Fortress and Refuge - Psalm 46

                       

Psalm 46 is a psalm of lament, a psalm that cries out to God in times of struggle. It begins with a spirit of strength, confidence, and reassurance in who God is. God is a refuge, a place of safety and protection, and place of strength who they can turn to when trouble comes, when anxiety overwhelms and distress fills their hearts and souls. During times like those, when we feel unable to deal with what’s going on in our lives, we seek out places or people of refuge. A refuge is a safe place to get your feet under you again, to recover your strength and find peace and calmness. I’ve learned that no-one can live in chaos all the time.

Because God is our refuge, the psalmist declares, “we will not fear.” Then come images that strike fear in our hearts, “though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.” Earthquakes, mudslides, volcanos, tsunamis all come to mind as we hear the psalmist describe how fearsome nature can be. As we journey through the psalm, we see the psalmist is using these natural disasters to describe civil or social unrest. There’re references to nations in uproar, wars and kingdoms falling, and earth melting. These are not easy times.

It's easy to read Psalm 46 as a hymn or prayer that’s for someone else, yet it’s applicable to many of us, even if not in this moment. We may not be in a time of war as a nation, we may not be experiencing the political craziness that’s infecting other countries, yet Psalm 46 is for us too. I think of a number of times when I’ve seen people grab hold onto this psalm and hang on for dear life. When 9/11 happened, my family and I were living in Michigan and the day of the terrorist attacks, we kept looking to the skies for possible planes aimed at Chicago and that evening the churches in Allendale all gathered together and we turned to Psalm 46. A young man I know whose wife died, leaving him with 3 young children to raise on his own turned to Psalm 46 because he felt as if the ground was melting under him. A family who lost their home after both the mother and father were laid off turned to this psalm as it felt as if the world was crashing all around them. My parents after my sister Toni, and then a couple of years later, my brother Glen went home to the Lord, also turned to this psalm for strength. The earth is not nearly as secure underneath us as we’d like to believe.

In the middle of all the images of chaos and turmoil, the psalmist reminds us that there’s also places full of life and calm, of safety where God can be found. “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most-High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” The psalmist uses an image found throughout scripture of life and flourishing, the image of a river. Psalm 1 starts the psalms off by speaking of a person who reflects on God’s way being like a tree planted by streams of water, a healthy flourishing tree. The Garden of Eden had three rivers nourishing the garden, Psalm 36 and Jeremiah pick up on this image as well, Psalm 36:8, “They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.” Jeremiah 17:8, “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jesus offers us living water in John 4 when speaking to the woman at the well, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Rivers are usually symbols of peace and prosperity because they bring life for farming and roads for trade so communities can grow and prosper. Jesus’ return often includes descriptions of rivers flowing with clean water, making the world a better place to live in. Rivers are a powerful image of life, blessing, and God’s presence in the world.

The psalmist points us to the city of God, to Jerusalem where the Most-High dwells, a stronghold where the chaos cannot reach us. Then comes the powerful promise, “The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress,” a mountain stronghold. He invites us to come and see what the Lord has done. The psalmist then offers an unexpected scene, inviting us to come see “the desolations he has brought on the earth.” This is a God of power, a God you don’t fool around with! Desolation is a word that strikes shock and fear into hearts, it means “an atrocious event,” or “to make uninhabited.” It echoes back to when “the Lord speaks, the earth melts.” The psalmist shows us the power of the Lord, who has the power to destroy all his enemies with a single word.

The Lord’s not only a safe place to turn to in times of turmoil and danger, he’s an active defender of his people. Jesus comes to take our sin on himself to the cross, but also to take the fight to Satan and defeat him and bring peace, his shalom to all the earth. Jesus comes as a warrior, but also as the Prince of Peace “to break the bow and shatter the spear; to burn the shields with fire.” The desolations the Lord brings will bring the end to war, the destruction of the machinery of war. No longer with the people need to defend themselves with weapons of war, instead, as Isaiah 2 tells us their swords will be hammered into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

