23rd Psalm 5

Ps 23: 1-5 “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 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.”

As we approach this passage, the sheep are approaching the high mountain country of the summer ranges. This is known as the tablelands, and they are much sought after by the shepherd. These high ranges are also known by the Spanish word “Mesas”—or tables.

So David may actually have been referring to the entire high summer range. Though these areas were hard to reach, the thoughtful and energetic shepherd takes the time and trouble to take them there.

Early in the season, the shepherd will begin making survey trips into this rough, wild country. He will look it over with great care. Then just before the sheep arrive he will make another expedition or two to prepare the tableland for them.

He goes over the range carefully to determine how vigorous the grass and upland vegetation is. He chooses strategic spots in which to deposit salt and minerals for the sheep’s future benefit. And as he walks about, the careful shepherd will be on the lookout for several things.

First, He will check the land carefully for:

Poisonous weeds

Some very attractive flowers, such as the “white camma,” though beautiful, are common in the tablelands and are deadly to a lamb. When eaten, the lamb becomes paralyzed, stiffens up like a block of wood, and succumbs to the poison. Hence, the watchful shepherd “prepares” the tableland for the approaching sheep by clearing it of poisons. He will either plan his future grazing program to avoid them, or will eradicate them.

No doubt, David had in mind the watch-care of our Heavenly Shepherd. Like sheep, we also are drawn to what is attractive and appealing to the eye. John warned of the “lust of the eyes.”

In the Garden of Eden, Eve was seduced by the fruit of the forbidden tree. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye…she ate.”—Gen. 3: 6

Likewise, we humans feel we must taste or experiment what that which God has warned is actually deadly poisonous. David wants us to know that the heavenly Shepherd has gone ahead of us. He inhabits our next destination, and is preparing it for us by marking the dangers and praying for us ahead of time that we might not succumb.

A second thing the shepherd is on the lookout for in the tablelands we are approaching is:

Dangerous predators

The shepherd will look carefully for signs of wolves, coyotes, cougars and bears. These creatures are very crafty. They will hide on the rimrock watching every movement the sheep make. When the right situation affords itself, they will stampede the flock, looking to pick one of the panicking sheep out of the herd for their next meal.

Only the watchful shepherd who tends his flock on the tableland in full view of possible enemies can prevent them from falling prey to attack. It is his preparation for such a possibility that saves the sheep from being slaughtered.

Hence, Peter warns God’s people, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.”—1 Pet. 5:8

Thank God that we have a Shepherd who watches, warns, and wields His mighty Word to protect the sheep under His care! Jesus said of Himself,

John10: 11-15 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” The hireling flees, but a true shepherd will stand between the predator and the sheep and defend them to his own hurt!

This is why it is so important to walk closely with the Shepherd. It is always the distant sheep, the roamers, the wanderers that are picked off by predators. Read His word daily. Pour out your heart to him. Listen to Him speaking to your heart. The Good Shepherd is faithful to warn us if a predator is approaching!

Another task the shepherd sees to as he prepares the tableland for his sheep is:

To clear out water holes, springs, and drinking places for his flock.

The good shepherd will make sure that debris, leaves, twigs, stones and soil that may have fallen into the water holes during the autumn and winter months. He will open the springs that may have become overgrown with grass and brush and weeds. His sheep must have a clean, pure flow of good water.

Likewise, our Good Shepherd has taken great care to provide for us a pure spring of flowing water—the Word of God! David said that when we make God’s word our delight, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water…”—Ps. 1

And not just God’s Word, but spending time with the God of the Word is water to our souls. Again, David wrote:

Psalm 42: 1-2 “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”

And our Good Shepherd has also provided the precious Holy Spirit, Who is genuine water from heaven to our thirsty souls. Jesus told the woman at the well, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”—John 4:8-14

Spending quality, consistent time with God is crucial to slaking our thirst with good, clean water rather than the poisoned, polluted waters of the world. Therefore, we must allow our Good Shepherd, who has already gone ahead and prepared for us His Word, His Spirit, and direct access to Him, to lead us to that good water!

“You anoint my head with oil.”

At this point in the Psalm, it is summer and the sheep are on the high meadows. It is serene. They are in wonderful, close proximity to their shepherd. But suddenly there is a “fly in the ointment.” In the terminology of the shepherd, “summertime is fly time.”

In the summertime insects flourish that can drive the sheep to distraction and madness. There are warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, nasal flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats and other irritating winged parasites.

In particular, sheep are tormented by the nasal flies. These tiny flies buzz constantly around the sheep’s head, seeking opportunity to deposit their eggs on the mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose.

When successful, the eggs hatch to form small, slender, worm-like larvae. They soon work their way up the nasal passages of the sheep’s head. Once there, they burrow into the flesh, causing intense irritation and severe inflammation.

The sheep are beside themselves with torment. They will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around endlessly. In extreme cases the sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied attempt to gain relief.

The attentive shepherd knows how to prevent the danger of “fly time.” At the very first sign of flies among the flock he will apply an antidote to their heads. It is oil prepared out of ingredients like linseed oil, sulphur and tar. The shepherd smears it over the sheep’s nose and head as a protection against nasal flies.

Once the oil is applied there is an immediate change in behavior. Gone is the aggravation, the frenzy, the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep grow peaceful again, soon to lie down in contentment. And this process must be repeated over and again throughout the summer.

It is easy to see the application of this to our own lives. How often the petty annoyances, aggravating distractions, and worrisome, fearful thoughts of life can come “buzzing” around our heads. Just like the nasal flies, they seek entrance into our thought life. This is because our enemy wants us distracted. He wants us to lose our joy and peace. He seeks to plant tormenting thoughts of worry, fear, lust, envy, jealousy, doubt, or some other thing that leads to “emotional inflammation.”

If he succeeds, we grow distracted, tense, irritable, and even depressed. Indeed, we feel like banging our heads against the wall figuratively speaking.

At this point, some turn to alcohol or some other drug for relief. Still others seek relief in some foreign, non-Christian philosophy. But the answer is found in God’s Word! Just as with the sheep, there must be a continual application of God’s anointing oil. What is God’s anointing oil?

First, the Holy Spirit is God’s anointing oil. Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”—Luke 11:13

When we find ourselves dealing with irritating, oppressive thoughts, the Father is ready and willing to pour out a fresh anointing of His Spirit onto our heads! Entering into a time of personal worship releases this same anointing oil of God’s Spirit.

Second, time spent in the Word of God is like rubbing God’s anointing oil onto your thoughts. It soothes the mind and builds our faith. It clears out the cobwebs of negative thinking and rebukes the enemy’s lies. No wonder the Bible says,

2 Cor. 10: 3-5 “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

Just as the shepherd anoints his sheep’s head with oil that repels his enemies, our Great Shepherd desires to daily anoint our own heads with the powerful oil of His Spirit and Word in order that our thoughts might be at peace. “He anoints my head with oil,” and because of that “my cup runneth over” with supernatural joy!

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