part 2 of “Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table”
In this post, we are going to be looking at the whole chapter of Psalm 23 in quick flyover style. The term “30,000-foot view” is used when you are trying to gain the big picture of something - whether it be a business, a book, a country, the Bible, or even a chapter in the Bible. I hope that by the end of the post, we have a nice big picture view of Psalm 23.
In 2017, I did a video series on Psalm 23 called “Elevate”[1]. In recent months, I have been wanting to revisit Psalm 23 and this is what God had in mind. While this isn’t a series solely on Psalm 23, as “Elevate” was, we will be going in and out of the chapter throughout the series.
Before we look at Psalm 23, I wanted to start with a different verse to help set it up a little bit. Jesus says this in John 10:
“‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.’” - John 10:11 NLT
This verse describes a shepherd in one of the best ways a single verse could do. Jesus in these two sentences not only describes Himself and what He has come to do but also describes every shepherd that has ever been. The shepherd of a flock had one sole purpose - to protect the flock at all cost. It was their job. David tells King Saul that he had killed a lion and bear to save a sheep [2]. This adds another layer to Psalm 23. David was a shepherd and is the author of Psalm 23. So this comparison to Jesus that he makes in Psalm 23 is a shepherd describing a Shepherd. Let start our look at Psalm 23.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. - Psalms 23:1 NIV
This verse is simply saying that a shepherd provides all the sheep’s needs. They lack nothing or they have all they need [3]. They may not have what they want, but they have what they need. Needs and wants are different. The shepherd provides them with food to eat and water to drink. The shepherd provides them with the leadership and protection they need - not that they want it. Sheep tend to need all the help they can get. So when Jesus calls us His sheep, “it’s not necessarily a compliment” [4]. We need all the help we can get from the Shepherd.
“He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” - Psalms 23:2-3a NIV
This verse provides us with another way to see how a shepherd and our Good Shepherd gives the sheep what they need. This verse shows how the shepherd makes his sheep lie down to get the rest that they need. If sheep would do this on their own they wouldn’t need to be made to lie down as the verse says. David having been a shepherd knows that about sheep. They need rest.
We need rest too. Our Good Shepherd knows that we need rest. But He also knows that we are not going to be the first ones to just take a rest. We know we need to take a rest. We know that we are tired. But we go go go go until we collapse. But rest is important to our Good Shepherd. In the very beginning of the Bible, we see God take a rest after creating the world (Genesis 2:1). This wasn’t because God needed rest. God was establishing a rhythm for us. We work and then rest. We should rest daily and have a day of rest. Jesus also shows how important rest is to Him. After feeding the 5,000, Jesus takes His disciples away to rest (Mark 6:30).
Rest is important to our Good Shepherd. He will make us rest if He needs to do so. He knows we need it. Rest refreshes us and gives us the strength to keep going [5].
“He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” - Psalms 23:3b NIV
A shepherd leads his sheep from place to place. He doesn’t let them wander off of the path that he has them on. But sometimes a sheep wanders away from the flock and he goes brings them back. The shepherd tries to keep his flock together and protected. The Good Shepherd does the same for us as well. He has a path marked out for us. A right path that keeps us protected and safe. But we tend to wander off of the path and get ourselves in a mess. But the Good Shepherd doesn’t just let us wander away. He is there to bring us back to the flock and to get us back on the path.
“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.” - Psalms 23:4 NIV
This may seem confusing because the verse before says that the Shepherd leads us along the right paths. But then this verse says that there are dark valleys. This is because even though we may be on the right path doesn’t mean that it will be free of valleys. But that is not the case. However, the Good Shepherd is with us as we go through those valleys. The Good Shepherd doesn’t lead us to the dark valleys of life and then leaves us to handle them on our own. He goes through them with us. He is there to protect us, to comfort us, and continue to lead us. After all, the Good Shepherd doesn’t carry the rod and staff just to have something to carry.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 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.” - Psalms 23:5-6 NIV
For this flyover look, I decided to look at verses 5 and 6 together. This is because we already looked at the first part of verse 5 in the post last week. The table that the Good Shepherd prepares for us is a table for 2 and the enemy is not invited.
The second part of verse 5 and verse 6 deals with this idea of blessing. Even though we are faced with enemies all around as we sit at the table the Good Shepherd has prepared for us. We can still experience the blessing of sitting at the table with the Good Shepherd. We also experience the blessings that the Good Shepherd has for our lives just because He is our Good Shepherd. We can see a few of these blessings listed in the next verse as goodness and mercy.
“Mercy is the covenant-word rendered ‘steadfast love’ elsewhere” [6]. Mercy is what Jesus showed on the cross when He took the punishment for our sins on the cross so we did have to. Mercy is not receiving the punishment we deserve from someone who has the power to punish us [7].
Goodness can be seen in the previous verses of Psalm 23. The Good Shepherd shows his goodness to us by protecting us, guiding us, comforting us, making us rest, and keeping us on the right path. These things - and more - are from the goodness of the Good Shepherd.
As I bring this post to a close, I wanted to focus on one more thing - the words “all the days of my life” [8]. These words have a new ring to them for me. We can experience the table the Good Shepherd has prepared for us, and all of the goodness and love that comes with it, all the days of our life. Forever. This is what David is saying when he closes out thoughts of the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23. The Good Shepherd will always be there for us when we need Him. He will be there to protect us. He will be there to guide us. He will be there to help us rest. He will be there to comfort us. He will be there to give us peace.
This is Who the Good Shepherd is and He does not change (Malachi 3:6 + Hebrews 13:8).
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**This series is based on the book Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table” by Louie Giglio. The thoughts and ideas in this post come from the book, but are put into my own words and are not directly quoted. All direct quotes from the book will be noted as such and identified. You can pick up a copy of the book wherever you buy your books.
[1] The “Elevate” series can be found at https://www.thepointoffocus.com/videos
[2] 1 Samuel 17:35-36, NLT
[3] Psalm 23:1, NLT
[4] Louie Giglio, Don’t Give The Enemy A Seat At Your Table, page 25
[5] Psalm 23:3, NLT. The NEW LIVING TRANSLATION of the Bible uses the phrase “He renews my strength.”
[7] references the Google dictionary definition of the word mercy.
[8] Psalm 23:6, NIV
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