A sheep’s look at the Shepherd of Psalm 23 (Part V)

We continue on in Psalm 23 looking now at verse 5.  While pondering over this passage I found His presence offered to us in ways that only God can.  He has already offered us more than we deserve.  He has offered us His presence, His provisions, His protection, and His preservation which includes protection from the power and penalty of death.  Now in this verse we see His Preparation.  There is nothing more that we could possibly ask from Him yet He continues to offer to meet the needs that we have.  Let us now take this opportunity to see what God offers us as we continue to glean what we can from His precious Word.  There is still a lot to ponder from the 23 psalm.

Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.”  Once again we see the psalmist placing before us in another perfect word picture, the eloquent illustration of God’s unfailing provision and care provided for His own.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” There is not one of us reading this that has not had an enemy, some of us more than others.  Here in this passage we find that our God offers and prepares for us a table in the presence of our enemies.  To some believers their greatest enemies are their own imaginations but whether real or in thought God prepares the table.  This statement is here because of the reality of the life in which we live.  We all have enemies and those who know not the Lord are His enemies and in turn ours as well.  A truth that we can observe here is that if we did not have enemies, we are not the friends of God.  “…Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4b)  The bible also tells us that we are to do what we can to live at peace with all men, the best that we can is what is expected.  “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)  Notice that the Scripture says that it depends upon us.  The author of Hebrews put it this way, “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:” (Hebrews 12:14).  Once again we are to be the pursuers of peace.  Enemies are a part of life, and a fact that we must live with.  But having the blessings of God and knowing that He is there to protect us is more than any of us deserve.  With this thought in mind we can break down this passage a little more to see the greatness of it and the preciousness of our Lord. 

“You prepare a table before me.”  When taking a closer look at this passage we must first unpack the thought that it is God that is preparing the table, “You prepare a table...”  This is not the responsibility of the Master, the preparation of the table it the normal responsibility of a servant, they are the ones who prepare the master’s table.  It is the servant that is to unfold the tablecloth laying it across the table.  It is the servant who is to put the table setting in place from the dinner ware down to the folded napkins on which the silver ware rests.  The feast is at hand but here in this passage we see that it is the Master who is preparing and setting the table and He will do it for us.  As it is always His practice, we find that nothing is hurried as it is done in His perfect time.  I do believe that since it is His table that all is at peace because we are in the presence of the Master.  The normal confusion at a meal time is minimized, even though the enemy is lurking at the door.  Here we find that though we may be stressed God continues to prepare the table for His own, He is still in complete control.  Here at the Lord’s table the believer can sit down and eat in peace because he is in the presence of God and once there, everything is in perfect peace.  Notice what Scripture says, “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3) and “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)  He is the one who provides the peace which is directly linked to His presence.  He does this in the presence or in the sight of our enemies.  He does this to let the enemy know that He is the Master of all and there is nothing that is outside of His control.

Once He has satisfied our appetite and we have received the proper nourishment He then turns to address our spiritual needs.  “You anoint my head with oil.”  Anointing is often found as a symbol of gladness it is a representation of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Here we find that the psalmist longed for a daily blessing from God, he longed for a receiving a fresh anointing from God.  In the Old Testament economy the Holy Spirit did not dwell within the believer as He does today, so the psalmist here longed for a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit in his life.  Today every believer has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of God, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,” (Ephesians 1:13).  This indwelling does not exclude us from desiring a closeness with God and thus like the psalmist we can and should request a refreshing of the Spirit in our lives. 

