As you remember, we are looking at Part 2 of Psalm 23 today. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me there.
We are going to start with verse four today and read through to verse six.
Scripture: Let’s take a look at that this morning.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Before I continue, I would just like to remind you of what I said last week about this particular Psalm. If I were to sum up all of Psalm 23 in one sentence it would be what Jesus said in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” That’s the guarantee. And that is the essence and the promise of Psalm 23.
As we saw last week, there’s an odd transition from verse three to verse four which says, “he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake,” and then the very next line is, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, (or in some translations, the valley of the shadow of death.)”
Odd, isn’t it? And we spent a lot of time on how and why those two verses go together. I’m not going to reiterate that too much, but I did come across an interview that Allie Beth Stuckey had with a pastor by the name of Jonny Ardavanis this week, and I would like to share with you what he said.
I’m going to paraphrase a little bit because you know how interviews and human speaking are, it’s not always in a straight line, so here’s what he essentially said:
“Romans 8:28 [says] that God is working all things out for good and for his glory to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Many people stop there and they put a period rather than a comma and they [mis]understand that God working everything out for our good is our material comfort, our safety, our physical well-being.
“But the reason that God allows us to suffer is because suffering in the scriptures… are the very instruments that God uses to wean us from this world and to remind us that we’re pilgrims. We’re on our way to a better country [green pastures] and so we have to remember even in our suffering, Roman 8:29 says, “Those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son.” So what’s God’s good plan for your life? I think a lot of people miss that God’s plan for your good is your conformity to Jesus and the only way you’re going to be conformed into the image of Jesus is if you are refined in the furnace of Affliction.”
That refinement was the subject of a sermon I did quite a while back. A few years ago.
He also said in the interview something else that I’ve said, but with an added point that I had not seen before. He said, “Suffering is a part of the will of God for our life especially as Christians because if there was no suffering there would be Perpetual Comfort here on Earth which would give us the illusion that this is our home.”
I had never thought of it quite that way. I had thought that perpetual comfort here on Earth would spoil us and make us too content and ineffective Christians. We would sink into our comfort and become Ivory Tower Christians. Not what God wants. Suffering leads to compassion. And compassion leads to ministry. Kind of the opposite of what Yoda had to say.
So now, how and why does verse four flow into verse five?
It flows because the beginning of verse four focuses on our situation, then transitions back to Christ, our shepherd leading us out of the valley of the shadow of death, and to a table. “You prepare a table before me…You anoint my head with oil.”
So it continues what we said last week. Our good shepherd takes us on the right path in and through the valley of the shadow of death. He doesn’t leave us or abandon us or say, “Wait, I’m lost. I think I took a wrong turn. I have to figure this out.” He knows exactly where he is, he leads us there, unfortunately intentionally, and guides us through, not just any old path but on the right path.
He is with us the whole time, and he comforts us as we go through this valley.
Another reason why these two verses go together so well is because it’s interesting how verse five reads because at first, it seems as if the table set before us after we’ve come out of the darkest valley, but then it seems as if it, and the rest of the Psalm, takes place while we’re still in the valley.
There’s no specific indication that this is what David intended when he wrote this psalm, but it could be the case because Jesus sets the table before us…in the presence of our enemies.
A couple of quotes from Charles Spurgeon. He said, The good man has his enemies. He would not be like his Lord if he had not. If we were without enemies we might fear that we were not the friends of God, for the friendship of the world is enmity to God. Yet see the quietude of the godly man in spite of, and in the sight of, his enemies. How refreshing is his calm bravery!
I have had a couple of strained relationships just within the past week or so because of my Christian faith. It reminds me of something Shane Pruitt, a pastor in Rockwall, Texas said, “Biblical truth has become the new hate speech.”
So yes, we are going to have enemies the more the world drifts from true, Biblical Christianity. But, the Lord is with us and will prepare a table not only before us but also before our enemies, possibly right smack dab in the middle of that darkest valley.
The second quote from Charles Spurgeon that I would like to read goes like this. He said, “But observe: “Thou preparest a table,” just as a servant does when she unfolds the…cloth and displays the ornaments of the feast on an ordinary peaceful occasion. Nothing is hurried, there is no confusion, no disturbance, the enemy is at the door, and yet God prepares a table, and the Christian sits down and eats as if everything were in perfect peace.”
Those strained relationships bother me. They grieve me. But when you know that you know that you know in your spirit that the Holy Spirit is burning within you when you stand for righteousness, and when they challenge you on it, and the Holy Spirit burns even more as you simply answer their questions…God gives you peace. And strength. And boldness. And it eventually doesn’t matter what their reaction is, so long as I know that I know that I know I’m on God’s side.
Not only does God set a table before us, but the rest of verse 5 says, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” In the darkest valley–in the middle of the valley of the shadow of death–and with our enemies watching it all happen to us, not them.
But what does David mean when he says, “You anoint my heads with oil?” That’s an odd phrase. Why does he give us that picture?
Pete Byma, writing for todaydevotional.com says,
David, the writer of this psalm, knew a lot about herding sheep. As a caring shepherd, he would have applied olive or grain oil to a sheep’s nose and ears. Sheep were often troubled by insects that buzzed about their heads and tried to lay eggs on the moist membranes of the animal’s nose and ears. The sheep became distracted and obsessed with keeping those bugs away. So shepherds applied oil as a soothing remedy that kept the pests away.
