THE SECRET TO A LIFE WELL LIVED

Psalm 23:5
Bob Bonner
September 24, 2006

I remember my first love. I remember the experience of being able to speak freely with her about those matters that meant the most to me, sharing my joys, dreams, fears and heartaches, knowing she would listen and understand. I remember feeling honored that she in turn would entrust me with the secrets of her heart. We were at ease with one another. There was a trust built between us. I was 18, and thought seriously, for the first time, that I had met my lifelong mate. We spent every free moment together that was not consumed by school, sports or work. I enjoyed being made to feel as an accepted part of her family. All seemed to be good, until that Summer vacation she and her family took to Hawaii. Upon her return, I was informed that she had “fallen in love” with a lifeguard and permanently had broken the trust and commitment we once shared.  The hurt was so deep, the loss so great that I could not eat for days. I either wasn’t hungry, or when I tried to eat, I couldn’t keep my meal down. At the time, my parents and friends tried to encourage me that I would survive and that I was not the first or only person who had felt such betrayal or loss. But still, it was hard to sit at a table and eat, while being tormented by the recent events.

Sitting at his desk at the end of the day, the business owner goes through his closing routine of opening the mail. He picks up a sealed envelope addressed to him that has a return address that reads, “The Law Offices of Jackson, Smith and Hunt.” Not knowing what this could be about, but realizing that receiving an unexpected letter from a lawyer is not usually a good thing, he tentatively opens the letter. His mild fear is suddenly confirmed. He is being sued by a customer. Immediately, his stomach tightens. He thinks about the business’ reserves and his own personal savings account and realizes that the sum of both cannot meet the monetary settlement being demanded by the law suit. After calling his own lawyer, he leaves the office to head home for a birthday dinner in honor of his little boy. As he sits down to the table, he struggles to eat, his appetite being suppressed by the late news of the day.

It’s 11:30 am and she is preparing her lunch at home. The phone rings and it’s her doctor calling to give her the report on the blood test she had taken the day before in conjunction with her annual physical. What he tells her is unexpected. He wants more tests because something doesn’t appear to be normal with the results of her exam or blood test. Suddenly, her appetite for lunch vanishes.

There are many kinds of tormentors in the world that disrupt our lives, steal our appetites, joy and peace. Ever since the Fall, these distresses have been there. And until Jesus comes again, they will always be here. When one of life’s tormentors knocks at your door, what is one to do? Is there anything one can do? Is there anyone wise enough and powerful enough to whom we can turn who can rescue us from the tormentors of our souls? From one who experienced many kinds of tormentors, his answer is unequivocally, “Yes!” 

King David, an old veteran of the faith, declares that his rescuer is none other than the Lord. In the very first verse of Psalm 23, the theme of this Psalm, David writes, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” No matter the situation, this veteran of the faith, this experienced survivor declares that He has learned to be content, recognizing that His God cares, leads, protects and will provide for every need in his life. As we come to verse 5, David tells us that God will so provide for us that when things come up that tend to steal or threaten our ability to be at peace so that we can enjoy a meal, that even when the wolves are knocking at our door, we will still be able to eat in peace and experience contentment. In his own words, David declares, “Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; Thou has anointed my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

This verse describes real life—life that is lived in the face of one’s enemies, and yet even when surrounded by enemies, one can enjoy a meal, eating and drinking in peace. As I study this verse, I see it as made up of three parts: first, it tells us the theme, eating a meal in the midst of one’s enemies; second, how it is that one can eat under such circumstances; and third, to what degree one is able to quench one’s thirst when surrounded by many fearful circumstances.

The common pastoral scene referred to in verse 5, has a backdrop to it that David and his contemporaries fully understood. But for those of us whose lives are not spent in an agrarian society, much of the understanding of this scene and the subsequent intended implications and lessons are lost.  Hence, let’s take a closer look at what David has in mind here. 

David begins this verse, addressing his prayer to God, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies...” Typically, when we read the word “enemies” we think of David’s political enemies. In the shepherd metaphor, when we consider his enemies we first think of the “wolves.” For David, politically he had very real enemies, political wolves that were foreigners who lived outside the nation of Israel and from within David’s own household. These wolves all had one goal in mind, to remove David from the throne and or to kill him.

But for us English readers to limit the meaning of this Hebrew word to just “enemies” would be a mistake. This term has a far greater significance than just one’s human political or familial enemies. The root word for “enemies” comes from a word that describes the personal anguish one encounters in adverse circumstances. For example: It is used to describe the emotional distress of a woman in labor. Hence, it also has the meaning of “distress.”

