FRIDAY March 7th
We are remaining in the Old Testament again today as we go to a well-known Psalm that uses the word prepare, and it is the great Shepherd psalm, Psalm 23 and we will read it all:
‘The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.’
It is there in verse 5 ‘You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.’
We have an incredible Shepherd, if I stopped at that it is enough, but we continue, he it is who is constantly leading us, feeding us, caring for us and watching over us. The whole psalm speaks of all that he is daily preparing for us, so much so that we will not be wanting; he has prepared green pastures, still waters, paths of righteousness, comfort, anointing, an overflowing cup, the house where we will dwell forever. But the word ‘prepare’ slips into verse 5 and reminds us that he prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. Now how often do we read this, and stop and wonder what it means?
I looked at a number of commentators as to how they see this and there were a variety of answers, but I want to make a suggestion, and mine is only one among the others, that we are privileged as those who are born again and as those who know Jesus as our Saviour to come and feast on his pleasures of delight, to pull ourselves up to a spiritual table where he the Shepherd is willing to feed us.
Now it could be a picture of this present age, that daily we should, we must, we need to come to the table he has prepared for us, and we are surrounded by our enemies, which / who are anything and everything and anyone that goes against who we are as God’s children. And as we come to the table the powers of darkness stand back, and they see us feasting at the table. But the challenge is this, the table is prepared for us, but do we pull our chair up to it on a regular basis, do our enemies see us feasting or do we fail to get our daily spiritual supply of food because we are not seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. For it is as we hunger and thirst that we will desire to come to the table and be filled with righteousness.
But then in the Psalm it chronologically comes after we have gone through the valley of the shadow of death and could also point to a wonderful feast that is being prepared for us in heaven, a feast that is for all who are going to enter the house of the Lord forever. Heaven is going to have a party! It is going to be the party of all parties, and I want to be there, I want you to be there, so pull up your chair to the table and receive all that God has for you through the Lord Jesus Christ.