Psalm 23: The Lord Is My Shepherd — Part XI
In last week’s devotional I suggested, “You prepare a table before me,” is to be understood as a lavish feast and not as a simple meal. The clues that makes this clear, is not the mention of the “table,” but the two elements that follow, “the oil” and the “overflowing cup.” What would these two elements represent to the weary wanderer?
You Anoint My Head With Oil — I was probably about eight years old. My father had just finished saying grace, along with additional guests from church. We were all sitting around the dinner table, still in our Sunday best, passing along the roast beef with all the fixings. Everything seemed calm and in order for a proper Sunday dinner. All was going well until my oldest sister Lois decided to add some Italian dressing to her salad. She was sitting beside me, when prior to removing the lid, she gave the bottle its customary rigorous shake. What she did not realize, along with everyone at the table, and most notably me, was the lid was not secured properly. It was in that instant I had a firsthand experience of, “You anoint my head with oil.” And I did not appreciate it! Nearly forty years later, whenever I read this little phrase from psalm 23, I cannot help but smile as I think upon my own untimely anointing.
I imagine, most people are similar to me, and there are few things they would enjoy less than having oil poured upon their craniums. Most people do not appreciated being drenched by water, so why would anyone wish to be soaked with something as slimy as oil? Context is everything.
I am writing this blog, in what has been a particularly hot and dry Ontario summer. Over the last number of weeks there have been many days where I have worked outside in this life-leeching weather, and upon completion of my outside work I am usually only interested in two things: a cold drink and a refreshing shower. Now multiply my desire for refreshment a hundredfold, and you will begin to appreciate how the wondering Semitic pilgrim would desire bathing in fragrant olive oil after, not just a couple hours in the Palestinian heat, but potentially days, if not weeks, of exposure to the ravages of the blistering wind and sun. The traveller would first have the dirt and grime scoured from the surface of his skin, then oil would be massaged into all his bruised, dried, and cracked skin. With herbs added to the oil, it would create an intoxifying perfume, masking the offensive odour of the traveller. The notion this oil was poured on the head, suggests this cleaning ritual would not be limited to just feet and hands, but the whole person. The traveller, after such treatment, would quite literally, “Feel like a new man!”
My Cup Runs Over — As a kid, it was a rare and special opportunity when we were able to go out for dinner (at least somewhere other than McDonalds). We also did not drink much pop at our house. Because of these two realities, there were two magical words I always looked for and longed to see on every menu, “Free Refills!” To the traveller, a “cup” that “runs over,” assured him, as long as he was in the home of this good host he would not go thirsty. Moreover, there is another important consideration we must acknowledge about this “overflowing cup” (*and some of us Baptists may not like this). The contents of this cup, would not have been Coca-Cola or ice tea, but elegant, joy-inducing, soul-rejuvenating wine!
The 23rd psalm expresses great hope for the believer who puts his trust and follows the Shepherd. When we follow this Good Shepherd, we are promised our guide will one day change roles into welcoming host, who will: Clean us up, nurture our wounds; revive our tired flesh and bones, and sit us down at his table of extravagant spread and mirthful celebration! This is my kind of Shepherd; this is my kind of Host!
On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine — the best of meats and the finest of wines. On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” Isaiah 25:6–9
