You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Psalm 23:5 ESV
Possibly one of the strangest parts of the psalm, and often overlooked; anointing with oil at a feast was reserved for the most honoured of guests. Why would our Lord honour us like this? How do we see God’s blessing?
Our passages: Psalm 23:5 & Luke 7:40-50. Preacher: Ian Bayne (14th June 2020).
Watch the sermon
Recap
Last week we looked at:
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
Psalm 23:5a ESV
We noted a transition between verses 1-3 and 4-6. He is now addressing the shepherd of the sheep on a very personal basis.
We noticed that the table is prepared in a future tense. We look forward to the table that Jesus is preparing for us.
Jesus is preparing a table of:
- compassion – tending our physical needs (e.g. feeding the 5,000)
- communion – providing fellowship, remembrance and intimacy (eg the last supper)
- celebration – celebrating the resurrection, commissioning Peter, and reminding us of our personal responsibility
Even though we love amongst enemies (as sinners ourselves) he still prepares a table for us.
Explanation
You anoint my head with oil.
Psalm 23:5b
I’ve been meditating on this passage a lot this week, but like new wine, feel this meditation needs a bit longer to mature and to get the depth out of it.
This Hebrew word for ‘anoint’ is to grow fat – it’s not the usual word in Hebrew that’s translated as ‘anoint’: it’s the only time this Hebrew word is translated in this way.
Honouring our Lord
The only time we see a scenario comparable is in Luke 7. Simon (a Pharisee), receives Peter into his home, but doesn’t treat him as an honoured guest. A sinful woman honours Jesus instead; doing what Simon should have done.
A woman is taking one of her assets – her hair, and is using her tears to wet Jesus’s feet and kissing them continually. This is difficult behaviour for us to understand today, but the point is that she’s showing an active humility.
You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment.
Luke 7:46 ESV
As a great act of hospitality for an honoured guest, the host would anoint their head with oil. Lipo is the Greek word for fat or oil. It would make them shine and feel good.
She has anointed his feet with perfume. Oil was costly, but perfume even more so: it was the best gift she had.
The sinful woman is doing this for Jesus because he’s the Lord of glory and the most important guest.
If this is right there is something perculiar about the psalm.
Our Lord honouring us!
In our Psalm it’s the shepherd annointing the sheep. It’s the other way around. This is the difference with Christianity.
Typically people try and please God, but God sent Jesus to serve and please us.
For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45 ESV
It should be the shepherd who is honoured. Yet he is preparing the table to serve and feed us and also honouring us by anointing our heads with oil.
The sheep are the guests of honour!
Examples from today
Even today we use this language in farming terms. As a sheep farmer, I would buy skinny sheep and fatten them up.
When I go to buy lambing stock that are thin, we call them ‘stores’ – lambs that have potential but are not as they ought to be. We call those that are not thin: ‘fats’. We want them to grow with the right amount of food for them to get the right amount of fat.
Today we think of fat as bad because we live sedentary lives. We look at fat as the enemy, however, fat can be good: fat gives you energy; fat is where the taste is. We like it, for instance, pork crackling.
A fat lamb gives both energy and taste. Hence we want to take a a store lamb, raise it to become a fat lamb, and then eventually a prime lamb which has reached its potential.
Application
Our shepherd anoints our head with oil because:
1) we’re worth it
We are the objects to be honoured by Him because he sees potential in us. He created us and loves us.
2) He wants us to be at our very best
We’ve gone from being lost to being found. We’ve received every spiritual blessing:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:3
We are anointed to shine a light and demonstrate the best of our Lord to all around us.
3) we should never forget
If we’re taken round to someone’s house and given great hospitality we remember it. Hospitality is seen as a genuine mark of faith.
This is one of the reasons we try to make sure that those who come to our homes know we care for them, love them, and don’t just give empty platitude and encouragement, but follow through with action.
The Lord has invited us to his table and marked us as special guests. How wonderful to be invited to our shepherd’s home.
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