Prepare a Table

 Prepare a Table

April 28,2025

Psalms 23:5

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You have anointed my head with oil;

My cup overflows.

This verse in Psalm 23 always struck me as a bit odd. When you interpret it in ordinary context, this seems to be about a banquet table, but with your enemies all around. Now a banquet is nice, but why all your enemies? In “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”, Phillip Keller explains this in terms of an actual shepherd. When tending sheep in a mountainous area, like the Americans West, Australia or Israel, it is common to drive your sheep herd up into the mountains during the summer. You will find fresh green grass in the high plains that will sustain the sheep when the low valleys drive up in the summer. In America, we call these high plains mesas, which is Spanish for table. So the shepherd seeks our suitable table lands in the mountains for his sheep.

But before he takes the sheep, the shepherd must first go and prepare the fields There are poisonous plants that grow in the mountains that must be pulled up, and the springs ad pools may have gotten overgrown over the winter, so he needs to unstop the springs and repair the earthen dams that provide a quiet pool in the midst of the mountain streams. There are also predators about, so he has to scout out the lair of the mountain lions and other dangerous beasts to know what dangers lurk. Only after he has prepared “the table”, will the shepherd return to fetch his sheep and lead them into the mountains. He prepares a table in the presence of his enemies.

Other enemies that he encounters in the mountains are flies. This is where the anointing oil comes in. A shepherd will rub oil into the wool of his sheep to repel the flies so they don’t worry the sheep. Untreated, the flies will so disturb the sheep that they can hardly eat or sleep.  But after all of these enemies have been accounted for, the sheep can be content and feed peacefully in the mountain table lands. There is green grass, still water, and freedom from pests. Their cup overflows with peace and contentment.

Thus it is that our Good Shepherd provides peace and contentment for us, even in the midst of our enemies, because he has gone before us to prepare the table. We are provided for and protected so we can be content and grateful. Our cup overflows.