Shepherd Looks at 23rd Psalm week 9

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You annoint my head with oil...”

Growing up, we used to go to my grandma’s house on Sunday afternoons.

We would always eat an awesome meal like Roast beef or Ham or something similar.

My grandma would then make awesome sides like mac and cheese, green beans, home made biscuits… etc.

Here’s the crazy part…

For whatever reason when I was young I remember complaining about going to grandmas to eat.

We would literally eat the best meals, and for whatever reason, I just didn’t want to eat.

Looking back, that makes me angry at myself.

I know it took a lot of work from my grandma to cook those meals and prepare the table for us to eat.

Sometimes I’d even complain because we wouldn’t eat until 2 or 3 pm, but at the same time, all of us had gone to church that morning, and here I am complaining about a good meal in the afternoon…

uhh… I was a dummy guys.

I should never have complained about that.

I swear to you guys the most difficult part of marriage is planning meals.

Thinking about what you are going to eat at night, then buying the groceries you need, cooking them, eating them, and then everyone’s favorite part… cleaning up afterwards…

It’s grueling.

As a kid, I never thought about that.

Some of you probably never think about it either, and that’s completely fine and I’m not saying you should.

But for the sake of tonight, just consider this:

Every time you sit down at the table with your family to eat a home cooked meal…

groceries have been bought.

dishes have been cleaned.

food has been cooked.

It will be eaten and put away for leftover…

then dishes will be cleaned again.

Do we ever stop an consider how much effort it takes to prepare the table for the meal?

I think as a kid I never considered how much it cost my grandma to make those meals for us.

She bought the groceries, cooked it all, and set the table all so we could come together as a family and share a meal.

That one meal each week cost her greatly I have no doubt.

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Do we ever consider what it cost Jesus to be our Shepherd?

DO we ever consider how wildly incredible it is that God made us and didn’t leave us alone to figure it out?

Do we ever consider how frustrating it must be to the God of the universe that so many of His creations made in His image do not care about Him or think about Him?

Do we ever consider that despite the rejection of most humans, God still desires them?

We started this Psalm by talking about who the Shepherd is to Christians in general… To the sheep as a whole.

But 2 weeks ago, we made the Psalm more personal.

Who is the Good Shepherd to you?

Do you ever find yourself brought to tears at how gracious and merciful God is to you?

maybe we should. Because He is.

As we approach Easter, how incredible is it that Jesus came to be one of us with the goal of dying in our place?

Tonight we are looking at Psalm 23:5 “5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

What did it mean to the sheep that the Shepherd “prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”?

1. Setting the Table.

Keller was a Shepherd primarily in Africa because his parents had been missionaries there.

2 weeks ago we talked about the mountains and valleys.

In the warmer months, Shepherds would lead his sheep to the pastures on higher elevations.

Sometimes this would be flat pastures on top of mountains.

In the western united states the high plateaus on top of mountains are often referred to as “mesas” which is the Spanish word for table.

Interestingly, the African word for table is also Mesa.

For a Shepherd then to take his sheep to the mountain top pastures, he would have to prepare the mountain top.

There were two primary things the Shepherd was looking for in preparation.

Signs of Predators

If the shepherd saw signs of predators, he would not take his sheep to those areas.

Or, he would do his best to kill the predators to keep the area safe for his sheep.

Poisonous plants.

A shepherd had to be skilled in identifying plants that are safe to eat and plants that are dangersu.

Any dangerous, poisonous plants would be cleared from the land.

The point here is this: Preparing the table, just like at my grandmas house, takes great effort.

Also worth noting though Jesus is the one preparing the table. We are the sheep who live in the joyful fold of the Good Shepherd.

Do we appreciate what the Good Shepherd is doing for us?

After we finish Psalm 23 next week, we will have spent 10 Wednesday nights this year dwelling on the Good Shepherd.

Why?

Is it because I want to bore you by talking about the same thing?

- NO! On the contrary, I’m hopefully reinforcing a foundational aspect of God in your minds that I pray you never forget.

- May we never forget the attention of our Good Shepherd!

- May we never stray too far from him.

- May we always remain and abide close to Him.

- Part of understanding who Jesus is is also understanding He understands us.

He has totally identified Himself with humanity.

