Psalm 23:5
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Have you ever been in a certain predicament in your life and wonder how the things that have happened to you could ever be for your present or eternal good? The answer to the question is really simple when we view it from God’s perspective. It is because our spiritual, and emotional strength, and well-being lies in our dependency of God. This is found to be so in Psalms 40:16, 17. “Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation says continually, the Lord be magnified. But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.” We know that we have God’s care and protection because of Psalms 121:4; “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. Psalms 32:7, “Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.”
First, David says, “Thou Preparest a Table before Me in the Presence of Mine Enemies…” On a battle field, the solders have to eat when they can and be constantly vigilant and hope they do not come under fire during the meal. The peace of the saint of God in the midst of a world system who wishes that they be destroyed is unexplainable to the world; it is a peace that passes all understanding. Remember that the Lord is our Shepherd and because of that fact, we shall not want for what we need. That is a divine promise. In Exodus 12 God instructed the people to eat in hast, with their travel cloths on, their walking shoes on their feet and their walking stick in their hand. They were to eat in hast, not in fear and they were to trust in God’s provision in the presence of their enemies. Psalms 107:29 says, “He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.” you may also pause at this time and read Mark 4:35-40.
Ok, if you are finished with that reading, notice that Psalm 23:5 is a scene of calm in the midst of the storm. What does David mean by ENEMIES? Well, Romans 8:7 shows us: Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And James 4:4 informs: Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. And then our Lord states in Matthew 10:22, And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
Now, the greatest enemy of mankind including the saints is death itself. Psalms 22:29, All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and worship: all they that go down to the dust shall bow before him: and none can keep alive his own soul. Nevertheless, God has prepared a peaceful table even in the presence of this greatest enemy. Psalms 23:4 yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou [art] with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. It is through the suffering, death, shed blood and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ that this great enemy death has been conquered. 1 Corinthians 15:25-26, “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” It would do the saint good to take the time and read 1 Corinthians 15 in its entirety. There is much encouragement to the child of God to know that, because of the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and His victorious resurrection, you have been given eternal life and in the end, we shall mock death and laugh in its face. Death can never harm the child of God; for we read in 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, “O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Don’t forget your homework, 1 Corinthians 15. E-mail, johnpruitt@frontiernet.net or message me on face book.