In our search for a closer relationship with God we do so through the Spirit of God in our lives.  This is often described as the “filling of the Spirit” which is the crucial work of God.  It is specifically the ministry of the Holy Spirit that gives a believer the capability of change, the transforming of our lives and growth in righteousness.  Ephesians 5:18 we are commanded to be “…filled with the Spirit.”  This is the empowering ministry of Spirit of God.  The “filling” mentioned in Ephesians is a metaphor (or picture) of control.  We can be filled (or controlled) by fleshly desires or by the Spirit of God.  So for a believer there is one indwelling of the Spirit but there can be many fillings.  We are command to “Be filled” and so that we can follow the command to “Walk in the Spirit” (Galatians5:16).  The Spirit’s presence is permanent (at salvation as noted earlier) but we must repeatedly choose to yield to God, we must choose to experience the precious transforming power and work of His Spirit within our lives to change and to grow us.  So we see that the true Christian experience is to, “walking in the Spirit” and to “be actively filled with the Spirit.”  By our surrendering ourselves to the work and will of the Holy Spirit, we can face the many challenges that this life offers through the work and power of the Holy Spirit within us.  It should not be enough for a believer to be sealed by the Holy Spirit; we should desire an active filling of the Spirits power.  In doing so we can add to our lives a new day to day closeness to God.  This is how we as believers have “our heads anointed with oil.”

“My cup runs over.”  The cup here represents abundance that our God does supply and we cannot help but notice that the psalmist states that this abundance is more than his cup can handle.  The cup if you will overflows because of the abundance of God.  This cup rests at the table which is prepared for believers who may feast.  This table once again is set before us in the presence and in spite of the believer’s enemies.  It is here that the believer can feast knowing that God is there, it is faith and trust in His presence and knowing that we are protected by His strength and power where which He watches over us.  It need not matter where the table is spread but even in the presence of our enemies we can sit and feast in peace. 

This verse notes for us the preciousness of this table and its blessing.  Every believer who resides at this table soon comes to the realization, as our psalmist reflects that God’s provision far exceeds our expectations.  We cannot help but notice that his cup was more than full, it overflowed.  Our God provides us with so much more than enough.  We to get all of this in God, and our cup overflows because more than the psalmist had because we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit as well.  In Christ we are truly wealthy, for we are fully complete in Him.

To be continued…

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A sheep’s look at the Shepherd of Psalm 23 (Part IV)

We are continuing through Psalm 23 and having looked at the first 3 verses we now come to verse 4. We have seen how the Lord has had His hand on us to prepare us for life and fellowship. Knowing that all things work together because He is the Master planner we note that there is a slight turn in the flow of this passage. Now we begin our path through reality of life, we begin to see the application of His promise’s mixed with the obedient life of a believer. Here is a beautiful word picture passage for us to ponder. Here in this passage we find the closeness of the Lord and our availability to get close to Him. We can glean a lot from this verse as we continue to ponder the 23 psalm.

Verse 4

Psalm 23:4, “Yea, 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.”

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” - Here we find that even in the darkest and most trying hours of our life God is near. The valley of the shadow of death that the psalmist references here is a ravine overhung by high steep cliffs, filled with dense forests. It appeared to be purposely designed to arouse dread and fear to all that would enter to. Though this valley was one of great danger and often caused a spirit of fear to those who trespassed there it would dim in the presence of the greatest fear of all, which was death. Death was one journey that we all face alone except for the believer. Here in this passage suggests to us that even in the passage of Death our Shepherd will still be with us. Every word in this passage has great depth in its meaning.

“Yea, though I walk,” here as we begin our ponderings of this passage, we are the ones who have to do the walking. He has prepared the path but we must walk down it. He does not call us to step up the pace, nor does he call out a cadence He just calls out to us to walk. We are not to hurry especially since this path leads to death. We can calmly walk down this path with Jesus. To walk here is actually in reference to a steady advance (if you will) of a soul. We walk here almost as if we have advance knowledge of the road, and we do in a sense know its end. It is our purpose, our bent as believers, to follow the path. While we do so, we can feel safe and content because He is there. The believer who is close to the end of his path does not hurry nor does he panic and fret he simply walks. Once we are near the end we know that we cannot stand still though we may desire to go no farther, instead we simply keep up the same pace as before.


“Yea, though I walk through…,” – one thing to point out here is that it is not so much that we walk in the valley, but we are to walk through the valley. Our goal, our objective is that we must go through the dark valley of death; no man can pass on this. We know that there is fear in this valley because of its existence, but the believer also has the assurance that Christ walks the path with us. We walk with this understanding that He is with us. We can confidently step out into the light of eternity because He is there with us and will welcome us home. As believers in Christ we must realize that we do not die, but we do but do sleep to wake up in glory. In his book “The Treasury of David” Charles Spurgeon says, “Death is not the house but the porch, not the goal but the passage to it.” We must realize and understand here that this walk through the valley is in a sense, our walk home.

“Yea, though I walk through the valley” – The psalmist is referring to a valley here to give us word picture and reference point in our own lives. We know that in life storms will come and go, some we can easily endure but there are those that take us off the mountain placing us in the valley. It is in the valley where we find peace that is so desperately need to calm the troubled soul. Many of us can testify of spending time with an aging saint who is facing their last days and find them more peaceful then those who surround them. They are at peace in their walk with Christ and have the peace that He offers and they are ready to meet Him. Their peace grows with each passing moment knowing that they are closer to the time that they will meet Him. While we are young life can be rough as we struggle on our way but it is often in the valley where we make the most progress. It is here in this psalm that we are confronted with a different view of the valley; it is here where we find shade, rest and refreshment. More believers have felt more alive here on their final passing through than they ever did when they were alive and well.

“… the valley of the shadow of death,” an interesting observation here is that this it is not “the valley of death,” but “the valley of the shadow of death.” This is important because death is not a threat to us, that has been removed, “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (55) O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (56) The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (57) But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57). With the power of death removed all that remains is its shadow. We must also note that if there is a shadow to be seen then there has to be light somewhere. With this in mind we know that Christ is the light and death can only cast a shadow in His presence. All it can do is stand idly by as we pass through this valley. Life can be a fearful place but all of it dims in the presence of His Glory. There is nothing to fear in a shadow for it cannot harm us. It may startle us from time to time but there is nothing to fear from it. The light that shines around it is that which comes from heaven, coming from the reigning Son of God, the eternal light is there. It is no wonder that the words “I will fear no evil” follows the mention of the path.

I will fear no evil; - Why should we fear? The psalmist says this with strong confidence. He did not say that there would not be evil because he knows that there will be. He goes beyond that thought and assures us that we do not have to fear it. We who know Jesus know that as our Shepherd will carry us through the times of evil, I do not need to fear them. He said “I will fear no evil,” letting us know that even his every fear, including those hiding out in the shadows and those in the light were forever gone. Sadly, the worst evils many of us face in life are those which do not exist except in our imagination. Here in this thought we find that the psalmist offers us the cure for the disease of fear, he said “I will fear no evil,” that would include the Evil One himself. This thought would even include the fear of dying. Death may be the last enemy that we face but, we can look upon its face as a conquered foe, an enemy that has already been defeated in Christ.

“…for You are with me;” – what a comforting thought to know that He is with you. How often we fail to recognize the closeness of the Lord in our lives. “…be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5) One of the great joys of being a believer is knowing that the Lord is there with you. We are safe in the shelter of His arms which is something few believers ever get a handle on. We can experience the Peace that only the Lord gives once we realize that He is there and that He is there for you. We can say with the psalmist in complete comfort and security “…for You are with me.”

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” – The rod and staff are the tools by which the shepherd protects his flock. They are a sign of his protection and care. In the light of the Lord they represent His sovereignty, His mercy and His grace. They are there not just to protect me but to comfort me as well. They comfort because He is the gate to the sheep fold and there is nothing that can or will get by Him that He does not allow. And that which He does allow He is in complete control of. This can be our standard in all things that we fear, even death. Paul said in Philippians 1:21, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” This is a thought that many have claimed over the years until they begin to get close to death. Paul went on to say in verse 23 of this same passage in Philippians, “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.” Our desire to be with Christ is better, but letting go is the real issue we face. Letting go is what we fear most, yet one day, we will be united with Christ in presence. This hope is strengthened in us through this passage knowing that His Rod and Staff are there to comfort you even in the times of great pain and sorrow.


To be continued.

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