This will all come about when Jesus returns; until then we will face times of turmoil, of chaos, fear, and uncertainty. In those times, God calls out to us to trust him and “be still know that I am God.” In the times of chaos, when the shaking earth under us is more than we can handle, the Lord calls us to “Be still,” to trust that he’s powerful enough to carry you through, that he’s powerful enough to protect you. In all the smoke and haze, all the shaking and roaring, Jesus invites us to come to him, Matthew 11:28–30, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Charles Spurgeon knows that it’s only when God becomes personal to us that we find peace, “Peace comes to me, not only by what God is, but by what God is to me. “God is our refuge and strength.” “This God is our God.” You never enjoy the goodness and greatness of God if you view them in an abstract manner; you must grasp them as your own. It seems a daring act for a man to appropriate God, and yet the Lord invites us to do it; he says, “Let him take hold of my strength.” It’s in stillness that we find greater opportunities to listen to God, to share our thoughts and lives with God, to connect with our God as our Father, our friend. We need a place of refuge to feel safe enough to be still; the psalmist reminds himself that the Lord is a safe place, a fortress where the Lord is with us.

Where do you go when the ground is shaking under you? Who do you turn to, who do you trust, who will never fail you? God places many good caring people in our lives, but when the fear goes deep, when the hurt and pain is deep and understanding escapes you, the only one who can always be counted on to be a place of refuge is Jesus. Unfortunately, even good people will fail us at some point, but Jesus never will, the cross promises us that his commitment to us is unshakeable.

I’ve learned the comfort, hope, and peace of turning to Scripture, especially the psalms and the Gospels, I’m still learning the peace that comes through prayer, especially praying the psalms. I lean on those who have shared their struggles and brokenness in books and stories and how the Lord brought people into their lives to walk with them during those times, giving me eyes to see how the Lord is present, giving me ears to hear his invitation to come to him. I encourage you to take time to “be still and know God” and lean into the promise that Jesus is with us always through the Holy Spirit and holds the whole world in his scarred hands, the most secure place we can find ourselves.

 

Seeking the Lord’s Face - Psalm 27

Psalm 27 is a psalm of confidence and trust in the Lord, even while showing a few moments of uncertainty. King David begins with a confidant declaration of trust in the Lord, “The Lord is my light and salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?” The question is rhetorical, meaning that David knows he doesn’t need to fear because the Lord is his light, a picture of life, hope, and well-being in the scriptures. The Jews regularly pictured those who are against God as being in darkness. David declares that he belongs to the Lord, his light is his stronghold, his fortress, his place of safety.

Because David belongs to the Lord, he’s not afraid of the wicked who are trying to take him down, even though their amies are powerful and fearsome. David chooses to trust in the Lord. “When the wicked advance against me to devour me…. Though an army besiege me… though war break out against me, even then I will be confidant.” Trust is a choice, especially when you’re being knocked around. We’re not in a time of war such as Ukraine or Gaza, yet we do find ourselves more and more at odds against the values of our culture as the moral and ethical paths of our culture are moving further away from what the Lord has given us in Scripture. Even basic concepts like love are often disagreed on. This has even led to conflict in our churches and this can, and has brought hurt.

In Bethel, we take what I call a compassionate conservative approach in following Jesus where we choose to trust that the way God reveals in Scripture to live by guides us into becoming the people God has created us to be; that God’s way leads to flourishing and health spiritually, emotionally, relationally, and in community. We seek to recognize the image of God in each person, remembering that God so loved the world that he sent his son Jesus so that whoever believes in him will experience eternal life. We remember that people matter to God and this shapes how we live with each other and in our communities.

David goes on and shares his heart’s desire, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” People in David’s day believed that gods were limited in their power and influence to regional areas. David knows the Lord is Israel’s God, believing that the Lord’s power is greatest in the land of Israel, especially where his temple is. This helps us to understand his confidence in the Lord’s protection and ability to keep him safe, even if his enemies have advanced, and even surround Jerusalem. The ark of the covenant is in the tabernacle, the Lord is with David. I wonder if this psalm begins the desire in David to build the Lord a temple in response to who the Lord is as their God. David’s even looking forward to worshipping God with praise and sacrifices, even as his enemies surround him. The depth of David’s trust in the Lord is inspiring!