Relief was immediate. Gone were the aggravation, the frenzy, the irritability, and the restlessness. It was an incredible transformation.
This is a beautiful picture of anointing. Describing himself as a sheep, the psalmist says that the Lord, his shepherd, anoints his head with oil. The calming influence of oil on a sheep’s head is meant for us as well. The irritants and annoyances of life disappear.
Can you picture yourself receiving an anointing like that from God? We all need his healing balm to cope with the problems of each day. Allow the good shepherd to anoint you with his grace, mercy, and love.
But there’s a second meaning here as well. David specifically says that the Lord anoints his head with oil here and now, at the table. Why? Why at a table? Why not later? Why not before the valley to prepare him for what he is about to endure?
gotquestions.org says this:
An ancient custom of hospitality and respect shown to esteemed dinner guests was for the host to anoint his invitee’s head with oil. The oil was mixed with fragrant perfumes to refresh and soothe weary travelers (see Jesus’ rebuke of a dinner host in Luke 7:46). Since the custom and its significance are unknown today, some modern translations replace the phrase with “you welcome me as an honored guest by rubbing my head with oil” (TEV) and “you honor me by anointing my head with oil” (NLT).
In Psalm 23:5, David said to the Lord, “You anoint my head with oil” because he regarded himself as the Lord’s special guest. David had been invited to dine now and forever at the Lord’s table and to receive His favorable anointing.
How does this picture relate to real life? Remember last week the story behind the song, “It Is Well With My Soul?” Here’s the story of another hymn.
In 1844 a young Irishman, Joseph Scriven, had completed his college education and returned home to marry his sweetheart. As he was traveling to meet her on the day before the planned wedding, he came upon a horrible scene—his beautiful fiancée tragically lying under the water in a creek bed after falling off her horse.
Later, Scriven moved to Canada and eventually fell in love again, only to experience devastation once more when she became ill and died just weeks before their marriage. For the second time, this humble Christian felt the loss of the woman he loved.
The following year, he wrote a poem to his mother in Ireland that described the deep relationship with Jesus he had cultivated in prayer through the hardships of his life.
The poem was published anonymously at first under the title, “Pray Without Ceasing.” Ten years later, he finally acknowledged this well-loved text had been written by him and his friend, Jesus. In 1868, attorney Charles Converse set the text to a tune and renamed it “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” Instead of thinking God was punishing him, Scriven cherished God’s friendship through all of this hardship—a friendship he discovered in prayer.
gotquestions.org tells us more about God’s practical love in hardships.
It says: The Bible emphasizes the excessive love, blessing, and power that God desires to pour out on those who love Him (Malachi 3:10; Lamentations 3:22; Psalm 108:4). Jesus reflected God’s generosity when He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). Paul continues that theme in Ephesians 3:20 and describes God as the One “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.”
[I mentioned Romans 8:38 and 39 earlier, but] Romans 8:37 promises that we are “more than conquerors through Him who loves us.” The message echoed in each passage is that of God’s excessive grace and provision for every area of our lives. He is not stingy, nor are His blessings confined to temporal things. In Christ we can have overflowing joy, overflowing love, and overflowing peace. We can bear everlasting fruit for God’s kingdom, and we can overcome impossible challenges when the Holy Spirit fills our hearts until our “cup runneth over.”
Having said that, David ends his psalm with this great promise: “Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
I can’t help but think of my mom. She won’t be with us much longer, but that’s okay. She is about to enter into the eternal house of the Lord. And to the Christian, it is a reason to rejoice. Death is not the end, but the beginning. Death is life. Death is something the Christian looks forward to. Oddly enough. We can’t wait to escape this body, to escape this world. We want to go home, don’t we? I sure do.
I don’t want to die just yet. There’s a lot for me to live for here, but I long for when that time comes. As the lyrics to “It is Well With My Soul” say, “Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight, the clouds be rolled back as a scroll; the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend, even so, it is well with my soul.”
Do you see how this all blends together? This whole psalm is a reflection of how the Lord takes care of our souls. Lying down in green pastures; refreshing our soul; guiding us along the right paths; fearing no evil; the Lord’s rod and staff comforting us; anointing our head with oil; overflowing our hearts. And the promise that no matter what, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.
Again, there’s no promise that we won’t face affliction. Because earlier I said we would, and that it is a promise from Jesus. But Jesus also promises that He has overcome the world. God is there and will grant us peace, victory, and as verse one says, all that we need.
So we can look forward to a wonderful eternal home in the house of the Lord, and we can rest assured that in the meantime, no matter what we face, we will have the goodness of the Lord with us.
Again, Peter, Paul, and the rest of the apostles–even David himself–did not have it easy. Paul quotes one of David’s psalms when he writes to the Roman church, “For your sake we face death all day long.”
No, they did not have it easy. God never promises that we would have it easy or without terrible times. But he did promise us his goodness and mercy in those terrible times.
I’ll leave you with this, the context of what Paul said when he used David’s psalm. Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, this is also in Romans 8, just a few verses down from what we referenced earlier in verses 27-29.
This is from verses 35-39:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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