Lost!

DAILY BYTE

There is another image – another reminder – of God’s goodness contained in Psalm 23 that I would like to bring to your attention. This is the image of the table being prepared, a head being anointed and a cup overflowing (see verse 5).

The power of this image is sometimes lost to us in today’s society. Back in the ancient East there was a common tradition that when a guest had overstayed their welcome at a table, the host would only half-fill their cup. In this way the guest knew it was time to pack up and go home!

However, if a host wanted the guest to know that they were welcome at their table for as long as they liked then they would fill the cup to overflowing. The wine would be poured into the cup in such a way that it would spill out onto the tablecloth.

This Psalm is reminding us that we are ALWAYS welcome at God’s table. We are being reminded that God’s generous love and mercy is continually being poured down upon us and that God’s hospitality knows no boundaries and no end.

Psalm 23 is chock-full of such powerful images of God’s goodness which is why it has served to encourage the discouraged for over 3000 years.

Discouragement, disillusionment, despair … call it what you will. We all go through it at times. Sometimes it is self-inflicted and sometimes it is caused by others. Sometimes it arrives with sledge-hammer like suddenness and sometimes it arrives by a slow creep characterised in times of hard work, stress and too little inner reflection.

But whatever you call it, however it arrives and whatever causes it, the result can often be the same.

We forget.

God fades into the distance and we feel unable to deal with anything else but our discouragement. Ps 23 is not some glib or trite explanation as to why life can sometimes go wrong but rather it is a simple, yet profound affirmation of faith. Faith that has obviously been furnished in life’s furnace of pain and turmoil.

And perhaps the greatest wisdom of Ps 23 is its message that inner peace during difficult times, is not for sale and nor can it be bought. It is simply a gift. And this gift comes to us when we stop and remember exactly who we are and who God is.

For the LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. Life is tough but God is good.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Almighty and Holy God, we give thanks to you for your extravagant hospitality and for the merciful way you have welcomed paupers at your table and fed us on food fit for royalty. May this love of yours give us the encouragement we need to face up to any of life’s difficult situations without losing trust in you. In Christ name we pray. Amen.

FOCUS READING

Psalm 23:5-6

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.