November 7, 2023 • 13 mins
Explore with us the profound layers of Psalm 23:5. The journey promises an in-depth look into the cultural, historical, geographical, and sociological contexts that shape this beloved Psalm. We analyze the third stanza, a pivotal shift that introduces the shepherd and sheep dynamic, and the themes of hospitality and honor within ancient Jewish culture. Thanks to our Patreon subscribers, we are able to provide these insights and more, dissecting the verse's reference to the shepherd's protective role, the importance of setting a table, and the ritual of anointing with oil.
The second part of our enlightening journey into Psalm 23:5 ventures into the spiritual and emotional realms of the verse. What does it truly mean to invite someone to your table, and what does it signify in ancient Jewish culture? How does this verse reflect David's situation? We address these questions, unraveling the threads of respect, safety, special anointing, and the overflowing cup. Join us as we connect with our faith and its ancient traditions, understanding the depth of emotions and spirituality embedded in Psalm 23:5. A heartfelt thank you to our Patreon subscribers for making this episode possible.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited tocontinue to dive with you into
the most recited chapter ofScripture, psalms 23.
But before we get into thattoday, I want to take a minute
and thank our new Patreonsubscribers.
Deanne Harmon, thank you somuch for supporting the show.
Your support helps me keep theshow going.
If you like what you arehearing and learning and you
(01:23):
would like to get additionalcontent and resources, please
visit our Patreon.
You can follow the show on oursocials or check out our website
at ourancientfuturestorycom.
Thank you so much for yoursupport.
Alright, let's get into theshow.
Just like last time, we aregoing to dive into verse 5,
breaking it down and seeing theamazing history and culture
(01:46):
behind this famous Psalm, psalms23.5,.
You set a table before me inthe presence of my enemies, you
anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows, so sit back,grab a cup of coffee or
something to drink and you'reready to dive into Psalms 23.5.
(02:12):
If you grew up in church, youprobably have heard this Psalm
many, many times.
You probably memorized it.
Or even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard it a few times.
But there are a few things thatI think are interesting and
will help shape the context ofthe story for us.
First, as always, location.
We are still in the Wadi Kilt,the valley of the shadow of
(02:33):
death, but we are seeing anotherside to our good shepherd.
I never noticed before, butverses 5 and 6 are their own
stanza and this is the shift inthe Psalms.
The first three verses aremostly leaning into the sheep
and the shepherd relationship.
Then, in verse 4, the toneshifts and it leans into the
sheep metaphor and David'scurrent situation.
(02:54):
And these last two stanzasreally lean into three things
the sheep and shepherdrelationship, david's current
situation and hospitality.
And through our time together.
We are going to see how all ofthese things come into play.
Let's start by looking at thisverse through the sheep and
shepherd relationship.
We kick off verse 5 with youprepare a table before me.
(03:17):
A sheep's table is the greenpastures, so a shepherd leading
a sheep to green pastures issetting the table for them.
The sheep did nothing to createthe meal.
The shepherd did all the workgetting them to safety, to the
green pastures.
All the sheep have to do ishave enough confidence in the
shepherd to eat what he has putin front of them.
(03:37):
The next part of the verse saysIn the presence of my enemies.
While sheep were eating thegreen pastures on the
mountainside there are wildanimals like wolves peaking over
the hills waiting to pounce onan unsuspecting sheep.
But the sheep still eat fromthe green pastures in the
presence of the wild animalsbecause they trust the shepherd.
The last part of the verse isyou anoint my head with oil.
(04:02):
Pouring oil over the head of asheep was common practice for
shepherds.
Because the sheep live out inthe open, they are often
tormented with flies and otherinsects that buzz around their
eyes and ears and noses.
They can get so tormented bythem that they can bang their
head against a rock to try toget some relief but just end up
hurting themselves or, worse,killing themselves.
(04:22):
Trying to get relief, however,sheep can get themselves caught
in barbed wire or other thingsthat can cause harm to them and
they will struggle with the wiretrying to get themselves free
but ultimately will just injurethemselves.
