Looking at Psalm 23 through the lens of suffering (5a)

5a “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;”

What do tables have to do with sheep? 

The high mountain country are known as Alplands or Tablelands. The Spanish word ‘mesas’ is table in English. The high plateaus of the sheep ranges are referred to as mesas. 

So it may be seen that what David referred to as a table was actually the entire high summer range.

The shepherd goes before the sheep and prepares this place, this table. So often in scripture we are told that God goes before us. 

Deut 31:8 “It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.

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Exodus 13:21 “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”

Micah 2:13 “He who opens the breach goes up before them; they break through and pass the gate, going out by it. Their king passes on before them, the LORD at their head.”

The shepherd has a grazing program. He checks out for poisonous weeds. If the sheep were to eat any of these weeds it could be fatal. He also looks for any predators that may be lurking. The shepherd will hunt them down to make sure his sheep will dwell in safety, in peace. 

When struggling or suffering, it may be tempting for us to feed on things that aren’t good. Things that can make us sick. May we trust that the good shepherd will go before us, to protect us from those things that so easily ensnare us. 

Our greatest enemy, Satan is prowling around to destroy us. God knows his every move. Satan is only allowed a certain lead. Think of Job and how God allowed certain things to happen to him but he couldn’t take his life. 

I often feel that Satan has destroyed my life, that he has stolen so much from me and God has somehow allowed it. But ultimately God IS in control, He DOES go before me, even if at times, it doesn’t feel like or look like it. 

Keller writes “At all times we would be wise to walk a little closer to Christ. this is one sure place of safety. It was always the distant sheep, the roamers, the wanderers that were picked off by the predators in an unsuspecting moment”.

Maybe on the day of our dear son’s accident I was wandering, roaming. Could it have been an attack of the enemy? To this day, I still don’t know, but I do take encouragement by something Keller writes…

“Just because the shepherd has gone ahead and made every possible provision for the safety and welfare of his sheep while they are on the summer range does not mean they will not have problems there. Predators can still attack, poisonous weeds can still grow, storms and gales can still come swirling up over the peaks, and a dozen other hazards can haunt the high country”. 

Just like a weed that can pop up overnight so too can disastrous things happen just out of the blue. It’s happened to us. We weren’t expecting it. No one warned us about it. In a split second our lives changed. We just need to trust God in this situation knowing that He does prepare and that He is with us when the attacks come out of nowhere. 

Prayer - Dear Lord, Thank You that You are the ‘God who is there’. You promise to never leave us nor forsake us. Help us to trust even when things are seemingly dire. Amen 

I am grateful to Phillip Keller for the insight I have gleaned from his book ‘A shepherd looks at Psalm 23’.