David is describing who the Lord is, expressing his trust and faith in the Lord, now in verse 7, David moves from talking about the Lord to talking to the Lord. “Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.” He knows the best place to go when he needs help is the Lord. David’s prayer is rooted in a deep trust he’s just shared with us. By first reminding himself of who the Lord is, the deeper David’s faith and trust grows. This shows us a basic principle of faith: the more we learn, study God’s story and history with us, reflect on who the Lord is, and remember his presence in our lives, the closer to God we find ourselves coming, the more confident we become in God and the deeper our trust grows. I have found that we then talk more to God, not just about God. God becomes more real to us.

Now David’s not looking to text God, send him an email, or leave him a voicemail, David seeks the Lord’s face, to come to him personally. As a king, David has seen how he’s impacted by people coming to him personally to plead their case, Jesus later tells a parable about a widow seeking justice who comes to the king personally instead of the judges, and she finds justice. In the same way David humbly seeks the Lord’s help. David listens to his heart, the place Scripture tells us our character is found, where our core identity lies. “My heart says of you, ‘Seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, I will seek.” In seeking the Lord’s face, David’s seeking his favour, blessing, and help. He knows he hasn’t earned it, yet he also knows that the Lord is the only one he can fully trust in his time of trouble and need.

Pastor Rebecca Jordan Heys writes, “When I am reminded of the larger reality of God’s loving control, I can face the smaller realities of fear and evil in the world around me and within my own self. I need to hear the words of Psalm 27: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” So I ask God, “Are you in control?” This happens at many points along my faith journey because I am genuinely not sure of the answer. The chaos I face seems so powerful that I fear it may overwhelm me. When the psalmist cries out in confidence, “Whom shall I fear?” I want to reply, “I can think of a few things.” Other times that same prayer is more of a calm request for a reminder. Then I feel my spiritual feet more firmly underneath me, and I can join my voice to the psalmist’s: “Whom shall I fear?”

David asks the Lord to not hide his face or reject him, yet David relies on the Lord’s character and commitment to him and to Israel, “Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me.” In a family-based culture, rejection by parents and family is one of their greatest fears, and yet David trusts. Trust is easy in good times, much harder when things are hard. Trust is a choice you make. It used to be that trust was given and developed through relationships, today we’re both more and less trusting. We easily trust online news and bloggers and personalities, while at the same time often expressing much less trust in people around us with whom we have the ability to actually have relationships with. Trust is often easily given to those online because they tickle our ears with what we already believe. People who know us don’t always tickle our ears, and because we don’t want to be told something different from what we’ve decided to believe, we withhold our trust.

David does the opposite. Instead of asking God to confirm his beliefs, David turns to the Lord and asks, “Teach me your way, Lord; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors.” David is willing to change what he believes, give up what he wants in order to be guided and shaped by God. The Jews see the Ten Commandments as a gift because God’s showing them exactly who they’re called to be, what they’re called to believe, no guessing required. Jesus calls us to do the same, telling us that he’s “the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” To see the Father’s face, we choose to follow Jesus, trusting his way as the path to life. Following Jesus is a choice to trust him through obedience. Jesus challenges us to trust him when he tells us, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Jesus earned our trust on the cross where he takes our sin on himself, when he chooses the path of forgiveness and grace, even forgiving all those who placed him on the cross.

David’s faith is focused on living in this world, not escaping to heaven, “I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” Jesus teaches us the same focus, teaching us how to live with trust in God and how to live with each other as image-bearers of God. This takes trust. David ends by reminding himself “to wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart.” Patience, endurance, and trust can be hard at times, but knowing who you place your trust in helps you to go through life in strength and hope.

Our prayers are important to God, this is why we’ve been given the psalms. Prayers don’t always get answered right away. Sometimes we’re called to wait, to be strong, to trust in who God is, because we know his commitment to us is found in Jesus. While waiting can be hard, especially in a culture that values instant gratification, David shows us the power of trusting and talking to our God regularly in a spirit of worship.

