In the Presence of our Enemies

Ps. 23 is a well known psalm, but we do not often stop to think what it is actually saying. The Lord who is our Shepherd prepares a table for us in the midst of our enemies. It does not say that this Shepherd immediately dashes all of our enemies to pieces or that he immediately removes all obstacles from our path. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, the promise is that the Shepherd will be with us. The Shepherd does not promise to completely remove us from all threat, from all danger, out of all of harm’s way. Rather, the promise is that the Shepherd will be with us. The promise is that he prepares a table for us even in the midst of our enemies. This is the kind of people God is making us into. In the midst of the storms of life, in the midst of the ups and down and fears and trials and dangers of life, God invites us back here, week after week. This is the table that our Shepherd, our King, has prepared for us, in the midst of our lives, in the midst of our enemies, in the midst of our trials and tribulations. The Lord is our Shepherd, and therefore we shall not want. If God is our Shepherd, what else do we need? If we have Jesus, or rather, if Jesus has us, what shall we fear? What shall we want? Therefore, come: eat, drink, and rejoice.