We have a
problem
Contentment is finding
19Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. —Jesus (Matthew 6:19-21)
5You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Psalm 23:5
Contentment is found at the
of God.
Hospitality was crucial in ancient culture. To have a place provided at the table meant VALUE!
To take it a step further, the host didn’t prepare the food but in our passage it was God who prepared the food.
The table does not mean everything is
.
David said the table was prepared for him while the enemies were present.
The table was made for us to sit, dine, and experience God’s generosity even in the bad.
Paul leaned into this thought while writing to the church at Philippi…
11Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. —Philippians 4:11-12
God’s
is more than enough.
The spread of food prepared is
To prepare a table was to make ready a feast. It was to do more than to give a loaf of bread to a weary pilgrim. It was to detain one as a guest and set before him the best of everything that could under the circumstances be had. —W.S. Plumer
Head
The word “anoint” ferrs to “being or growing fat.”
A translation might say, “You make my head fat with the oil.” Although this might sound strange to us, the sense is simply of the liberality of the host; the provision is lavish and rich, not meager or minimal. —David Gibson
The cup
To speak of the cup is to speak about life experiences.
4But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. —Ephesians 2:4-7