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“Thou Preparest a Table Before Me
Psalm 23:5

 

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas

Maundy Thursday—April 13, 2017

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul.  He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.  Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.” 

We continue our sermon series, “A Lenten Look at Psalm 23”: “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

The “table” that the good shepherd prepares for his sheep actually refers to the upper grazing ranges in the mountains, especially high, flat-topped plateaus which are in fact called “tablelands.”  Maybe you’ve seen such plateaus in the American Southwest, where they are called as “mesas,” which is the Spanish word for “table.”  Speaking from the sheep’s point of view, David says of a good shepherd: “Thou preparest a table before me.”

It may surprise you to learn that a shepherd actually does carefully prepare grazing ranges for his sheep.  In his book “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23,” Phillip Keller says that during the late winter and early spring a good shepherd will go on survey trips to prepare the mountain ranges on which his sheep will graze that summer.  He takes along a supply of salt and minerals to distribute at strategic points throughout the range; he checks for poisonous weeds and either plans his grazing program to avoid them or takes steps to eradicate them, often spending many long days stooped over, plucking out poisonous plants by hand, and thus “preparing the table” for his sheep;  he also clears out debris and muck that has accumulated in the watering holes over the winter, and builds small dams and ponds to create new watering places at strategic locations.  All this is done for the good of the sheep, to sustain them throughout the summer.

“Now may this true body and blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ strengthen and preserve you steadfast in the true faith unto life everlasting.”  Like the good shepherd who carefully prepares the tablelands for his sheep to sustain them throughout the summer, your Good Shepherd has prepared a table before you, to sustain you spiritually, providing nourishment for your soul, to strengthen and preserve you steadfast in the true faith.  The sheep need salt and minerals, healthful grass free of noxious weeds, and water, all which their good shepherd provides.  This is your spiritual tableland, this is your spiritual watering hole, prepared for you by your Good Shepherd.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”  Perhaps the most important thing a good shepherd does when preparing the grazeland for his sheep, and later that summer while they are grazing, is looking out for signs of predatory animals who would prey on the helpless sheep.  They are unable to defend themselves; their only protection from the triple enemies of wolves, cougars, and coyotes is their shepherd. 

We face the triple enemies of sin, death and the devil, against which we are helpless and unable to defend ourselves.  But just as a shepherd defends his flock from wolves, cougars and coyotes, your Good Shepherd defends you from the triple enemies of sin, death and the devil.  Your Good Shepherd defends you from the enemy of sin by taking your sin upon himself and suffering the punishment in your place; for his sake your sins are all forgiven.  Your Good Shepherd defends you from the enemy of death by his own sacrificial death and resurrection, which assures you—and all who trust in him—of eternal life-after-death.  Your Good Shepherd defends you from the enemy of the devil with his triumph on Easter morn; the war is already over, and the devil has lost.  My mother used to say, “You may have won the battle but you’ve lost the war.”  The Good News is that even though you may lose many battles in your life against the devil, Jesus Christ has still won the war and through his victory you too are victorious.

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”  The ferocious predators always hang about the edges of a flock, just waiting for an opportunity to attack the helpless sheep.  But the good shepherd watches over them and protects them so that they graze in peace and security, right in front of their enemies.

“Thou anointest my head with oil.”  In the Bible, oil is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.  You receive this anointing from God with his Holy Spirit in the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Communion and through hearing and reading his Word.  This anointing with the Holy Spirit you receive from your Good Shepherd has parallel purposes to the anointings with oil that sheep regularly receive from their shepherds.

According to Phillip Keller, shepherds anoint their sheep with oil first of all to alleviate pesky flies and parasites that will constantly buzz around their heads and cause them enormous agitation, even to the point where they will bash their heads against a rock and kill themselves.  At the very first sign of such pests, a good shepherd will apply an oily antidote to their heads and reapply it as needed at regular intervals.

In the same way, we face all sorts of pesky irritations in our lives.  In order to cope, we need continuous anointings with God’s Holy Spirit—which we receive by recalling how we are his children through Holy Baptism, by partaking of Holy Communion, and by hearing and reading his Word.  Only by such continuous anointings from our Good Shepherd with the oil of the Holy Spirit are we able to cope with all the things that “bug” us in our lives.

Shepherds also anoint their sheep with oil to fight a contagious skin disease called “scab,” which sheep usually pass when they rub heads in a friendly manner as they like to do.  In the same we, we are in danger of spiritual infection from friendliness with the sinful world around us, an infection that also enters through our heads, our eyes, our ears, our minds. Paul says in Philippians, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  We can do that only by the power of the Holy Spirit’s anointing, inoculating us against spiritual infection from the sinful world.

Shepherds also anoint the heads and horns of rams with oil and grease during the mating season, so that they will not be harmed but just glance off each other when they butt heads.  Unfortunately, the sheep of God’s flock also butt heads sometimes.  We too need the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit, so that we can show the fruits of the Spirit in our lives: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

“Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”  What a beautiful picture to sum up the abundant blessings of the Good Shepherd’s flock.  Similar to an overflowing Thanksgiving cornucopia, all the earthly and spiritual blessings our Good Shepherd bestows on us are like a cup running over. 

“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”  Amen.

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