YOU PREPARE A TABLE BEFORE ME IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES PS 23:5
We need to remember that in this statement the sheep are coming to the high mountain country of the summer ranges.
1. He goes before us to prepare the land. Did you know that the Shepherd takes the time and energy to get the land ready before the sheep arrive? He goes out in the early spring even before the snow has melted and takes a survey of the land and its condition. He will go out and personally explore the land more than once. He has a supply of salt and minerals in which he would take and put in strategic places for the benefit of the sheep. He will find out where the best places will be to camp his sheep while they are there. He wants his sheep to be fed in the best way while they are there. He will check for any poisonous weeds and will plan to avoid those areas. There is the blue Camass white if will be death. The shepherd will pull up these up so they will not be there when the sheep come. This is part of preparing the table in the presence of my enemies.
We see a parallel in the Christian seems clear to me. Why do we feel that we have the freedom to try everything that comes along? We think we the have the right to take a sample of every thing to see what it is like. We believe that even that if we take something that is harmful it is OK. We believe we can go to some places that are not good and it will not hurt us. We believe we can read materials that oppose what we believe and think it will not hurt us. We believe that we can watch a TV program or movie and it will not affect us. We are free. True freedom is only found in Jesus. MK 9:43-47 If your hand causes you to sin cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It is better to enter the Kingdom of God half blind than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
These are the strongest teaching on Hell and they come from the mouth of Jesus. This teaching is found in three Gospels. I like to tell it this way.
If your hand offends you cut it off. This has to do with what we spend ourselves doing in our life. The question I need to ask myself when I am going to do some activity is will this take me away from pleasing God? Will it hurt some one else if they see me doing it? Will this activity become a stumbling block to my spiritual life? I read a book this last week and it had a good statement on the difference between good and evil. The author said that good comes from God being in my life. Evil is the absence of God in my life. This helps me to decide if what I am doing is good or evil. If I do not care if God is in what I am doing it evil. I believe the worst thing in hell will be the absence of God and all that is good.
If your foot offends you cut it off. The foot represents where we go. If we choose to go to places that will be a put down for our spiritual life we must choose to do something about it. We had situation in one place we lived that we knew if we stayed there is would hurt the spiritual and social lives of our children. Joan would lose a good job that she liked. We would lose some good friends. They even told us later that they were glad we got them out of that place. When you make plans about where you are going to go stop and ask “Would Jesus would be pleased to go there with you?” We are to be lights in this dark world but we need to be careful that we do not go into places that our light would be of little influence.
If your eye offends you cut it off. This of course has to do with what we see. The eye might be the most precious part of the body. We remember much more what we see than what we hear. I am sure there have been times in your life that you have seen something and you wish you could get rid of the image but once it comes through the eye it is hard to get rid of. I once saw a movie that made a great impression on me. It was monster movie and as I walked home I ran most of the way because I believed when I walked out of the theater I saw the monster standing there. It also affected me days after as I did my paper route in the early morning because when I went past buildings that had basements in them I believed another monster was being made. I am glad as people we can make choices to what we allow ourselves to see.
We have a Good Shepherd that goes before us to clear the bad things out of our lives. If we follow Him our lives will be free of that which will harm us. Good is God always with us. An example of this is given to us in the life of Peter. Jesus told him that Satan would sift him like wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith would not fail. Jesus goes before His children so that in every situation we may find our self He has already been there and is praying for us to have the strength and wisdom to make the right choice.
2. He goes before us to clear of any wild beasts. He looks out for any wolves, coyotes, cougars and bears. This will keep the sheep at peace. The enemy Satan we know as the Bible tells us comes to us as a roaring lion. Why is it that some today try to discredit Satan? They write him off or laugh him off as joke. Many picture him as a red evil being with horns. Some deny he exists. If he is not real then tell me why we see such torn up lives and destruction around us? We need to be wise and make our walk with Christ as close as we can get. It is the distant sheep the ones that wander off by themselves that are an easy prey. When we try to live this life by our self we find trouble and that is why we find encouragement in meeting with other Christians. We can only find protection from those who want to destroy us by spending time each day in His Word and prayer and going to church to hear the truth of His word. What would you think if I told you God was a black woman? That the Holy Spirit is just the wind? That Jesus Christ was just a man? There are books out there that you can read that say these things. There are people who would tell you the Bible is not God’s Word. This last week a group that was meeting in a house were invaded by policemen who said they had an illegal meeting going on. They had been meeting in this house for five years for a Bible Study and the neighbors sent in a complaint. This is in America. Jesus wants to keep us from the beasts.
3. He goes before us to clear out the water places. He takes times to clear out all the debris, twigs, leaves, stones and dirt that have fallen in since they last came this way. He may repair some dams that hold water to drink from. It is the work that He does for His sheep. Our good Shepherd has gone before us in every situation that we will encounter. He was tempted in all points just as we are. He has known the sufferings, sorrows and struggles that we meet up with. He has identified Himself with mankind as He became a man. It is our trust and confidence in Him and His care for us that we realize His presence and can live a calm and quiet life. So our walk with Him is on the mountain top when we know He is with us clearing the way. We can have peace in the midst of the storm. I know in my many years of following Him that He can be trusted even when things do not seem to be right.
Jesus left aside His splendor, his position, His privilege as the perfect and faultless one to be born as a baby in the care of very poor parents. He let Himself be exposed to terrible hardship, to ridicule, to false blame, to rumor, gossip and hateful charges that branded him as a glutton, drunkard, friend of sinners and even an imposter. He lost His reputation and he had to struggle physically, with mental torment and spiritual suffering. We cannot grasp all that this involves to our lives today. It is bound up forever with the concept of God’s Divine love of self giving which is unfamiliar to us who live so self loving lives. Our grasp of this can only come as we to know that perfect person, without sin was willing to be made sin for us so that we who are full of faults, selfishness, misgiving, doubt, distrust and disbelief might be set free. Jesus said that He came that we might have life and life abundantly. He wants to see us prosper in His way of living.
Pebble in the Water:
Drop a pebble in the water, just a splash, and it is gone, But there’s half a hundred ripples circling on and on and on; Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing out into the sea, But there isn’t any way of telling where the end is going to be. Drop a pebble in the water; in a minute you forget, But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet, And there’s little ripples flowing, to a great big wave have grown. And you’ve disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.
Drop an unkind word or gesture; in a minute it is gone, But there’s half a hundred ripples circling on and on and on; They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go, And there isn’t any way to stop them once you start them on to flow. Drop an unkind word or gesture, in a minute you forget, But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet, And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you’ve stirred, And disturbed a life that’s happy when you dropped that unkind word.
Drop a word of cheer and kindness; just a flash and it is gone, But there’s half a hundred ripples, circling on and on and on, Bearing hope, joy, and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave, ’Til you wouldn’t believe the volume of the one kind word you gave. Drop a word of cheer and kindness; in a minute, you forget, But there’s gladness still a-swelling and there’s joy a-circling yet, And you’ve rolled a wave of comfort, whose sweet music can be heard Over miles and miles of water, just by dropping a kind word. Author Unknown