It also describes the strong emotional response one experiences when pressed externally by the consequences of one’s wrong decisions or passions. For instance: After Isaac’s son, Jacob returned to the land of Canaan from more than an unexpected fourteen years of labor working for his father-in-law, Laban, the first person Jacob met upon his return was his brother Esau. When they had last seen each other, Jacob had deceitfully stolen Esau’s rightful blessing of the first born from their father, Isaac. Jacob had indeed sinned against his brother, and up to this point, Jacob had not sought his brother’s forgiveness. Therefore, his relationship with his brother, who was well known as a rough, outdoors hunter and warrior, remained broken and strained at best. Furthermore, upon hearing of his brother coming to meet Jacob, Jacob, according to Genesis 32:7, was in emotional “distress.” He didn’t know how their meeting would go. All he could presume was that when his brother arrived, he would still be angry with Jacob and maybe wished to kill Jacob. This is why Genesis 32:7 literal speaks of Jacob’s distress, which is a word that comes from the same root word from which our word “enemies”, in Psalm 23:5, is derived. 

In other places, this same word refers to the harassment and torment that certain elements in one’s life can bring. In fact, one Orthodox Jewish translation of this verse uses the word “tormentors” in place of “enemies.” 

My point is this: The “enemies” or these “tormentors” of which David writes include not just one’s political enemies, but all of those things that specifically cause us emotional distress to such an extent that we find it difficult to relax and enjoy a meal.  Such “tormentors” rightly include things as lawsuits, the betrayal of a friend, an attack on one’s reputation, sudden financial reversals, the shock of a negative medical report or a relational conflict.  These tormentors also include the voices of self doubt, self-condemnation, lies from the evil one that assail us with terrifying questions that begin with “What if?” scenarios, by which we can typically become obsessed. You know, “What if my child or grandchild falls in love and marries someone who doesn’t love Jesus? What if baby comes early? What if I don’t meet my sales quota this month?” Such distresses are our tormentors or enemies.

As it concerns the sheep/shepherd metaphor that David is using here, this understanding best fits the context. Because sheep not only need to be protected against predator-like enemies, but also against the harassment, distresses and dangers of poisonous plants, dangerous terrain and other pests that tend to disrupt the life of the flock causing them to lose their appetite even when they need to eat.

“The table” to which David refers is the high table land or a mesa, those flat green pastures that are perfect for grazing. These are relatively rare in Israel, but are the prime real estate for grazing sheep. Typically, these pastures have trees or places in which wolves can hide at the edges waiting to pounce were it not for the presence of the shepherd to protect the sheep. When a shepherd goes to the table land, he prepares the land as well as the sheep for their eating of the meal off of the “table.”

As with any meal, there are usually two parts to the meal. There is food and there is water. In both cases, the shepherd prepares the land for the eating of food and the drinking of water, in the midst of various distresses. Only after the land is prepared, does he then prepare the sheep and lead them to the “table.” Then, only after the land is prepared and the sheep are made to feel protected are they able to enjoy a meal in the midst of these distresses.

Charles W. Slemming has written a great deal about the shepherds in the Middle East and what was their typical modus operandi in preparing the table before his sheep. Typically he will leave his sheep outside the field until he has fully inspected the field. His inspection would include walking up and down the field looking for grass or plants that could poison the sheep. 

He would survey the area for possible dangerous places that a wandering sheep might become entangled. 

He would also look for signs of predators, like wolves, coyotes, and bears. Of special concern to the shepherd are vipers, or venomous snakes.  In particular, he looks for the adder, a small brown snake that lives underground. Adders are known to pop out of their holes and nip the nose of a nearby grazing sheep. Their bite is poisonous and sometimes the inflammation from their bite will kill the sheep. As defense against these snakes, he would walk the field, raking over the long grass with his staff, looking for holes. When he found one, he would take from his girdle a flask or bottle of thick olive oil. He would pour a circle of oil at the top of every viper’s hole he can found. The oil on the snake’s hole lubricates the exit, preventing the snake from climbing out. The smooth bodies of the vipers cannot pass over the slippery oil—and they are prisoners inside their holes.

