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Look For The Table
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God will provide Psalm 23 was always among my favourite Scriptures, but something happened a couple of years ago which brought it into my top two or three. Sue and I were in Sydney, Australia, where we were teaching part of a Kerygma Teams Discipleship Training School for young Christians. As we were in Sydney, we wanted to take the opportunity to visit the Hillsong Church to hear their worship live, so we made our way there for a Sunday evening service. They met in a fine new building on the outskirts of Sydney which offered excellent facilities, and the congregation was predominantly people in their twenties, thirties, and forties. We felt quite senior - or perhaps mature! Everything was well done, but it was the teaching that night which left a lasting impression on me. The speaker's text was Psalm 23, and particularly verse 5:- "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows". Now I must have read, spoken, or sung these words hundreds of times without thinking deeply about them, but as the speaker warmed to his subject I thought of a brightly lit table, laden with good things, in the midst of darkness. I realised that here again God is telling us that when things become difficult, and we seem to be surrounded by enemies and problems, we must never stop trusting him - he will provide for us. And it's not just a matter of food for our bodies - the important thing is the spiritual food that he lays before us. "Look for the table" the speaker told us, "it's going to be there, but you have to look for it". I've remembered these words many times since that evening in Australia, and when things get difficult I say to myself "look for the table, it's there somewhere". It may then be that the Spirit leads me to a spiritual book, into a conversation with someone, that there's a real sense of the Lord's presence as I pray, or that I'm reminded of a particular passage of Scripture. In my case, "the table" is often the Scriptures - probably because I devoted the first years after I was baptised in the Holy Spirit to reading the Bible, and God spoke to me so clearly and in so many ways. I cannot imagine what it must be like to try to live a spiritual life without reading the Bible every day. God speaks through His word
Steeped in the Scriptures I believe the Bible is one of the most important "tables" because the Scriptures are life-changing and life-giving. The Bible is no ordinary spiritual book - it is THE book, and whatever spiritual and devotional habits we may form, we must take care that we never neglect the reading of God's word. There are circumstances in which we may not be able to receive the sacraments, to have times of vibrant worship, to hear great teachers - but wherever we are we can have the Bible with us to feed and encourage us. We all have our favourite passages, but as someone once pointed out to me - we must be sure we're giving time to the passages we don't like, as well as to the ones we love. EVERY verse is the word of God. In November 2005 we will reach the 40th anniversary of "Dei Verbum", the Vatican II document on Divine Revelation. It is one of only 2 out of 16 documents designated a "Dogmatic Constitution" - in other words one of the 2 most important statements of Vatican II relating to the basic truths of our faith. The final part of "Dei Verbum" (sections 21 to 26) is an exhortation to all of us to read, study, and familiarise ourselves with the sacred Scriptures. We are to become "steeped in their spirit", and we are reminded that in the words of St. Jerome "Ignorance of the Scriptures is ignorance of Christ" - we can meet him in every page, including the pages of the psalms. The Bible is full of "tables". Look for the table God is always with us - He is for us. He does provide all
that we need for the life He wants us to live, so that we can do those
things He wants us to do. But whilst God will always find ways to
speak to us, we need to play our part too. We must turn to Him - seek
His face. The prophet Jeremiah reminds us "When you seek me
you shall find me, when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer.
29:13). This is what the speaker explained so well that evening in
Sydney. As you seek the Lord in times of blessing and in times of
trouble - "look for the table; its going to be there, but
you have to look for it."
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Almost
half the psalms in the Bible are attributed to David. Over the centuries,
millions of people have been encouraged, challenged, inspired or comforted,
by praying the psalms of worship written by this amazingly gifted
man - poet, shepherd, warrior, and king. If you ask people which is
their favourite psalm, many will reply by reciting a few lines from
Psalm 23. Some may not know that they are from Psalm 23 nor that it
was written by David, but they know the words "The Lord is
my shepherd, I shall not want", or as Eugene Peterson puts
it in The Message "God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing."
I think it's probably the best-known of all the psalms, recited and
believed by Christians of all traditions. Most of us have favourite
passages of Scripture which have particular meaning and relevance
for us, and are often linked to special spiritual moments or events
in our lives. The most exciting Scripture verses for me are in Ephesians
chapter one, where I first discovered that I was blessed, chosen,
adopted, redeemed, forgiven, included, and marked with the Holy Spirit
as the guarantee of my inheritance. What revelation and freedom
I experienced when I first read these words with faith! I return to
them often, particularly at times of difficulty and doubt, but now
I turn to Psalm 23 as well.
Psalm
23 shows us how much David trusted God. It's inspired by his experience
as a shepherd - totally trusted by his sheep. No matter how he felt,
or how difficult his circumstances appeared, he was determined to
keep God at the centre of his life. Other psalms he wrote make it
clear that David did not have a romantic view of life - he was always
realistic and he tried to be honest. So must we. When things are difficult
- look for the table. I've met people who told me how they were alone
in a hotel bedroom, feeling empty and under pressure, when they casually
glanced at a Gideons Bible, with its section on where to find help
in time of need. As they looked up the verses, God spoke to them through
His word. They had found their table. As The Message puts it: "You
serve me a six course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive
my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing."