Fine Dining
Today's Three-minute Bible Study
Print, Study and Apply
Title: Fine Dining------------------------------------------ Date: 05/26/2000
Keywords:
"anointing" "honor"
Welcome
to eXXit, the web site designed to help you stand strong in the face of sexual
temptation.
Today we continue looking at one of the most-often
memorized and recited passage of the Old Testament. There's a reason it is so well-used --
it never wears out! Let's take a fresh look and see what it has to say to us in the face
of today's pressures and strains. We'll look at verse 5 today.
Passage: Psalm 23:1-6*
1. The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet
waters,
3. he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for
his name's sake.
4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You
anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Questions
1. Can you identify your enemies (think not just of people here)?
2. Can you picture yourself sitting down to a dinner in your honor,
served by the Lord God?
3. Can you think of a modern corollary to anointing with oil?
Practical help
There are three word pictures in Verse 5, all of which are amazing
in that they portray the speaker (David) as being honored by none other than the Creator,
the God of all, who "knit me together in my mother's womb." (Ps. 139:13) In the
first picture, God is laying out a feast in his honor, particularly to aggravate his
enemies. We have banquets today to honor men's accomplishments, but we would not even
think of inviting their enemies. What is particularly interesting about this feast is the
one making the preparations. It seems clear that God wants to give good things to his
people, and by so doing to thwart the plans of the evil one.
The second picture, the anointing, is one that doesn't seem too thrilling in today's
culture -- who wants oily hair? But in the time of David, this was another tradition of
honor. Anointing with oil was done to signify the handoff of authority, and also to show
favor and blessing. 2 Cor. 1:21,22 says, "Now it is God who makes both us and you
stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit
in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." To be anointed by God is a
great honor, and also a sign of his ownership of our hearts.
The third picture, of an overflowing cup, shows that there is no limit to God's bounty. He
will pour it out as long as we are willing to drink it in.
As you face your immediate struggles, try to imagine yourself in David's shoes here. He
certainly had struggles of his own, not too different from your struggles with
pornography, but what brought him back was his ability to remember what God did for him.
When he stopped filling his own cup and held it out for God to pour, he could stop
worrying about going thirsty. You can do the same, if you will look to God rather than to
what this world has to offer to satisfy the longings of your soul.
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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973,
1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.