Having secured the field from predators, poisonous vegetation and snakes, the shepherd returns to his flock that is sequestered away from the field. But before he leads them into the field, he further prepares his sheep by anointing each sheep’s head and nose with the same oil he had poured around the adder’s hole. This anointing has a threefold purpose: first, it acts as a repellant, driving away the serpents should they manage to escape their holes. Apparently, adders don’t like the smell of olive oil for some reason.

Second, this oil acts as a repellent against various bugs. According to one shepherd, Phillip Keller, there are several types of common insects that can disturb and just plain make life miserable for sheep. Keller writes, “There are warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, nose (nasal) flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquito’s, gnats and other minute, winged parasites... Sheep are especially troubled by the nose fly, or nasal fly, as it is sometimes called. These little flies buzz about the sheep’s head, attempting to deposit their eggs on the damp, mucous membranes of the sheep’s nose. If they are successful the eggs will hatch in a few days to form small, slender, worm-like larvae. These work their way up the nasal passages into the sheep’s head; they burrow into the flesh and there set up an intense irritation accompanied by severe inflammation. For relief from this agonizing annoyance sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth. In extreme cases of intense infestation a sheep may even kill itself in a frenzied endeavor to gain respite from the aggravation. Often advanced stages of infection from these flies will lead to blindness.” 

This is why, when a swarm of nose flies appear, sheep panic. They run. They toss their heads up and down and side to side for hours. In the process, they forget to eat. They can’t sleep. Ewes stop milking. The whole flock is disturbed by these “tormentors.”

That’s one reason why, that at the very first sign of flies, the shepherd will apply olive oil to the sheep’s head. When he does this, an incredible transformation takes place among his sheep. Gone is the aggravation; gone is the frenzy; gone is the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep start to feed quietly again, then soon, they lie down in peaceful contentment.

There is a third reason for anointing a sheep’s head with oil. Sheep can develop scabs on their heads. These scabs are an irritating and highly contagious disease common among sheep the world over. These scabs are caused by a minute, microscopic parasite that proliferates in warm weather. This scab disease spreads throughout a flock by direct contact between infected and non-infected animals. Sheep love to rub heads in an affectionate and friendly manner. In so doing, they easily spread this scab causing disease from one sheep to another. In the Old Testament when it was declared that the sacrificial lambs should be “without blemish,” the thought uppermost in the writer’s mind was that the animal should be free of scabs. Hence, the shepherd would also anoint a sheep’s head with a mixture of olive oil, sulfur and spices. This mixture would act as a medicine that prevents the scabs from spreading. By rubbing this concoction into the wool surrounding its head, this medicine would heal as well as prevent the spread of scabs.

There is one final act of the shepherd that is necessary to complete the “setting of the table” for the sheep to eat. He has prepared the sheep themselves and he has prepared the table for eating the food. Now, he must prepare the drink for the sheep. This is referred to in the last comment of this verse, “my cup overflows.”

How the shepherd accomplishes providing the water necessary to drink depends upon the terrain he is in. If he has a water hole or spring, he must clean out the accumulated debris of leaves, twigs, stones and soil which may have fallen into the water source during the autumn and winter. He may need to repair small earth dams to hold the water. Ultimately, he will open the springs that may have become overgrown with grass, brush and weeds, so that the sheep can drink freely.

If the water source is a well, which was usually the case in these table lands, he has much different work to do. Many wells in Palestine are very deep, some requiring a rope that will reach a hundred feet down to the water. To draw the water the shepherd used a long rope with a leather bucket at the end. The bucket held only about three quarts. It had to be let down and drawn up and hand over hand and the water poured into large stone basins or “cups” that were beside the well. It was a long, laborious process! If a shepherd had a hundred sheep and the well was deep, he might have to draw for two hours if he allowed the sheep to drink all they wished. Remember, sheep do not like to get wet, and it was a mark of special kindness to keep these stone basins filled to the brim so that they could drink with ease. David’s good Shepherd was tireless in His efforts to satisfy his thirsty sheep. And when they stopped to think about it, the sheep adored and trusted the shepherd, for He is the only one who filled their cups to overflowing!

The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in the days of David. Hosts in the ancient East used to fill their guest cups to overflowing when they wanted to send a specific message to their guest. If the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled the cup to overflowing. He didn’t stop when the wine reached the rim: he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down the table.  As long as their cup was kept full, the guest knew he was welcome. But when the cup sat empty, the host was hinting that the hour was late or it was time to move on. 