So a good shepherd would pouroil over their heads of the
sheep to create a protectivelayer for them.
The oil would repel the fliesand insects and make the sheep
(04:45):
slippery enough to not getcaught in the wires.
This verse ends with my cupoverflows.
This is a hospitality term thatmeans to keep refilling the cup
, but we will talk about thatmore in just a minute.
But here I think it applies tothe shepherd guiding sheep to a
well and drawing water.
The cup to feed the flock isoverflowing.
(05:06):
All of this to say that theshepherd looks after the flock,
provides food and endless waterto protect them from both the
big and small things that canhurt them the wolves and the
insects.
Protect them from both externaltorments of the enemies and the
wild animals and the internaltorments of the flies.
(05:26):
Next let's look at this versethrough the lens of hospitality.
But in order to do that, wefirst must understand.
The world of David was a veryhospitality centered culture.
There were specific actionsthat any honorable host would do
to ensure the hospitableatmosphere for their guests.
There are two important thingsfor us to understand about the
(05:47):
setting of a table in Jewishculture.
First, to invite someone to atable was the highest form of
respect you could bestow on aperson, because sitting around a
table created space for truefellowship.
You would never invite somebodywho was against you or wanted
to harm you to the table.
If you wanted to be friendswith people that were outside of
(06:08):
your class or outside of yoursocial standing, you could, but
you would never invite them to atable.
The table was sacred space.
The second thing to rememberabout setting a table for
ancient Jewish culture in anhonor shame culture, the
honorable would sit at the table, whereas those who were
shameful, ie the poor outcastcenters they would sit along the
(06:33):
wall of the house.
These people stuck in shamewere invited to the house but
did not eat with the guests.
They stood along the wall andwatched the host and the honored
guests eat first, then, afterthe meal, those along the wall
would be given the leftover orthe scraps from the meal so that
they could eat as well.
So let's look at this psalmthrough this lens of hospitality
(06:56):
.
It starts with to prepare atable before me.
As we just said, to invitesomeone to a table was the
highest form of respect.
Honored guests would not haveto do anything to cook dinner,
to prepare the table.
They would just show up for themeal and the host would do all
the work.
The next part of this versesays in the presence of my
enemies.
Now, this could be referring tothe people along the wall, but
(07:19):
it was more likely talking aboutthe responsibility of the host
to ensure the safety of theguests during the meal.
So when an honored guestaccepted a dinner invitation,
the host is agreeing to protectthe guests from any enemies or
dangers that may be lurking inthe shadows.
Next the verse says you anointmy head with oil.
It was common practice inancient Jewish culture to give a
(07:42):
guest olive oil for their hands.
Olive oil worked much likeancient soap.
So every guest received some,but honored guests, the special
guests, would also get theirhead anointed with special oils.
The verse ends with my cupoverflows.
As I said earlier, this is ahospitality term In Jewish
(08:03):
culture.
When you are given a drink atsomeone's home or at a meal,
they will not let your cup godown.
They will continue to refill itafter almost every sip.
This act is called cupoverflows or my cup runs over.
It is only at the end of themeal or at the end of your time
together that they will finallylet your cup go down.
(08:26):
Otherwise, they will make surethat your cup runs over because
that is the honorable,hospitable thing to do.
Historical fun fact some Jewishfamilies will sing this Psalm,
psalm 23, during Passover, asthey pour each of the four cups
to remind themselves of the cupruns over.
(08:48):
So if we are looking throughthis verse, through the lens of
hospitality, we see that Yahwehis the host and we are his guest
.
He invites us to dinner,bestowing on us the highest
level of respect.
He wants to fellowship with youand with me.
Yahweh prepares the table andwe just show up.
When we arrive, he anoints ourhead with special oils, showing
(09:10):
everyone that we are honoredguests at his table.
Throughout the meal, he neverlets our cup run dry.
