Psalm 23: 5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”
Revelation 7:17 “For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
There is much value in standing back from present situations that threaten to overpower us and permit our souls space to breathe and gain a fresh perspective.
What an incomprehensible dichotomy life’s situations prove to be. Which vantage point will best allow our most trustworthy options?
David here in one breath appraisingly speaks of lying down in green pastures, and enjoying life beside calm waters; in the very next breath, he tells of discovering a banquet table spread in the company of enemies urging his involvement. It is often like that! The people who feel the essential need to gain a new perspective on present situations are afraid to take the chance to do so. Was that not precisely the situation of David’s ancestors. Their forced slavery in Egypt was ending by the command of God. Their suffering in Egypt made God appear aloof and hidden. Now realizing how tenuous their freedom was under the even more tenuous auspices of the liberating Pharoah, would it be foolhardy for them to stand back and seek the wisdom of closer scrutiny? By Pharaoh’s insidious command, his brutal forces closed the gap behind them. The Red Sea stretched before them. Freedom’s dream had now all the trappings of a banquet table spread for them in the presence of the enemy! How can they, or anyone else, ever gain a bona fide perspective under such stressful situations demanding immediate response? When unprecedented circumstances force individuals into situations never before thought of, let alone exexperienced, from which direction will a new perspective come? Any suggestion of a walk beside still waters or in green fields is comparable to an experience of suffering a mirage in a lifeless desert.
You cannot depend upon finding a new perspective in urgent situations by looking either right or left, behind or in front. Listen to what transpired with the Hebrews at the Red Sea. With the sound like a thousand silver trumpets on the frosty air of morn, they heard the voice of Moses, Look UP’ “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord!” (Exodus 14). One must learn the efficacy of the Upward Look!
Psalm 23, which includes a text for the present meditation, does not begin with the challenging view of a banquet table set for David in the presence of enemies. It starts instead with the encouraging result of the Upward Look! It begins with what the German Jewish theologian, Martin Buber, identifies as an ” I – Thou” relationship. “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want.” The walk beside the tranquil waters and in the green fields are now super suggestions to gain a new perspective on what tomorrow may bring. You know that your Shepherd will lead the way.
The centuries following the birth of Jesus record, even yet, heart wrenching experiences that demand new perspectives. Many who think they know seek an enemy rather than looking up to see the human face of God. History reveals that in our darkest hours of wars and famines, in pandemics and evils, witnesses looking up, as Christ did, see on God’s face the promise of victory.
John the Divine, as portrayed in the Book Revelations, is a stirring example of one such. He is writing to fellow disciples of Jesus while, himself, an exile on the Isle Patmos because of his faith. ” I had a vision of you all in Heaven. In answering an inquiry about each of you, the angel replied, ‘ These before you dressed in white are they who came out of great tribulation. They washed their robes and made them white in the blood of The Lamb”.
The perspective motivating us each in the Name Of Christ, amidst unfamiliar change and self-revealing fears, is to see in the faces of all, not merely their helplessness but an opportunity to share real love. That effort made now, look up into the Face of God and know that neither things present nor things to come. Neither life nor death nor anything else in all creation will separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
O God, our Father,
The glory of Your presence dissipates the foggy assertions of our earthly knowledge. We look to the North and the south, to the East and West but find little address anywhere for ” man’s inhumanity to man.”
A horrible pandemic ravages the earth while some atrophied minds and hearts dally in silly political vapours.
It is Your scorching Wisdom that must prevail to dissipate the fog that is threatening our planet. We see the signs of Your gracious wisdom breaking through our malaise, like the sun, despite the fog. ThankYou for brave scientists and all front-line workers, and all who are Your co-workers advancing Your creation.
Father, You have shown us in Jesus, Your Son, the efficacy of the upward look. He was all about looking toward Heaven and always depending upon Heavenly resources. As He prayed, so now do we, “Father into Thy hands do I commend my Spirit.”
Hymn: Nearer, My God To Thee