Psalm 23:5-6 Mar 10, 2009

Psalm 23:5 "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 love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever." NIV

Vindication comes from God! David experienced the vindication of God repeatedly. His Father hid him and yet God found him. Goliath mocked him and yet God gave him the victory. Saul pushed him down and yet God raised him up. In situation after situation David witnessed the goodness of God preparing for him a reversal of circumstances that were seemingly beyond his control. He was excluded from the party. The giant was just too big for such a small young man. Saul had an entire nation’s resources directed at killing him. And yet in the midst of all of these things David flourished. David was destined to be king!
All of the images of this passage reflect the abundance that the Lord pours out on those whom he calls his own. An abundant table, an anointed head, an overflowing cup, the blessing of Lord touches relationships, favor, and provision. David saw the goodness of God manifest in each of these areas and more and that is why he was able to state, “surely, goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…” When our ways please the Lord his blessing goes before us, follows behind us and pours down over us. What is equally powerful to observe is that God didn’t remove all of David’s trials. Instead, He brought David through with a consistent knowledge of the anointing that God had placed on his life. Notice the goodness of God in setting David apart with the anointing oil at the word of the prophet Samuel and giving him the victory over Goliath and a season of favor with the king prior to allowing his life to be touched by the attacks of his enemies and trials in his circumstances. God had already gone before him, knowing what was to come, and given him these events as mementos to hold onto during the darker seasons. He knew that God’s goodness and love had gone before him and provided for the emotional needs he would face in that season.
Another powerful reflection of this revelation in David’s life was how he responded to such trials as the insecure persecution of King Saul. David did not allow himself to be consumed by thoughts of the injustice that was done to him and he did not take a hold of the problem in a carnal, destructive way. Instead, he remained focus on the Lord’s ways and the Lord’s promises and responded to each injustice with a deepening dependence upon the Lord. David was not perfect in this but consistently he kept stirring himself to retain God’s word as his foundational philosophy for life. Psalm 23:6 unveils the secret of this consistency. David had a living revelation that the favor of God is not momentary but is applied to our lives over time. It is not instant, nor is it fleeting. For those who live with God, his favor will emerge consistently over the course of our lives like flowers in season. David’s second revelation was even greater. David understood that even though the blessing of God on this life was good there is an eternal blessing that is even greater. The underlying strength of David’s life was that he understood that his eternal home was with God and that his reward was not in this life. When we have this revelation nothing that man does to us can rob us of our joy in living for any length of time. Wounds may hurt for a moment, but the person with this revelation will rebound quickly and return to a joyful knowledge of God’s abiding presence following after and going before them.