Parkwood Baptist Church

“You prepare a table before me…”

The Good  Shepherd prepares  a table for us.  The picture of a table prepared brings to mind a picture of the Thanksgiving dinner set out ready for the family to sit down and begin.  It is a good scene and brings feelings of warmth and family.

The Bible is filled with references to times of feasting when families or communities come together to break bread and fellowship with one another.  It was such an important part of life that God instituted several feasts as ongoing celebrations in the calendar of Israel.   Jesus used the banquet table to illustrate the Kingdom of God.  Many of the stories in Scriptures relate to families gathered around a meal.   The main events recorded in the life of Jesus were often related to Jesus going to someone’s house for dinner.  In the Book of Revelation, John writes down the well known words of Jesus, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”   The act of salvation itself is described as Jesus coming in to eat with us!  Even the most precious and intimate sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is based on a meal with Jesus and His disciples.

Therefore, it is obvious that sharing a meal together is the most common way that Jesus illustrated fellowship.  This phrase in our Psalm today has the implication of invitation.  He has prepared the table for you!  You are expected and invited to sit down and dine with your Shepherd.  Everything is ready.  The food has been prepared…the table has been set…the drinks are poured.  All that is needed is you.

Once again we are reminded of the total provision of God and His great desire to be an intimate part of our life.  This brings to mind the Lord’s table mentioned earlier.  We use a “prepared table” to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.  It was also a table prepared by Him for us.  It is also a table that invites us to experience an intimate relationship to Jesus.

He has prepared the table for us.  Can you meditate on this thought today?  Your Good Shepherd wants to dine with you.  He has prepared it and now invites you to sit with Him and break bread.  Will you do it today?  There is no better fellowship than coming to the table prepared by Jesus…the Good Shepherd.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

For our fourth Sabbath in our Lenten journey we have an opportunity to evaluate our anxiety levels.   Worry and stress are the ach enemies of Sabbath.  We can never enjoy genuine rest while we are holding onto the cares of this world.   In the parable of the soils, Jesus talks about the seed (Word of God) that falls among the thorns which represents the worries and cares of this world.   He says that these will choke out the productivity of the seed in the life of the believer.

Have you ever felt “choked” or smothered by the cares of this world?  This is all too common among those in Northern Virginia especially.  Even if we have time to relax and get away our peace that we long for is stolen away by our inner anxiety.

Peter knew about anxiety and gives the advice in today’s Scripture, give it to God.   In other words…let go and let God!  He cares for you and He is big enough to take on your heaviest burdens.  Try to experience sabbath today and allow your mind to be refreshed by God’s all sufficient grace.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, 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.   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.” (NIV)

It is my hope that this study has brought a refreshing view of this well known Psalm in your daily reading of it. Each day we have been examining different elements that can enhance our understanding of what David may have been thinking.  But today I want to challenge you to read it as a unit.  David wrote it as one Psalm.   There was one idea and the verses are a single thought of poetry.

Before our fourth sabbath break tomorrow and before we continue in our Lenten journey, I want to encourage you today to read the Psalm and write a response to our Good Shepherd.   Write down how this Psalm blesses you. Thank Him for being your Shepherd.  Spend a little extra time in prayer…then read the Psalm again.

Blessings!

“…your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

The Good Shepherd uses a rod and a staff.  The staff can be used for discipline and direction like the rod, but the staff has some characteristics that can shed more light on our Shepherd.

One way to look at the staff is that it connects the shepherd with the sheep.   It is used by the shepherd for leaning on while watching the flock.  This communicates several things to the sheep.  First, when a shepherd or anyone leans on their staff it means they are staying.  It communicates to the sheep that he is there for the duration.  this is his home.  He is making himself comfortable.  It is just another way of showing the sheep and anyone who sees…He is our Shepherd.   Many times in the Scriptures we are told that God does great things that people may know that He is God and…specifically…He is our God…Our good Shepherd.

Second, when a shepherd leans on his staff he is letting the sheep know that he is comfortable and everything is ok.   If my shepherd is comfortable then I am comfortable.   It may be easier to understand from the opposite viewpoint.  If my shepherd is anxious then i am anxious.   Animals can sense when their masters are alarmed about something.   Those who have pets experience this in our homes.   If we are pacing about the house or visibly upset about something, our pets will respond with anxiety.   If the Shepherd is leaning on the staff He is comfortable and at ease.   Therefore, we (the sheep) can also relax because the Master is at ease.

The staff is also used by the Shepherd to protect the sheep when the dangers do come.   The rod was used to correct the sheep but the staff was used as a weapon of defense against wolves or other preditors.   We can take comfort in the fact that our shepherd is not only “willing” to protect us, but fully “equipped” to do it.   We are far too familiar with those who make promises that they cannot keep or are incapable of keeping.   We have the assurance that our Good Shepherd is always victorious in defending us.   David in another Psalm says,

“In God I trust and am not afraid.  What can man do to me?” (Psalm 56:11)

Oh, dearest sheep, our Good Shepherd leans on His staff because He is comfortable watching over you.   Things are well and you can be comforted.   And…if by chance trouble arises…be not afraid…He can take care of it.

Allow God’s rod and staff to comfort you today!

“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.”

A Good Shepherd uses the “rod”.   Sheep can be stubborn animals.   They are hard to guide when they have decided on their own way.   We are reminded again of Isaiah’s words when he compared us to sheep, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6).   In other words, we are a stubborn people…like sheep!  We get an idea of what we think life should be like and no one can tell us any different, even God.

However, our God is the Good Shepherd and the Good Shepherd uses a rod to correct the sheep and get them back on the right track.  He can also use the rod to get a sheep to move when it is standing still.   The rod represents the discipline that it takes to get wayward and lazy sheep going the right direction.   In today’s language it is the proverbial “two by four”!

What does have to do to get your attention?   And how do you feel when that corrective “poke” comes in your side?  The shepherd pokes the sheep when it gets too close to the edge of the cliff.   The shepherd pokes the sheep when it needs to move forward.

Why would the “Good” shepherd be so harsh to the sheep that he loves?   The proverbs tell us that it is because He loves us that He uses the rod.  “He who spares the rod hates his children”.  “He disciplines us because He loves us”.   God’s correction of the Apostle Paul is a great example.   Jesus knocks Paul off his horse in Acts 9 when he was on his way to Damascus.   Paul was a Pharisee and familiar with the priciples of God.  He loved God but had his own idea of how that should look.  He had left the path and gone his “own way”.   Paul’s recollection of the event has Jesus asking, “Saul, why are you kicking against tthe goads?”   If you are a sheep in the flock of God, He will use the rod on you when it is needed…and it will be for your best interest because He loves you!

In today’s part of the Psalm David tells us that we should find comfort in the fact that God will use whatever means needed (a rod) to keep us on the path we should go.  In other words…”thank you Lord for keeping me from making that big mistake”.

God loves you too much to let you walk off a cliff!  God loves you too much to let you jus stand still…Get moving…”ouch”…let’s go…”Hey that hurts!”

Your rod, O Lord…comforts me.