In The Presence of Enemies

I went to hear one of my friends preach yesterday. As always, her sermon was well put together and both challenged and encouraged me. The only problem was that I went to church unprepared and therefore could not follow along with the words of scripture. Because of this, and because I remembered the reference to the focal passage, I decided to read the passage in the style of Lectio Divina when I got home—slowly, openly, repeatedly, with the intention of hearing what God had to say through the words of scripture alone.

The passage is a familiar one. But yesterday, I heard God say some unfamiliar things…and I want to share those with you now...not from an academic, poetic analysis standpoint, but from the standpoint of being on a faith journey and seeking God's spirit along the way.
The words of scripture will be in regular print. My thoughts will be in italics.

Psalm 23

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
• Even without a job, I really don’t lack anything. I have everything I need for today, and I believe that God will guide me to what I need for tomorrow.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
• These are action verbs here—makes me lie down, leads, refreshes, guides—and they’re all positive verbs that have a creative spirit—they all have something to do with goodness—with calm—with peace—with hope. God is a God who specializes in providing periods of restoration and silence. In this world that is saturated by media—that makes 15 televisions per restaurant, including televisions in bathrooms, the norm—God is guiding us to green pastures, quiet waters, and lit paths—because that is who God is.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
• We walk through so many deaths—not just the final death of the human body—but the death of hopes, dreams, relationships, churches, institutions, partnerships, jobs, careers, memories, counseling relationships, and more. Life is full of deaths and we all must walk through the valley of the shadow of death many times…yet…it’s just the shadow of death…and shadows cannot consume us…and valleys are always surrounded by peaks…peaks that we’re walking toward.

I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
• God is with me. Even now. Even in uncertainty. God is with me. God is with us! And God is bigger than fear.

your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
• The writer seems to be talking about the presence of the rod and staff here. It doesn’t sound like he’s talking about the use of them. Or maybe he is. I don’t know. But what if it’s just their presence—the knowledge that defense is there if he needs it—that comforts him? He used action verbs in verses 2-3— God made, led, refreshed, and guided—but here he doesn’t use an action verb. He simply states that the rod and staff—the possibility of defense and rescue—give him comfort. So it’s not super hero God, swooping down to rescue the writer from all harm, but it’s ever present, steady God, there to protect and guide when the writer gets himself into a really bad situation.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
• In the presence of my enemies. Not separate. Not away from. Not isolated from. Not cut off from. But in the presence of my enemies. You prepare a table—a place of fellowship, communion, hospitality—a place to gather and share life. You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies. With them. Alongside them. In the midst of them. Wow. Maybe my call to the middle isn’t so crazy after all.

You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
• I want my cup to overflow with your goodness and love, God.

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
• After walking through deaths and eating at the table with enemies, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life. There’s the peak. There’s what’s through it. There’s the promise of what will always come—goodness and love—they are following me—surrounding me—being steady by my side—and they are the essence and hope of dwelling in the house of the Lord forever.

Thank you, God. Thank you. And not just for me. But for everyone who believes. Amen.