Refreshed By Our Shepherd

August 7th, 2025
by Lance Waldie

Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The metaphorical image of Psalm 23 is unmistakable. Everything David did for his own sheep is likened to what God does for His sheep. In v. 5, the metaphor is more difficult to determine. Modern-day shepherd, Phillip Keller, notes that shepherds, after leading their sheep to a new pasture, must survey the new land before releasing their flock to graze. It is imperative that the shepherd inspect the field thoroughly to search out small vipers and their nests beneath the surface of the open pasture. For a shepherd to overlook just one of these nests puts his flock in danger. The serpents are known to pop up from small holes in the ground and bite sheep on the nose, causing excruciating pain for the sheep and oftentimes throwing the entire flock into a frenzy. The bite can also be fatal to the sheep according to Keller. Because of this, shepherds “prepare the table” by surveying the pasture and pouring oil over the viper holes, making it difficult for the serpents to climb to the surface and inflict the sheep with a harmful or fatal bite. Also, the oil poured on the head of the sheep acts as a repellant to both serpents and flies.

David used this “preparation of the table” as a metaphor for how God treats His sheep. He has “prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” In the same way that a shepherd prepares the pasture in the presence of the serpents (enemies), God shows His concern for His people by granting His favor. God blesses and protects, and through this procedure He demonstrates to the world—even the sheep’s enemies, that the sheep have a special relationship to Him. Likewise, in the same way the shepherd presents his sheep with a pasture full of green grass free from danger, God is pictured as preparing a great banquet table for His children in the presence of their enemies (cf. Rev. 19:11-18). Enemies here refers to all those who show their hatred toward Yahweh through their ill treatment of His children who call upon His name.

Note also that David speaks of his own head being anointed with oil. In the same way that he used oil as a repellant to the vipers under the surface of the ground, God uses oil to “anoint” His children, to “refresh” them. Keller states that his sheep could be driven mad by various flies in a field without such refreshing oil. In Proverbs 15:30 the same Hebrew word means to make happy as it refers to what good news brings to those who hear it. God thus refreshes with the metaphorical oil, and He makes happy with a cup that overflows—a cup that is never empty.

In v. 6, it is said that goodness and lovingkindness will “follow” all the days. The word for “follow” is literally “to pursue”—a word used to describe enemy attack. Except in this case God’s goodness is chasing after His children, and as a result David, in the same way he would pursue one of his straying sheep, realized that God would chase him down with goodness and faithfulness so as to bring him into His house to live “for the length of days.” This phrase is translated “forevermore,” and it refers to David’s life on earth. Although true in a literal sense, the passage merely refers to the lifetime of David. Yet that lifetime of being nourished and protected by God on earth is only the beginning of what it will be in God’s eternal dwelling.

Food for Thought
Revelation 19:6-9 speaks of the final day when Christ returns to earth. Upon his return there will be a wedding feast—Jesus, His Bride the Church, and all the invited guests. God has indeed prepared a table for the greatest feast ever! Though only His children will take part in the feast, God’s enemies will be there too to witness it (Rev. 19:17-21). We will thus be truly refreshed in the presence of our enemies. Our cups will overflow, and we will dwell with Christ forever!