Symbolically, a full cup was a sign of acceptance and joy. As it concerns our walks with the Shepherd, God keeps your cup full because He wants to commune with you. He fills your cup to overflowing with His grace and love. This is what the great Shepherd had in mind when Jesus said in John 10:10, “I have come that you might have life, and might have it abundantly” or “over flowing.” The Apostle Paul, writing from the midst of a distressful situation, prison, surrounded by enemies, writes of God’s desire to abundantly provide for us in Ephesians 3:20-21. He states, as a word of praise to God, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”

So you see, the shepherd, in a very literal sense, has prepared the table for His sheep. He has provided the food and water. He has provided a place and atmosphere in His presence that is free from disturbing pests and predators. Those distresses maybe there, but He has neutralized them, by His very work and presence in the believer’s life.  He has provided a place for relaxing and enjoying Him and His provisions, literally, right in the middle of our tormentors.

Allow me to be more direct in the application of this verse to our lives today. According to John 13:27, 30, at the Last Supper, Jesus prepared a table of sorts for his disciples. At that meal, Jesus dismissed Judas from the table. There is something dynamic in Christ’s dismissal of Judas from that table. Jesus prepared that table in the presence of the enemy, Judas. Judas was allowed to see the supper and taste of the meal, but he was not allowed to stay there. He was not allowed to hear what Jesus said to the rest of the disciples from John 13:31-17:26. That privilege was reserved for only Christ’s true sheep.

I see this as significant. Only those sheep who belong to Jesus, who have entrusted Him to be their shepherd, their savior and Lord can confidently and properly claim that they possess the great Shepherd’s protection and provision for their lives. Only they can rightly declare with David, “Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Sadly, for Judas, although he walked with Jesus for three and one half years, he never truly entrusted himself to Christ, nor was he ever able to benefit from Christ’s presence in his life again. That should be a clear warning to all of us “religious” folks who attend church to examine our lives.  For many the Christian life consists of worship services, religious meetings and going to social events at the church. Such people appear very religious, but they may be disobedient, and for sure, they have no confidence of His protection or provision in their lives.  I ask you, “Is Jesus Christ really the master over your life?” Or, “Are you a Judas?” Are you someone, who praises God and goes along with the crowd if it is pleasant and not too risky or dangerous, or at the sign of difficulty, danger or an unpleasant assignment, do you ignore His prompting in your life?

Secondly, when distressful times come, keep in mind, that even the righteous, good, God-fearing person faces tormentors, distresses and has enemies. Jesus did, so why won’t you if you choose to follow after Him? Coming to Christ does not grant you exemption from the normal distresses of this world. They will happen. 

How can I be so confident that they will happen? Because Jesus, who never lies, never misleads, who always tells us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, tells us that we can expect, as a result of following Him, troubles in this world. Listen to what Jesus’ last prayer on earth before His crucifixion. He prayed in John 17:15-18 these words: “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world , I also have sent them into the world.” Please note that as Jesus was sent into this world, to suffer as He served God’s Kingdom purposes, so will we. 

Secondly, note that God’s plan for us is not to live in isolation from the world and all our tormentors, but to live in His insulation from our enemies.

If that is not convincing enough that Jesus warned us as to these trials, look at what Jesus said earlier on in His ministry, while Judas was with the rest of His disciples. He said in Matthew 10:16: “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.” The most dangerous place for a sheep to be is in the midst of a wolf pack. Some who claim to be Christians, but fall into Judas’ camp refuse to follow the Shepherd to this dangerous field.

But for those of us who have chosen to follow the shepherd, even into a field filled with potential distress, tormentors and enemies, what are we to do?

Psalm 50:15 tells us what most of us would do naturally, but sometimes we forget. And that is that we are to call upon the Lord. In Psalm 50:15 God tells us, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; [distress, tormentors, enemies] I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

Our present Psalm leaves us with two more suggestions of what we can do when the distresses hit us, and we want to find relief. When those voices of self doubt and self condemnation begin to speak into your ear, choose to turn your listening ear away from them and listen to the truth, the promises of God, which are found in His word. Apply the oil of His word to your head and heart.

In addition, as you are reviewing the truth of God’s word, or as you are helping a fellow sheep struggling with tormentors, deliberately go back to the past and remind yourselves of who is your shepherd. What has been His track record in your life? What is the character of this Shepherd? Who, besides Him, works tirelessly on your behalf to protect and provide for you needs, in the midst of distresses?

As we do these two things, in a very short manner of time, peace will return to our souls, even though our circumstances have not changed. Along with that peace comes the return of our appetite, and now we can eat.

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