The Sovereign's Sufficiency

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Jesus has conquered death and because he has we can sing:

1 Corinthians 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalms 48:14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

III. Our Peace

a. The Fullness now (5b)

David expresses his gratitude to God for three things in verse 5 that God has provided in abundance: A banquet table full of food, an anointing with oil that signifies God's blessing and a cup that overflows with blessings.

Every time that I read this 5th verse I am reminded of a poem I read years ago entitled:

Drinking From The Saucer by John Paul Moore

I've never made a fortune,

And I'll never make one now

But it really doesn't matter

'Cause I'm happy anyhow

As I go along my journey

I'm reaping better than I've sowed

I'm drinking from the saucer

'Cause my cup has overflowed

I don't have a lot of riches,

And sometimes the going's tough

But with kin and friends to love me

I think I'm rich enough

I thank God for the blessings

That His mercy has bestowed

I'm drinking from the saucer

'Cause my cup has overflowed

He gives me strength and courage

When the way grows steep and rough

I'll not ask for other blessings for

I'm already blessed enough

May we never be too busy

To help bear another's load

Then we'll all be drinking from the saucer

When our cups have overflowed

b. The Favor now

Surely! "What a great word. Not maybe, perhaps, possibly or hopefully. It is a certainty. No guess work, no doubts, no wondering, no hesitation, no question marks - absolutely without a doubt. When we go through times of confusion, discouragement and depression we can be sure that means we can be secure. We only become insecure when we forget how much God loves us. When the Lord is your shepherd He is for you."

That brings us to verse 6 where David's praise for God's sufficiency in all things rises to a crescendo. David is confident that God's blessings will follow him "...all the days of my life..." The children of Israel knew this kind of provision with manna from heaven, plenty of quail to eat and water in a dry and thirsty land. Paul tells the Corinthians that:

1 Corinthians 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

"The Hebrew verb really means "to pursue." God is actively pursuing me with His grace and His lovingkindness. What a God! He's not in hiding. He is always seeking out His children. What does your God look like? Some of us believe in God, but He's distant, reluctant, uninvolved. J.B. Phillips has reminded us in his provocative little book that often Your God Is Too Small. The problem for many of us is not atheism. It's that our "theism" is too limited.

To have a life worth living we need a God worth serving. When Paul wrote his second letter to young Timothy, he shared a God that was big enough for the storms and stresses of life: "For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." (2 Timothy 1:12). Quote from Charles B. Bugg