You Prepare A Table

Psalm 23:5

I learned to drive with my knees while eating a sandwich the summer after my second year of university. I had a job selling food from a truck. I had a route and stopped at industrial sites and sold breakfast and lunch to workers at those sites. Time was off the essence and so I did not have time to stop and eat. I had to eat while I drove. I do not recommend this as a driving technique because it is not safe and I do not recommend this because it does not treat food with the respect it deserves.

God created a world with food to eat and when we eat it casually, hurriedly, we disrespect the gift we have been given. The way we are supposed to eat a meal begins by planting the seeds that grow into plants that produce the fruit and vegetables we eat. We are supposed to water and weed the plants and then harvest the crop. We bring the treasures of the earth into the kitchen where we clean the produce and prepare a delicious meal. We raise chickens and turkeys, cows and pigs, sheep and goats and then slaughter them to make the delicious meats we eat.

When we prepare a meal, we should do this in community. As we chop and dice, saute and boil, we talk with each other. We share our stories, thoughts, dreams, and observations. Then, when it is time to eat, we sit down around a table so we can look into each other’s eyes. We share the food this earth has produced and we have prepared. We need to have used self-control so we come to the meal with a deep hunger and then we eat with enthusiasm, appreciating the flavors and textures. We delight in the conversation. We linger at the table, reluctant to leave. And sometimes we bask in the beautiful silence of community.

This is so different from what we often experience. We gobble our food while staring at the computer or TV. We cut ourselves off from the company of others as we eat. We eat and run. We eat substandard food in isolation from others. In the US 10% of disposable income is spent on fastfood – Burger King, McDonald’s, and others. 20% of meals in the US are eaten in the car. It is with dismay that I see the rise of fastfood in Morocco where sitting around a table and eating out of a common platter are the norm.

We may not be able to grow our own food, but we can certainly prepare it together and share together in the joy of a meal eaten around a table.

In our series of sermons based on Psalm 23 and the other Good Shepherd passages of the Bible, we come to verse 5 which speaks of a meal.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Up to now, David has been writing of sheep being led by their shepherd, being led to green pastures and still waters, being led back when they stray or become lost, being led through danger, being comforted by the protection of the rod and the tender care of the staff. But now we move away from sheep. The shepherd does not prepare a meal for the sheep.

David has been talking about sheep and then applying that to how God cares for him. Now David begins talking directly about how God cares for him and the scene he chooses to use is a banquet, a feast.

In the culture of the Middle East – and in the culture of North Africa – hospitality is highly valued. We know this because if we have been invited to the home of a Moroccan, we are amazed at the abundant provision of food.

Annie and I were once invited to the home of a man who worked as a gardener for us. This was the second or third day of the big feast that will be celebrated in another week when all the sheep are killed. We arrived and were seated around a table. The men ate with us; the women served. They brought out bread with bowls of butter, olive oil, argon oil, and jam. We ate a bit of that and then they brought out lamb brochettes. We ate that with some more bread. It was delicious and then they cleared the table and brought out a lamb tajine. I was already full before it came but I continued to eat until I could not eat a bite more. They cleared the table and then brought out a lamb couscous. I was really suffering by this time but managed to eat a proper amount. Our host kept pushing choice pieces of meat to me and I was in pain when I finished. Then the table was cleared and they brought out fruit. I had some of that. The table was cleared and they brought out cake, cookies, and mint tea. I have learned since then to moderate myself at each course so I can make it to the end and still be able to walk away from the table under my own power.

Another time I gave a ride to a young man in the countryside. He was waiting for a grand taxi with supplies he bought from a store. He spoke only Arabic so our communication was limited. He invited me to his home. We turned off the road to cross over a field. We drove through a couple small streams, around the side of a hill, and eventually came to his home – cement blocks with an assortment of tarpaulins for a roof. I was fasting that day but decided that honoring his hospitality was more important than my fast. We began with bread and oils and jam. Then they brought out a tajine. Then a milk-based couscous. Then cake and fruit for desert. I wondered at the time how hygenic the preparation was. The next day I had to stay close to the toilet, but it was worth it.

There are so many stories of hospitality in these North African and Middle Eastern countries. A commentator on Psalm 23 talks about Middle East hospitality.
In the East, a man’s fame is spread by means of his table and lavish hospitality rather than by his possessions. Strangers and neighbors alike discuss tables where they have been guests. Such tales spread from one town to another and are handed down from one generation to another. There is considerable gossip as to how guests and strangers are entertained.

Some friends who lived in Jordan told me that people will go into debt, borrow money, to buy food to entertain properly. Annie and I eat small meals at night but small meals would be insulting to people from a Middle East or North African culture.

Kenneth Bailey, whose book I have been using for this series of sermons, points out that
In traditional Middle Eastern culture, when you want the community to know that you have acquired wealth, you do not buy an expensive car or a large house with acres of grass around it. Rather, you host meals with three times as much food on the table as the numerous guests can eat. The modern Western way of showing off possessions assumes isolation and distance from the community. It is enough that you drive by, note my palatial house and see my expensive car parked beside it. The psalmist’s imagery has to do with community life that is strengthened and solidified by shared meals.