The Work of Your Fingers - Psalm 8

                      

Psalm 8 is one of those psalms where you simply have to take a step back and say “Wow!” Sometimes that’s the only way we can respond to who God is. Can’t you just see David sitting on his throne and realizing just how amazing God is and trying to find the words to express something that can’t quite be expressed with just words. He’s in awe of God and wants everyone to share in this awe of God with him. “Lord our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” I can see David remembering those nights in the fields with the sheep, lying on his back when the skies were clear and the stars shining like diamonds against the blackness, and if he was by water, watching the wonderous beauty reflect back as with a mirror.

The Lord setting his glory in the heavens gives us a tiny glimpse of the amazing mind of our creator: an artist extraordinaire, a creator of beauty and wonder, a God who is extravagant in sharing the wonder of his creativity, offering us soul feeding glory. C. S. Lewis called Psalm 8 a “short, exquisite lyric.” The scholar Derek Kidner writes, “This psalm is an unsurpassed example of what a hymn should be, celebrating as it does the glory and grace of God, rehearsing who he is and what he has done, and relating us and our world to him, all with a masterly economy of words, and in a spirit of mingled joy and awe.”

Tim Mackie from the Bible Project helps us understand why Psalm 8 is placed where it is. “Our psalm, Psalm 8, is right in the middle of psalms 3-14. And the fact that it’s in the center is important… First in Psalms 3-7, we’re invited to reflect on David’s story from the past, when he was powerless and had to hide from his enemies. In these poems, David cries out to God to deliver him and restore him to his role as king. Then, after Psalm 8, come Psalms 9-14. David is joined by a group of people called the poor and afflicted ones. Like David, they’re oppressed by powerful rulers. And they too cry out to God, asking him to confront these world empires and vindicate his people. Both David and the afflicted ones are really powerless and weak. And yet they are the ones God has chosen to rule the world. And this is what Psalm 8, in the center, is all about.”

David writes this psalm to marvel at who God is, how he pays attention to us, and how we’re important to him. then comes an unexpected thought, another thing to wonder at, “Through the praise of children and infants you have stablished a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.” The praise of children is a mountain fortress against God’s enemies, a force that is mighty and overpowers the criticisms and lies of God’s foes and enemies. The praise of children and infants silences the voices of the enemies through songs and hymns of praise and trust in the Lord. Children trust more easily; they don’t have their own agendas in following God; they simply accept God’s grace and gifts. Jesus points this out to the chief priests and teachers of the law when they get upset on Palm Sunday at the people celebrating Jesus as king. Matthew 21:14–16, “The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant. “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him. “Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read, “‘From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise?” When we see God at work, the proper response is to praise him, not complain, and it helps us understand why Jesus calls us to have the faith of a child.

David turns to the Lord’s relationship with us and he’s overwhelmed with awe again. “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” David’s continuing his first thought here, recognizing not only the beauty of the heavens, but also the intricacy of how every star and planet has their place, that they all dance together in heavens in harmony in a pattern only God can create. Our universe is so vast, that even with all our technology, we still have no real clue at just how big it is, or what wonders it holds, and David is struck by the fact that the God who created all of this still takes the time to pay attention to us, rather insignificant creatures in comparison to the vastness of the rest of creation.

The work of his fingers is so much more than we can imagine, and yet the Lord desires a relationship with us. Of all the creatures he created, he made us in his image, giving us life by breathing his Spirit in us after forming us with his own hands from the dust of the earth. Truly he is the potter and we are the clay, as Isaiah reminds us. Even though we keep turning away from him to follow other voices and gods, the Lord still cares for us, never gives up on us, and even sends his own Son Jesus to wash us clean from our rebelliousness and sin. The immenseness of his love for us is even greater than the immenseness of the rest of creation, greater than anything we can ever imagine.