He continues to refill it untilthe meal comes to a close.
So, lastly, let's look at thisverse through the lens of
David's current situation.
We learned last week that Davidfound himself in the Wadi Kelt,
the valley of the shadow ofdeath, fleeing for his life from
(09:33):
his son Absalom.
He is literally surrounded byenemies.
Not only is his son chasing him, but the Wadi Kelt has dangers
and thieves all its own.
But Yahweh still provides forDavid.
He is still protecting him.
When David was anointed as king, samuel used oil.
In 1 Samuel 1613 says ThenSamuel took the horn of oil and
(09:56):
anointed him in the midst of hisbrothers, and the spirit of the
Lord rushed upon David.
From that day forward, david'scup on Yahweh's blessing never
ran out.
No matter if he was in thepalace or running for his life,
yahweh always refilled his cup.
So how does this Psalm, how doesthis verse, point us to Jesus?
(10:17):
Jesus is our shepherd, as wehave said every week, and he
prepares a table for us as hischildren.
Our food is not green pastureslike sheep, but a feast on his
word.
Jesus said man shall not liveon bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouthof God.
We are not orphans scroungingaround for food.
(10:38):
We are beloved sons anddaughters of the king.
And he has set the table for usin his word.
Every time we open the word,it's like we are pulling up a
chair to an already fixed,already prepared and presentable
meal, ready to be eaten andfeasted upon.
We just have to sit down andeat it.
But we don't just eat for onetime and we are good for the
(11:01):
rest of our life.
No, our cup runs over.
He keeps filling us each andevery time we open the pages of
scripture to connect with him.
So here we go.
I want to close our timetogether by reading the
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to it, be read, that you will embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
(11:21):
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths ofrighteousness for his namesake.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
(11:45):
.
They comfort me.
You set a table before me inthe presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, mycup overflows.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me, vic Hartman.
(12:06):
Music is embarking on anadventure by Evan McDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye you.
Welcome to our ancient future story, navigating
Scripture through the Eyes ofFamily, where I share with you
biblical stories like a familymember would share a story
around a dinner table.
As children of God, we are apart of God's family and His
family story has a lot ofhistory.
Each week we will take onestory and talk about it the
cultural, historical,geographical and sociological
(00:31):
impacts.
We will be looking at thesestories through the perspective
of our ancestors, through thelens of ancient times, in hopes
of learning more about ourfamily.
This is our ancient futurestory.
Welcome back to our ancientfuture story.
(01:01):
I'm Vic and I am so excited tocontinue to dive with you into
the most recited chapter ofScripture, psalms 23.
But before we get into thattoday, I want to take a minute
and thank our new Patreonsubscribers.
Deanne Harmon, thank you somuch for supporting the show.
Your support helps me keep theshow going.
If you like what you arehearing and learning and you
(01:23):
would like to get additionalcontent and resources, please
visit our Patreon.
You can follow the show on oursocials or check out our website
at ourancientfuturestorycom.
Thank you so much for yoursupport.
Alright, let's get into theshow.
Just like last time, we aregoing to dive into verse 5,
breaking it down and seeing theamazing history and culture
(01:46):
behind this famous Psalm, psalms23.5,.
You set a table before me inthe presence of my enemies, you
anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows, so sit back,grab a cup of coffee or
something to drink and you'reready to dive into Psalms 23.5.
(02:12):
If you grew up in church, youprobably have heard this Psalm
many, many times.
You probably memorized it.
Or even if you didn't grow upin church, you have probably
heard it a few times.
But there are a few things thatI think are interesting and
will help shape the context ofthe story for us.
First, as always, location.
We are still in the Wadi Kilt,the valley of the shadow of
(02:33):
death, but we are seeing anotherside to our good shepherd.
I never noticed before, butverses 5 and 6 are their own
stanza and this is the shift inthe Psalms.
The first three verses aremostly leaning into the sheep
and the shepherd relationship.
