Daughters of promise

You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over. Psalm 23:5b

Remember when Jesus was baptized?  John the Baptist was breathless with wonder.  He was about to lower the Lamb of God beneath the surface of the river Jordan.  Time stood still, and this holy act unfolded in slow motion.  Jesus was submerged; then burst forth.  This only lasted for a moment, but neither was ever the same again.  This was confirmed as the heavens opened and God spoke words of blessing over His Son. A beautiful dove, the Holy Spirit, descended on Him.   

The Anointed One will anoint me. After a sumptuous meal at His table, this is His holy benediction.  I am seated at the table and He approaches me from behind.  He pours oil over my head and it runs down the side of my face.  “I have called you and you are mine,” He says.  I am filled to overflowing as His Spirit energizes each word He speaks.  The anointing accomplishes its purpose.  I’m blessed to live and serve in the power of His Spirit.  Just like Jesus.  

I leave this holy place in my spirit and enter the wildernesses of my life, just as Jesus did.  Oftentimes I am tempted to doubt the love of the One who anointed me but I remember.  My cup still overflows.  Memories are powerful things. Anytime I want, I can re-visit them. The feelings of being there return; sounds and smells are almost palpable. Each one feels like yesterday.  I was created with eternity in my heart. Though I’ve not yet been in person to the banquet table, I ‘know’ there.  My spirit, even at this moment, feels the impact of this encounter with the Anointed One.  Whether the the taste of manna or the feel of oil on my skin, both are real and sustaining.  

Anointed for service.  Filled to overflowing.  Today is lived for Your glory.  Amen

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Psalm 23:5

There are two stunningly beautiful things about this verse.   1.) There is a table that is being set for me, prepared by God Himself.  And, 2.) It’s on display for my enemies.

God prepares sumptuous meals no matter the season. When I’m resting, it’s green grass to nibble on and enjoy. When I’m working, it’s fuel for my labor. When I’m with kindred spirits, it’s the fodder for rich conversation. And when I’m with enemies, it’s my life-source for strength. Nothing else will sustain me.  The thing is ~ it’s the same Word ~ with the same power ~ from the same Father ~ all the time. What changes are my need and my application? The more dire the circumstances, the more life-giving the spiritual meal.

It is humbling enough that God prepares the feast. Even if He didn’t customize what’s on the table, I would be in awe that He even invited me. But considering that He knows what I enjoy and spreads the table with delicacies fit for royalty, leaves me stunned by this kind of love. Who does this? A once-in-a-lifetime invite would be enough, but this banquet table is arrayed any time I want to go partake of it.  See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! I John 3:1

Do my enemies discern that such a spiritual meal exists? Oh yes, and it confounds them. They wonder why I don’t give up, why I still trust God, why I’m not bitter, why I haven’t conceded in the battle, and why I have the strength to keep going until the end. They may not see the awe-inspiring spread on God’s banquet table up close, but they know it’s there. They see its effects.

As God prepares and serves your feast, he makes your enemies sit on the outer fringe of the scene and watch everything unfold. They see the Lord himself spreading your table with food, escorting you to your seat, and waiting on you. Then they watch as you fill up your soul with heaven’s delightful fare. I tell you, no demon power, including the devil himself, could ever comprehend this kind of love, mercy, and grace. 

Lord, I smell the bread baking and hear the wine being poured.  I’m coming.  Amen

Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  Psalm 23:4

While it is comforting to know that Jesus’ rod and staff will guide and protect, how does that fit with walking through the valley of the shadow of death?

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.  Psalm 23:4

In Israel, there was an ancient trail one must walk to travel up to Jerusalem.  It was steep, and the traveler had to climb way above a deep precipice.  The Jews called it “The valley of the shadow of death.” It is believed that David imagined this journey while writing Psalm 23. When pilgrims walked this skinny dirt path, it was easy to slip and fall over the side into the canyon.  There were also thieves who hid behind huge boulders on the mountainside.  Attacks and the physical struggles that followed almost always resulted in someone’s death.

