Reflection on Psalm 23:5

Psalm 23
1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; 3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake. 4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Who you are allowed to eat with says a lot about you, who you are, what kind of people you hang out with, and who cares about you. The table you are allowed to eat at says a lot.

I had a lot of experience with this in school. My parents moved a lot, and I had to find a new place to sit each time I wandered into a new school cafeteria.

Who am I allowed to sit with? The well dressed give me a cold glare. I continue with my tray. The sporting guys thrash around dangerously, paying no attention. I continue with my tray and look around trying to find a seat. A group of girls (apparently friends, because they all wear matching fake gold friendship necklaces) laugh at me as I keep turning around, scanning for a place to sit. I am not sure that I find the humor in it. Maybe, I will forgo eating today. Maybe, I will just throw the food away and leave. “God, please prepare a table for me.”

When caught in such a situation, we pray simply for a lonely table to be prepared for us off in a corner somewhere, where we can just gulp down our food and go. Of course, a table with people who will take an interest in us and care at least a little would be glorious, but you do get to a point where simply any table would do. It is often hard to find a place to sit.

Can the newly divorced find a place to sit at the family table, or are they now excluded? Can the newly widowed find a person to eat with at all, or are they simply alone? Can the loud mouthed destroyer of the community find a place to sit after all have turned against him or her? Can the town drunk find a place to sit after it is known that he destroyed his family? Can the person riddled by a hidden guilt and pain find a place to sit where they do not have to pretend to be “doing great.” Where do these people find a place to sit?

Most often, we find ourselves sitting at the tables of those we know and like. I find that this sort of selective table company even happens within the church. It is so much a part of human nature. And, because of that, it is striking to read in the Bible that Jesus ate each day with those who would betray him and abandon him in the end. We would tell our children to forget those backstabbing people and move on to someone better, but Jesus did not move on. He prepared a table for them.

It is interesting to note that Jesus ate meals with the drunks of the town, with the prostitutes, with the losers, with the socially challenged, with the loud children who were supposed to be at the kids table, with those who would rob others, and with the obviously hungry and physically deformed (those people who are easily overlooked because their very existence is uncomfortable). We would protect the sanctity of our table from such losers. But, Jesus prepared a table for them.

In the presence of their enemies, in the presence of those who would judge and condemn them, Jesus prepared a table for them.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

“You can come sit with us,” says a big guy dressed in a football jersey. “No, he can sit with us, you guys need to pull up an extra chair, we got this one…he’s ours,” says another huge guy dressed in the same jersey. This is the response newcomers to the cafeteria will find when they experience one amazing high school football team who live by the words, “you prepare a table before me.” This team has been challenged by its faithful coaches to play better off the field than on the field. The team has been challenged to live the words of God. The team has learned to share the truth of God through one simple statement, “you can come eat with us.” Christ’s table is for all. You can come eat with us.


All Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and is used by permission. All rights reserved.