This is the kind of meal that David is talking about. A celebration meal. Lots of food. Sitting around tables. Lots of conversation. Lots of laughter. Music being played. Children running around playing with each other. A celebration feast that creates memories that will be talked about and treasured for years and years.

You prepare a table

You. Who is “you”? David is writing his psalm to God and so it is God who prepares the table. God prepares a table for us. What is meant by preparing the table? It cannot be simply setting out plates and silverware and napkins and glasses because that is not done in Middle Eastern culture. A bowl or platter is set in the middle of the table and then the host and guests use their right hand to reach into the bowl or platter and take the food that is eaten.

To prepare a table is to cook the food that is served. In Middle Eastern culture, who cooks the food? Who prepares the food that is eaten? The master of the house provides the meal. He asks that a lamb be slaughtered. He asks that food be prepared. But it is the women and servants who prepare the food, who cook the meal.

In Genesis 18 Abraham was visited by three angelic beings, (Genesis 18:1–8)
The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.

Abraham made the arrangements, but Sarah, his wife, baked the bread and his servant cooked the lamb. In this psalm it is God himself who prepares the food. God does the work of a servant and a woman.

In the parable of the lost son in Luke 15, Jesus tells of the father who runs to greet his returning son and then arranges for a feast to celebrate his return. No one would imagine that the father would participate in the preparation of the food. That is the work of women. And yet, in Psalm 23 God does the work of a woman.

Ken Bailey points out that here in Psalm 23 and again in Luke 15 when Jesus tells the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son, he uses a female image to describe who God is in the parable of the lost coin. It is a woman who searches for the lost coin. She is the image of God in that parable.

We have a tendency to think of God as masculine with masculine qualities. But we forget Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.

Male and female are created in the image of God which means that what we describe as male and female characteristics are both the image of God. When we attribute to God only male qualities, we limit our understanding of who God is. God is the mother hen who shelters her chicks under her wings. God is the mother in Psalm 131 who holds her weaned child in her arms.

God is revealed as father, son, and spirit, but God is not limited by our understanding of fathers and sons. Fortunately for us, God is far more nurturing than most men. God is far more tender than most men. Sensitive young men with an aesthetic appreciation of life are viewed as being more feminine than macho, male athletes. Strong females are viewed as being more masculine. It is helpful for followers of Jesus to understand that both male and female qualities are the image of God. This will help set us free from societal norms and allow us to become who God created us to be.

You prepare a table before me

God prepares a table before us. We sit at a table and God cooks and brings his stunning array of succulent dishes for us to enjoy. This is an honoring of us. This verse goes on to describe how an honored guest is treated at a banquet. David writes:
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Anointing with oil was done at consecrations and inaugurations as in Isaiah 61:1 which Jesus used to proclaim the beginning of his ministry.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

Oil was used to heal wounds and sores as in the parable of the Good Samaritan. James instructed that oil be used to anoint people for healing in the name of Jesus.

But here anointing with oil is an act of hospitality.  In the dry climate of the Middle East, oil was used to moisten the skin. So at a banquet, the host would anoint the head of a guest, usually with oil that was scented with perfume. This was a sign of great honor.

There is a mosaic in an Egyptian tomb honoring Thutmose III who died in 1426 BC. In this mosaic there are eight women with cones of scented oil on their heads. As their body heat melts the cone, oil gradually runs down over their bodies, anointing them continuously all evening long.

Personally, that would drive me crazy. I would continually be wiping away the oil, trying to stay dry. If I come to your home, this is not a way to honor me. But the point is that in the culture of the time this was an extravagant gift to honor the guest at the banquet.

Psalm 23 is describing a party where nothing is held back. Everything possible is done to honor the guest. When David takes one sip of his cup, a waiter rushes to fill it again. The waiter is so eager to keep David’s cup full that it overflows. The overflowing is also a metaphor for how David is treated at this banquet. He is overflowing with the many ways the host seeks to honor him as his guest.

Psalm 23 teaches us that we are treated with great honor by God. We are each the guest of honor at this banquet. We are overwhelmed and overflowing with the goodness of God in our lives.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.

David had enemies. When he was growing up he was the youngest of eight sons and he was dismissed, ignored, and devalued. After defeating Goliath when he was in Saul’s palace, he became the enemy of Saul because Saul was jealous of the public affection for David. For years David hid in the wilderness and among the Philistines to escape Saul’s army. When David’s son Absalom staged a coup against him, David was once again on the run.

Perhaps during this attempted coup, David wrote Psalm 31. (Psalm 31:11–13)
11 Because of all my enemies,
I am the utter contempt of my neighbors
and an object of dread to my closest friends—
those who see me on the street flee from me.
12 I am forgotten as though I were dead;
I have become like broken pottery.
13 For I hear many whispering,
“Terror on every side!”
They conspire against me
and plot to take my life.