Jesus goes through great effort every day to remind us He is our creator, our protector, and our savior.

He is also eager to remind us as our Good Shepherd, he is with us!

Hebrews 13:5 says “5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.””

2. Protecting our minds.

Psalm 23:5 “ You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

The second half of Psalm 23:5 says that “you annoint my head with oil...”

In the warmer months, sheep would get attacked by nasal flies.

These flies would lay eggs in the sinus cavities of sheep that would hatch and cause great irritation and annoyance to the sheep.

Some sheep would beat their heads against trees, the ground, and even try to kill themselves to get relief.

Keller always took the time to mix linseed oil, sulfur, and tar into an ointment that he would apply to the nose of all his sheep.

Especially for sheep that were infected, Keller wrote, “once the oil had been applied to the sheep’s head, there was an immediate change in behavior. Gone was the aggravation, gone the frenzy, gone the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed quietly again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.”

Sometimes the male sheep during mating season would also try to show off their strength by butting heads with one another.

This could also cause great harm to the flock.

To prevent this, Keller would apply the same ointment to the tops of the male sheep heads.

As they butted heads, the slippery substance would cause their heads to glance off one another thus preventing injury.

Perhaps the greatest battle ground today is for your mind.

I have a friend right now who is having a great war in his mind.

He’s struggling with anxiety and worry.

He keeps asking the question “What if...”

And then his mind spirals from there.

Our attention spans are shrinking now days.

I read a book a few years ago called “the Boy Crisis” and in that book he referenced a study that said today the average human has a shorter attention span than a gold fish.”

A goldfish has the attention span of about 9 seconds.

Our average attention span now days is said to be 7-8 seconds.

Is that bad?

Our minds are in trouble.

Colossians 3:2 “2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

MAYBE a reason our minds spiral.

Maybe a reason why we have so much anxiety today.

MAYBE… ok I’m not saying “THIS IS THE REASON...”

I’m just making a suggestion…

Maybe, much of what we consider “normal” in our culture is actually killing us.

Is that a wild proposition?

Maybe, we are setting the love of our hearts too much on what is here…

We love earthly things.

Maybe, we need to just consider every day, the effort the Good Shepherd has gone through to prepare the table for us.

What does it cost Jesus to be our Shepherd?

We often say Salvation is a free gift… and that is true… but that doesn’t also mean that it the gift I receive didn’t cost someone else something.

The gift you get at Christmas is free to you, but it cost someone something.

The meal I got on Sundays was free to me, but it cost my grandma something.

The life I receive from Jesus is free to me, but it cost Jesus His life…

Romans 5:8 “8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

To be my Shepherd, it mean’t He laid down His life for me.

Jesus left the perfection of heaven to live among people who would hate Him.

He left a sinless place to dwell where sin is ever-present.

He knew he would experience ridicule, mocking, abuse, false accusations, rumors, gossip, lies, and more…

He knew He would suffer.

Jesus laid down His life for us, not out of shock or surprise, but in full awareness of what that meant.

Jesus’ death shocked everyone but Himself. He knew.

That is the love of the Good Shepherd.

While he was fully aware of the hate in our hearts that put Him on the cross He said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing...”

This was divine selflessness rescuing us from mortal selfishness.

Helping us in the exact place we were unable to help ourselves.

That’s what it cost Jesus.

It is a bottomless pit, we could consider forever the depths of what it cost Jesus to die for us.

However, even there, we are limited to understanding the cost insofar as God has revealed Himself to us.

There is so much about God that we don’t know!

We could never fully know what it cost Him because we aren’t Him.

But here’s what I do know.

The Shepherd is thrilled to look out for His Sheep.

Nothing brings Him greater joy than to see His sheep fully dependent on Him, thriving in the pastures He has provided.

Living from the protection He has given.

Drawing near to Him when the danger comes.

I’m sure the SHepherd who has prepared the mountain is covered in bruises and scratches.

His muscles are sore.

He has poison ivy bumps that itch.

The Sheep never notice what it cost the Shepherd to prepare the table.

But we can try.

At the very least, the table is the place where the work of the Shepherd collides with the joy of the sheep.

What a Good Shepherd we have.

CONCLUSION:

Colossians 3:15–17 “15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”