Psalm 23 - You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies (12)

Enemies surround us but the Lord is with us, fighting our battles, so all is well.



Enemies surround us

Everyone will hate you because of me,
but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.      - Mark 13:13

In his time David had many enemies; lions and bears after his sheep, Goliath and the philistines, and at times Saul - to name a few. This may feel like a reality somewhat divorced from our own, but Jesus is quite unequivocal on this point: his followers will have enemies. After all, they are following a man who was killed by the roman state for blaspheming.

Let us not be surprised then, when we encounter opposition from people. It is not a sign of being right, for fools are often despised. But neither is it a sign of wrong doing, for any persecution we may suffer was also endured by Christ, and countless martyrs after him. 

But the Lord is with us

Many times David faced enemies stronger than himself, and saw the hand of God deliver him. On one striking day when God rescued him from the hand of Saul, he said "the LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge" [Psalm 18:2].

It is not because he lacked enemies or failed to feel their imminence that David could say that he had a safe place of dwelling and a deliverer. Rather, because he knew God's nearness he could be sure that despite the closeness of his enemies, and their apparent strength, he was safe.

Safety comes in our nearness to God,
not in our distance from our enemies        - Dillon Burroughs

Fighting our battles

For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you 
to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.      - Deuteronomy 20:4

In 1588, upon being informed of the approach of the Spanish Armada, Sir Francis Drake reportedly replied that he had time both to finish the game of bowls he was playing on Plymouth Hoe, and to defeat the Armada. While this likely had more to do with knowledge of the tides than assurance of victory, this is similarly curious behaviour to what we see in this verse.

How strange, in the midst of enemies, to have a table laid out for you to eat. A soldier in the midst of battle is lucky to snatch any food at all; much less will she manage a three course meal at a local diner. Yet we are afforded this luxury in the midst of our battles, for they are not truly our battles at all, but the Lords - and he has already secured victory on the cross!



So all is well

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning - Psalm 30:5

It is remarkable that David can move from talking about his death in verse four to talking about the feast that awaits him here in verse five. But this is the journey of every Christian, both in our daily lives and once for all as we die to wake in eternity. We are always travelling from darkness into light.

We may rest in Christ through our current struggles because we know that God is working all things to our good. And we may rest in Christ as we think upon our eternal destination, because we know that God is preparing for us a feast in heaven.

We may enjoy the same peace that enabled Peter to sleep so soundly even in prison facing his execution in Acts 12. Spurgeon says of Peter, "he was ready to die [for the gospel of peace], and that made him able to sleep" - may that be true of our lives also.