
Each one of these types of losses can leave us exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And that exhaustion leads to a vicious cycle of worry, doubt and fear. And these lead to poor choices and shortsighted decisions which leads to hanging out in the never-ending valley of the shadow of death much longer than we ever dreamed possible.
And then we wonder, “How did it ever come to this?”
David had his share of “valley of death” experiences. Some were his own fault (think Bathsheba). Some were the jealousies of others (think King Saul.) Some were family problems (think Absalom). Some were career related (think Philistines). And some were lost relationships (think Jonathan). And when he reflected on all these valleys he could say, “I will fear no evil.” and the reason for this was because “You are with me.”
When we need comfort or we want to comfort someone else and reach for this Psalm, I think we stop reading or reciting right there, at Psalm 23:4a. We are very glad to know that through whatever valley being experienced, fear does not have to be part of that experience. And we comfort each other with reminders of God being in the valley experience. That’s great! Right?
Yes, of course, right! No fear and all God! That’s what we need! But do we take all of the One True God? Or do we really want the god we’ve made up in our heads? You know the one!
The one that gives us big hugs and says, “That’s okay. You can keep on doing this sin and I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” We want the god that gives us everything we ask for; even to bless our plans for disobedience. We want the god that we can bargain with; “You know, god, if you do this and get me out of this jam, I won’t go near a frat party for a whole month.”
We want the god that will just hurry up and show up and change our circumstances and get us out of this horrible wretched valley. We want the god that wouldn’t let us get in this valley in the first place and it doesn’t matter that it is my fault that I am stuck there. We even want the god who will zap the “enemies” who put us in this valley: the mean mother-in-law, the overbearing boss, the bully at school, the drunk driver, the thief. They don’t need any kind of god’s mercy. It is not deserved.
Being human, I would imagine that sometimes even David wanted a god like that.
But, when he looked at the history of his life and could see it as the True God ordained it, David concluded that it was The Shepherd’s rod and staff that brought the greatest comfort and peace in the valley AND provided the only way out of the valley. Seems quite the paradox, doesn’t it? A shepherd with rod and staff in hand bringing the most comfort and surety to his stubborn and wayward sheep. How can that be?
The LORD Shepherd has a rod and staff. They are called the Holy Spirit and the Bible. But here’s the thing. We have to take all of the Holy Spirit; His comfort, His peace, His joy…and His conviction and correction. We have to take the whole Bible, not just the parts that make us feel good or that we fully understand.
(Who can even do that and claim we know the full mind of God!)
We don’t like the rod and staff of The Shepherd because we think it hinders our fun in life. We think it keeps us from obtaining our idea of success and having the American dream. And we would be right on those points! God is so much greater than just having fun though He is no spoil sport. And His ways are not our ways which is a very good thing. And the American dream has absolutely nothing to do with having a life that is full and rich and meaningful.
The Shepherd uses His rod and staff to keep us close to Him. He uses them to keep us from wondering back into the valley of the shadow of death when He is trying to get us out of there. He lovingly uses His Word and gives us The Comforter (Holy Spirit) to help us see as He sees; to give us hope and increase our faith when all seems lost. But even The Shepherd can’t do all of this if we reject the Holy Spirit’s guidance, if we pick and choose what we want to believe in the Bible and what we want to obey. The One True God will not force us out of our valleys, nor will He deny His deity and supremacy over all creation, which includes each of us.
The Shepherd is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! It is He who has made us and not we ourselves. (Psalm 100) It is He who laid the very foundations of the universe and gives us breath and life. (Psalm 103) And it is He who sent His only begotten Son to save us! (John 3:16) Did Jesus go to the cross and suffer the death we deserved just so we could keep on living in the mire of our willful ways and in our sin? God Forbid! (Romans 6-8)
When we forget all these things and try to manipulate our own way in life whether on a mountain top or in the valley, we think we know better than God. That keeps us far from the reality and wonder of Psalm 23.
Like a shepherd He will tend His flock, In His arm He will gather the lambs And carry them in His bosom; He will gently lead the nursing ewes.
One Another Living 