Then, in verse 4, the toneshifts and it leans into the
sheep metaphor and David'scurrent situation.
(02:54):
And these last two stanzasreally lean into three things
the sheep and shepherdrelationship, david's current
situation and hospitality.
And through our time together.
We are going to see how all ofthese things come into play.
Let's start by looking at thisverse through the sheep and
shepherd relationship.
We kick off verse 5 with youprepare a table before me.
(03:17):
A sheep's table is the greenpastures, so a shepherd leading
a sheep to green pastures issetting the table for them.
The sheep did nothing to createthe meal.
The shepherd did all the workgetting them to safety, to the
green pastures.
All the sheep have to do ishave enough confidence in the
shepherd to eat what he has putin front of them.
(03:37):
The next part of the verse saysIn the presence of my enemies.
While sheep were eating thegreen pastures on the
mountainside there are wildanimals like wolves peaking over
the hills waiting to pounce onan unsuspecting sheep.
But the sheep still eat fromthe green pastures in the
presence of the wild animalsbecause they trust the shepherd.
The last part of the verse isyou anoint my head with oil.
(04:02):
Pouring oil over the head of asheep was common practice for
shepherds.
Because the sheep live out inthe open, they are often
tormented with flies and otherinsects that buzz around their
eyes and ears and noses.
They can get so tormented bythem that they can bang their
head against a rock to try toget some relief but just end up
hurting themselves or, worse,killing themselves.
(04:22):
Trying to get relief, however,sheep can get themselves caught
in barbed wire or other thingsthat can cause harm to them and
they will struggle with the wiretrying to get themselves free
but ultimately will just injurethemselves.
So a good shepherd would pouroil over their heads of the
sheep to create a protectivelayer for them.
The oil would repel the fliesand insects and make the sheep
(04:45):
slippery enough to not getcaught in the wires.
This verse ends with my cupoverflows.
This is a hospitality term thatmeans to keep refilling the cup
, but we will talk about thatmore in just a minute.
But here I think it applies tothe shepherd guiding sheep to a
well and drawing water.
The cup to feed the flock isoverflowing.
(05:06):
All of this to say that theshepherd looks after the flock,
provides food and endless waterto protect them from both the
big and small things that canhurt them the wolves and the
insects.
Protect them from both externaltorments of the enemies and the
wild animals and the internaltorments of the flies.
(05:26):
Next let's look at this versethrough the lens of hospitality.
But in order to do that, wefirst must understand.
The world of David was a veryhospitality centered culture.
There were specific actionsthat any honorable host would do
to ensure the hospitableatmosphere for their guests.
There are two important thingsfor us to understand about the
(05:47):
setting of a table in Jewishculture.
First, to invite someone to atable was the highest form of
respect you could bestow on aperson, because sitting around a
table created space for truefellowship.
You would never invite somebodywho was against you or wanted
to harm you to the table.
If you wanted to be friendswith people that were outside of
(06:08):
your class or outside of yoursocial standing, you could, but
you would never invite them to atable.
The table was sacred space.
The second thing to rememberabout setting a table for
ancient Jewish culture in anhonor shame culture, the
honorable would sit at the table, whereas those who were
shameful, ie the poor outcastcenters they would sit along the
(06:33):
wall of the house.
These people stuck in shamewere invited to the house but
did not eat with the guests.
They stood along the wall andwatched the host and the honored
guests eat first, then, afterthe meal, those along the wall
would be given the leftover orthe scraps from the meal so that
they could eat as well.
So let's look at this psalmthrough this lens of hospitality
(06:56):
.
It starts with to prepare atable before me.
As we just said, to invitesomeone to a table was the
highest form of respect.
Honored guests would not haveto do anything to cook dinner,
to prepare the table.
They would just show up for themeal and the host would do all
the work.
The next part of this versesays in the presence of my
enemies.
Now, this could be referring tothe people along the wall, but
(07:19):
it was more likely talking aboutthe responsibility of the host
to ensure the safety of theguests during the meal.