This stretch of the journey was the most dreaded as God’s people traveled to the Holy City. The Psalms of Ascent reveal that they sang songs of Zion and recited God’s promises to deal with their fear. They lived for the joy that awaited them when they entered the gates of Jerusalem. 

With that as the backdrop, I can know that on the most difficult part of my journey home to heaven, Jesus will shepherd me through a similar treacherous valley.  The wiles of the devil won’t diminish at the end of life, far from it.  Satan will try to prey on my fear.  He will thrive on oppressing me when I’m at my most vulnerable.  Never will Jesus’ presence, and His rod and staff, be more needed. 

Jesus also knows the way. His Father led Him through that same treacherous valley as He hung on a cross and approached the end of His mission.  God’s rod and staff guided Jesus from the moment He said, “It is finished,” to the moment of glorious reunion with the Trinity.   

He will not let your foot slip; he who watches over you will not slumber.  Psalm 121:3

You are my Shepherd in life and Shepherd in death.  Amen

Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of evil, You are with me.  Psalm 23:4

Of all evils we witness, the most frightening one is death.  As believers in Jesus, we don’t fear our final destination but most of us fear the process of getting there.  No one can come back to tell us what it was like except Jesus and He discloses two important things about it.  1.) He defeated it by walking out of the grave.  2.) And, He will go with us as we experience it.  Jesus understands every nuance and subtlety.  He endured the slow process in the most horrific way possible.  

The ultimate reason death can be frightening is because death is the final curse and evil’s last performance.  When God created us, He didn’t equip us with the ability to understand and cope with its atrocities.  He made us for the Garden, for a world of perfection, but the sin of Adam forever opened our eyes to the vast chasm of evil and the breadth of it shuts us down.  We try to make sense of it and that’s why we end up calling it ‘senseless’.  We take what we witness, turn it over and over in our psyche, but we never grasp it because we weren’t wired to.  

As the perfect High Priest, Jesus’ intimacy with death is a lifeline.  He was the suffering Savior who, by choice, walked into the valley of the shadow to secure my own salvation from eternal death.  He doesn’t just wait for me on the other side ~ no, He takes me there by the hand.

So many bail out on us in our darkest times. Jesus, your final display of faithfulness will be showcased in my final hours.  Amen

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Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil, for you are with me. Psalm 23:4a

The definition of a shadow is an image cast by an object.  The word doesn’t usually bring warm feelings.  Someone hiding in the shadows is a person with a questionable agenda.  Someone afraid of their own shadow is a poor soul gripped by shyness.  Someone who sees shadows in the night is one who sleeps lightly.  And then there’s this phrase in the 23^rd Psalm, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…’ 

While the topic of shadows makes us think of something foreboding, and while there’s nothing more frightening than the thought of the shadow of death, God’s shadow eclipses all darkness.  Our faith rests in these scriptures.

I am concealed in the shadow of God’s hand.  Isaiah 49:2

I dwell in the shadow of the Almighty.  Psalm 91:1

And, I take refuge in the shadow of my Father’s wings.  Psalm 36:7 

God is also described as One who casts a shadow. His presence shadows His children ~ going with them wherever they go. Psalm 121:5

If I am in Christ, I am overshadowed when the Spirit conceives something holy, heals something broken, prepares something yet unformed, and draws near to guide His child home.  If you, or someone you love, is sorrowing because the shadow of death has touched your family, know that you are ‘over’ – shadowed.

I am overshadowed by Your Spirit, even when I walk through darkness. You take me home safely to the place where there is no more night.   Amen

He restores my soul.  Psalm 23:3

This morning I caught myself thinking, “I did so well trusting God last week with this situation…what happened? ” What I really wanted was for my heart to go back to where it was—a reset to the faith I felt just a few days ago.

The basic word for ‘restore’ means to move something back to the place of departure. The tender Shepherd restores our soul if we pay attention to our heart and address our faith before it completely unravels.  We must go to green pastures and still waters to ask Jesus what’s wrong.  Something sure changed and oftentimes we don’t even know what.  He does though. 