David recognizes our place in the creation order, but only after helping us see how magnificent God is. David’s praising God, pointing out his power and majesty, reminding us that there is nothing more glorious than our God, nothing and no-one is greater than the creator of all things! We only understand who we are when we understand who God is, our creator and giver of life and soul. We’re not an accident, we’re created to respond to God, and to be responsible to God, to worship him along with all creation. David is amazed at who God has created us to be, “You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honour. You made them rulers over the works of your hand; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the sea.” God trusts us with his creation, to develop it according to God’s design and plan. We’re called to reflect God’s glory into the world as carriers of his image as the Shorter Westminster Catechism reminds us, “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”

We see glimpses of God’s glory in a baby held in the arms of loving parents, in the laughter and joy of children, in youth calling out a leader’s name and scattering in shouts of joy as he chases them in a glorious moment of play, as a older couple sit beside each other with arms around each other, in the smile of a senior as they watch their family gather together, in folded hands in prayer, in a young couple offering vows of commitment to each other for life, in empty nesters helping their children build their own home, in a young person serving at a soup kitchen or helping an older member. In so many ways, we see glimpses of God’s glory in relationships as we reflect him in big and small ways.

David reveals humility in this glorious psalm of praise. God created us lower than angels even while we are crowned with glory and honour. We are small and insignificant and yet at the same time we’re wonderful and magnificent, created in the image of God and an important part of God’s plan for caring for his creation. We’re part of God’s plan of redeeming the earth; it’s through David’s family line that Jesus comes to earth to bear the weight of our sin. We’ll escort Jesus back to earth when he returns and we’re part of the plan of restoring the earth. We’ve been made rulers over the works of God’s fingers, an immense privilege.

As we enter into a new church year filled with worship, learning, working, and growing together, my hope is that in all our ministries that we keep reminding each other that we are the work of God’s fingers, created in his image to reveal God’s glory and the majesty of the Lord’s name as we’re shaped by the Holy Spirit more and more into the image of God, redeemed by Jesus to carry on the work of his fingers.

 

Shepherd and Guide - Psalm 23

                                    

This fall we’ll be journeying through the psalms. The psalms are Israel’s songbook, giving us words to talk to God, helping us find the words we need to talk to him as they speak to life and all that life can throw at us. They speak of joy and worship, of fear and hopelessness, of anger and confusion, and even of revenge, yet in all the psalms, except one, they end in trusting in God.

We begin our journey with Psalm 23, one of the most loved and well-known psalms in the Bible. This is a psalm of trust and hope written from the perspective of the sheep, from our perspective, as we look to God and Jesus. Psalm 23’s about belonging, being part of the flock. It’s an honest psalm, acknowledging our need for a shepherd who sticks by his sheep in quiet and in difficult times, a shepherd who’s diligent in his responsibilities. We need a shepherd because we’re not nearly as capable of taking care of ourselves as we believe we are. Of course, many of us can do fine without a shepherd when things go smoothly; it’s when life doesn’t go smoothly that we look to our shepherd, or we end up struggling along without hope, without peace, without a foundation of meaning, purpose, or belonging.

King David wrote this psalm in a spirit of trust and faith. “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” David has no ordinary shepherd, his shepherd’s the Lord himself, a powerful claim. “I lack nothing,” doesn’t mean that we get everything we want, but it means that we turn to our shepherd when we need something. David calls us to trust that our shepherd knows us and our needs better than we know ourselves. He provides for us in our needs: physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally, relationally. Our shepherd provides enough for the entire flock; it’s up to us to make sure that we care for each other. There are always those who have more, those capable of creating more, while others aren’t able to provide for themselves and their families as well. This is why we’re part of a flock, we bring what we have to the table and make sure all have enough, whether it’s physical help, encouragement, a sense of belonging, or even a sense of purpose as we walk together. The early church in Acts 2 understood this, it made Roman emperors crazy.

The shepherd “makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” The Lord takes his sheep to pastures filled with healthy grazing, to quiet waters so they can drink safely. Sheep dislike running water and Israel’s filled with mountain streams so good shepherds would divert water from the streams to create quiet pools so the sheep would drink. Our shepherd cares about rest for our souls, about the worries, fears, and anxieties that fill many of our hearts and minds. More people are living with stress today, many of our teens and young adults confess to living with almost constant stress and growing levels of anxiety, but adults aren’t immune to this either.