So when an honored guestaccepted a dinner invitation,
the host is agreeing to protectthe guests from any enemies or
dangers that may be lurking inthe shadows.
Next the verse says you anointmy head with oil.
It was common practice inancient Jewish culture to give a
(07:42):
guest olive oil for their hands.
Olive oil worked much likeancient soap.
So every guest received some,but honored guests, the special
guests, would also get theirhead anointed with special oils.
The verse ends with my cupoverflows.
As I said earlier, this is ahospitality term In Jewish
(08:03):
culture.
When you are given a drink atsomeone's home or at a meal,
they will not let your cup godown.
They will continue to refill itafter almost every sip.
This act is called cupoverflows or my cup runs over.
It is only at the end of themeal or at the end of your time
together that they will finallylet your cup go down.
(08:26):
Otherwise, they will make surethat your cup runs over because
that is the honorable,hospitable thing to do.
Historical fun fact some Jewishfamilies will sing this Psalm,
psalm 23, during Passover, asthey pour each of the four cups
to remind themselves of the cupruns over.
(08:48):
So if we are looking throughthis verse, through the lens of
hospitality, we see that Yahwehis the host and we are his guest
.
He invites us to dinner,bestowing on us the highest
level of respect.
He wants to fellowship with youand with me.
Yahweh prepares the table andwe just show up.
When we arrive, he anoints ourhead with special oils, showing
(09:10):
everyone that we are honoredguests at his table.
Throughout the meal, he neverlets our cup run dry.
He continues to refill it untilthe meal comes to a close.
So, lastly, let's look at thisverse through the lens of
David's current situation.
We learned last week that Davidfound himself in the Wadi Kelt,
the valley of the shadow ofdeath, fleeing for his life from
(09:33):
his son Absalom.
He is literally surrounded byenemies.
Not only is his son chasing him, but the Wadi Kelt has dangers
and thieves all its own.
But Yahweh still provides forDavid.
He is still protecting him.
When David was anointed as king, samuel used oil.
In 1 Samuel 1613 says ThenSamuel took the horn of oil and
(09:56):
anointed him in the midst of hisbrothers, and the spirit of the
Lord rushed upon David.
From that day forward, david'scup on Yahweh's blessing never
ran out.
No matter if he was in thepalace or running for his life,
yahweh always refilled his cup.
So how does this Psalm, how doesthis verse, point us to Jesus?
(10:17):
Jesus is our shepherd, as wehave said every week, and he
prepares a table for us as hischildren.
Our food is not green pastureslike sheep, but a feast on his
word.
Jesus said man shall not liveon bread alone, but on every
word that comes from the mouthof God.
We are not orphans scroungingaround for food.
(10:38):
We are beloved sons anddaughters of the king.
And he has set the table for usin his word.
Every time we open the word,it's like we are pulling up a
chair to an already fixed,already prepared and presentable
meal, ready to be eaten andfeasted upon.
We just have to sit down andeat it.
But we don't just eat for onetime and we are good for the
(11:01):
rest of our life.
No, our cup runs over.
He keeps filling us each andevery time we open the pages of
scripture to connect with him.
So here we go.
I want to close our timetogether by reading the
scripture in Psalms 23.
I hope that as you listen to it, be read, that you will embrace
all that we have learned andthat this passage will be
(11:21):
illuminated for you.
Let's read the Lord is myshepherd.
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in greenpastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in the paths ofrighteousness for his namesake.
Even though I walk through thevalley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for you arewith me, your rod and your staff
(11:45):
.
They comfort me.
You set a table before me inthe presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, mycup overflows.
Thank you for listening totoday's episode of our HM Future
Story.
I hope that you really enjoyedit.
This episode was written andproduced by me, vic Hartman.
(12:06):
Music is embarking on anadventure by Evan McDonald.
Please support the show bysubscribing and rating us, and
if you want more info or want todive deeper, check out our
website at ourancientfuturestorycom.
See you next time.
Bye you.
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