Sometimes, simply sitting in silence with Him is enough for the Holy Spirit to put His finger on it. “Here. This is where you stopped believing Me.” The lie is exposed, and I can face my unbelief honestly. But most of the time, we must interact with scripture until we discern the nature of the conflict.  Most likely, we will come across a verse that rubs against the grain of our feelings.  We know the verse is true, but we feel like it’s not true.  This is a sure sign of faith’s fracture. 

Today is a restoration-day for me.  I’ve carved out some time for God to restore my faith about a certain situation in my life.  Confidence in His assurances have begun to deteriorate. I can’t live without joy and confidence in my Shepherd.  As I dive into the deep waters of the Spirit for restoration, I am praying for you too. 

Doubt doesn’t stand a chance in the long run when we stay in the arms of the Restorer.

You mend every broken soul who comes to You. Restore what has frayed in me.
Amen

He leads me beside still waters.  Psalm 23:2b

From years of sleeping in noisy hotels, I’ve learned that a sound machine is my best friend. I always choose water sounds, a gentle, steady flow quiets me. It’s no surprise, then, that God promises to lead His children beside still waters. In Hebrew, “mai menuchot” means “restful waters”—not crashing waves, but slow, calm streams.

Even my cat Geoffrey seems to know this. He’ll sit by the faucet and stare until I turn it on. But if the stream is too strong, he backs away. If it barely drips, he’s annoyed and will stare at it. He waits for that perfect, gentle flow before he’ll drink.

Every living thing needs water. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that He could give her a drink after which she would never thirst again. At first, she thought only of physical water; a well was in front of her, after all. But He was gently exposing a deeper thirst: her belief that she needed the love of a man to survive, her dependence on broken cisterns that always ran dry.

“Go, call your husband,” He said. With that one sentence, He put His finger on her deepest wound. When we’re beside still waters, conversations like that can finally happen. We slow down enough to listen, to let Jesus name what we truly need. The Shepherd not only diagnoses our thirst; He offers Himself.   “Drink from Me. Your life need no longer depend on fickle sources of water.”  

When You lead me to You, Jesus, You turn my many needs into one great need. I just need You. Amen

He makes me lie down in green pastures. Psalm 23:2

God makes me lie down in green pastures. That sounds like it’s done by force against my wishes. It’s not like that! The picture is one of a shepherd who gently leads, and this corresponds with the beautiful picture painted by Isaiah.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.   Isaiah 40:11  

The little Shepherd who napped in the manger would be the One who would call Himself the Shepherd. Pretty amazing as I sit here thinking about it because the One David addressed as Shepherd in Psalm 23 was God Himself. And yet, Jesus will define Himself as the shepherd of the sheep all throughout the book of John. How do the two tie together?

When David wrote Psalm 23, Jesus resided in the Trinity and was one with God in caring for the sheep of Israel. But because of Incarnation, the Shepherd became one who needed a Shepherd. The Shepherd became the sheep. He had to learn how to live out the lessons in the 23’rd Psalm so that He could become a Shepherd who was touched with our infirmities.

Little boy Jesus discovered that the world was not a place to lay his head in peace. Mary was probably the first who, by example, taught Jesus to run to Father God for spiritual rest and refreshing. Chaos and intimidation ruled the Roman Empire, and their personal lives, and Jesus could feel His people’s corporate anxiety having to dwell under the umbrella of brutes like Caesar Augustus and the Emperor Tiberius. Any resting of the soul would have to come from a spiritual resting place, the kind only His Heavenly Father provided.

Just like us, Jesus depended on the shepherding of Yahweh. In His DNA, did He have any recollection of being the Shepherd of Israel? We don’t know. But one thing is for sure ~ Jesus personally experienced the perfection of God’s green pastures amidst the imperfections of earth’s dwelling places. God’s food sustained Him through more trials than we’ll ever face. Without it, He would not have the wisdom, strength, and stamina to finish the course.

Every one of us has a deep desire to be known by One who loves us. Because we were made to be intimate, our soul strains to be under the care of someone who can see the expanse of our lives; One who has the power to shape an environment where we can thrive. 

You are my perfect Shepherd. Amen