When David considered rest, being led to green pastures and still waters, being safe in the midst of those who were his enemies was an important part of that rest. David found rest in his relationship with God. In the presence of his enemies, David found spiritual renewal and rest.

Most of us do not have enough power to have such enemies, but we do have people in our lives who do not want to see us be successful. We live in the midst of people who have prejudices and we are sometimes the object of their prejudice.

Bailey helps to translate this part of verse five into our world.
God demonstrates costly love to me irrespective of who is watching. People hostile to me will observe what he is doing and he knows that their hostility against me will be extended to him as a result. He doesn’t care. He offers that love anyway.

This is seen very clearly in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus was continually upsetting the social norms by hanging out with the wrong kind of people, the people Jewish society ignored and despised. In Luke 19 Jesus was walking down the street when he spied the tax collector Zachaeus watching in a tree. (Luke 19:5–7)
[Jesus] looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

When Matthew, a tax collector, was called by Jesus to follow him, Matthew held a party to celebrate and many of his friends who were outside of social respectability came. (Luke 5:30)
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”

Jesus touched lepers. He talked with prostitutes and allowed them to touch him. Jesus ate at banquets with these sinners and tax collectors so the accusation was made (Luke 15:2)
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Bailey points out that again and again Jesus engenders hostility because of the people with whom he chooses to eat his meals. He demonstrates costly love to his table companions by eating with them “in the presence of their enemies.”

We live in a world that honors some people and dishonors others. Some people are acceptable and others are unacceptable. The consistent message in the teaching and ministry of Jesus is that those the world dishonors are honored by Jesus.

Jesus told the story of Lazarus who sat begging at the gate of a rich man. When the rich man and Lazarus both died, Lazarus who was shamed in his earthly existence was honored by God in his eternal existence.

Jesus opened his arms and his heart and proclaimed: (Matthew 11:28)
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

In the Sermon on the Mount he taught: (Matthew 5:3–5)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Those without power, wealth, and influence, those without honor are blessed because they will receive honor and be blessed in God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus comes alongside his followers in the presence of their enemies and is proud to be their shepherd, leading them to his kingdom.

It is difficult to find significant spiritual events in the Bible that are not associated with food. The exodus from Egypt is commemorated with a meal. Abraham shared a meal with his heavenly visitors. Moses and the elders of the tribes of Israel shared a meal in the presence of God on Mount Sinai. Jesus instituted the sacrament of communion at a meal, the Last Supper. The resurrected Jesus cooked breakfast for the disciples. The meal in Psalm 23 looks forward to the wedding banquet when we enter into our heavenly kingdom.

Isaiah 25:6–8
6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
7 On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
8 he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

At that meal God will be our host who prepares a table before us. He will welcome us into his kingdom and honor us as his precious children. But who will be most honored at that wedding feast?

Jesus told the story of the lost son who dishonored his father and dishonored his village by asking to have his share of his father’s inheritance. He went away and wasted the money and when he returned, his father ran to meet him and welcome him. He ran to meet his son and protect him from the people in the village who would want to act out against him for having shamed them in the way he treated his father.

The father threw a party to welcome his son home and the son ate in the presence of his enemies, the villagers who were angry at what he had done.

Who received praise at this party? Was it the son who had dishonored his father and who came home in disgrace? No. The villagers praise the father who had shown incredible forgiveness and love in welcoming his son home.

This is why Tim Keller calls this parable the parable of the prodigal father. A prodigal is someone who recklessly spends what he has. The son recklessly spent his money on wild living. The father recklessly spent his love on his son.

Bailey writes:
Thus the son could say to himself that evening, “My father has ordered a banquet [as a gesture of reconciliation] in the presence of my enemies. The village does not like me. My brother hates me. My father, on the road, in full view of the village, demonstrated great love for me in spite of the hatred of family and community against me.”

The father threw a celebration party to welcome his son but the community came to honor the father whose love brought reconciliation.

At the wedding banquet we will be honored but we won’t be slapping each other on the back, congratulating each other on the achievement of having arrived in the kingdom of God. The honor will go to Jesus who died for us and who worked for us to bring us safely into his kingdom. Our lips will be bubbling with joyous excitement as we tell our stories and hear other stories of the amazing grace of Jesus that brought us to that table.

Jesus is our good shepherd. He leads us to green pastures and still waters. When we stray he brings us back. When we have to go through difficult times, he is present with us. He protects us with his rod and cares for us with his staff. He is working to bring us safely to his kingdom where we will celebrate in a great feast where we will be honored but he will receive all the praise and glory.

As it will be then, so should it be now. In our worship, week after week, we lift up the name of Jesus and give him praise. As we read our Bibles and study and pray with friends, we remind ourselves of what really matters in this passage through our earthly life. We encourage each other to keep our focus on Jesus. When we sit down to eat we pray and remind ourselves who provides us with everything good. We give thanks and put our trust in him for whatever will come in our future. We remind ourselves that our cup truly does overflow.