Part of this comes from our economic situation, part of it comes from our obsession with social media and the freedom many people feel to strike out, bully, mock, and hurt others. Social media can have a negative influence on us, there’s growing nastiness and followers of Jesus are often part of it or impacted by it. We complain about our children and youth constantly on their phones, but parents and grandparents are often as much at fault. When camping, I noticed families and friends sitting at their campsites, staring at their phones rather than being with each other. It’s difficult to refresh your soul on social media, we need to turn to our shepherd to refresh our souls.

We need our shepherd’s guidance to keep on the right path, for our soul’s sake, and for the sake of our families, church, and community. How we live impacts others. Many of us aren’t always so self-aware and fail to recognize those times when we need those green pastures and quiet waters or wander down questionable paths. We’re not always good at listening to our shepherd’s guidance and how the Spirit urges us to keep our eyes on our shepherd. Over the next few years, we’ll be working as a church family to focus more deeply on faith formation and faith practices to help us in each of our households to grow deeper in our trust in Jesus and shape our lives more deliberately on Jesus’ way.

David recognizes the Lord has a destination and path in place for us, but that path will not always be easy. Jesus’ way is different than our society’s way and he doesn’t always fill us in on the why of his way. It takes trust that Jesus’ path is the right path, that he’s leading us on a path that leads to flourishing and shalom for us personally and as communities. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us, but we often choose our own paths instead like wandering sheep. Trust is hard, and we’ve been influenced by our culture’s insistence that we know better than God what’s best for us. This attitude goes back all the way to Adam and Eve who figured they knew better than God what was best for them and didn’t trust God completely and listened to voices different than God’s. This is one of  the reasons why we may find our path sometimes leading into dark valleys.

David gets real now about the importance of those times in green pastures and beside quiet waters. There are going to be times when we’ll walk through the darkest valleys, times when evil will feel close, when the shepherd’s path will be hard. There will be times when we’ll walk through sorrow, fear, loss, and brokenness that will sap away our strength and hope and make it hard to trust our shepherd as our souls and hearts get overwhelmed when life becomes turbulent and chaos engulfs us. This is a sharp turn from green pastures and quiet waters.  Our shepherd doesn’t always protect us from dark times, allows them to enter into our lives. I’ve experienced dark times like many of you, and what’s carried me through those times is the knowledge that I don’t walk those times alone. In experiencing darkness, I’ve learned to trust that Jesus will lead me back into times of light. I’ve learned to appreciate those times of green pastures better.

David trusts that, “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.” Jesus offers us this same assurance when he tells his disciples, John 14:15–18, “If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth…. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” We hear an echo of this in Hebrews 13:5–6, “God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Jesus doesn’t come with a punishing rod or staff. Jesus’ rod and staff pulled me from times of potential disaster while protecting me from situations and people who only wished to hurt and destroy. Jesus’ presence gave hope and strength to make it through those dark times, even when they lasted longer than I wished.

David sees his shepherd as a protector and provider, especially in dangerous times, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.” In the fields and wilderness are lions, bears, bandits and more and the shepherd protects his vulnerable sheep from these dangers. In the middle of danger, the shepherd sets a table, a place of hospitality and acceptance, a place of safety and plenty. In biblical times, it was custom to invite travelers and strangers to come eat while the host provided a safe place to refresh themselves. The table echoes ahead to Jesus’ parables of banquets and wedding feasts; for me it also echoes ahead to our communion table where we remember Jesus saving us from our sin through his sacrifice.

Enemies don’t always become friends; evil will always be part of our world until Jesus returns. This psalm doesn’t pretend that everything is always going to be alright, but it does promise that the Lord is with us, will provide for us, that he’s not stingy in providing us with what we need, whether it’s material things, grace, forgiveness, comfort, peace, or his presence. “My cup overflows.” The sheep’s trust in the shepherd shines brightly in the end, “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.” The sheep are confident in their shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep; Jesus, who took all our sin away on the cross, who protects us from Satan and evil, and who will come when our place in the Father’s mansion is ready, to take us home to be with him forever. Until that time, we choose to trust in our shepherd.