“You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”
This is a very familiar passage from Psalm 23; one that I have read hundreds of times and taken the illustration to represent God’s provision. But looking at the cultural context of the time, this verse describes much more than God just giving me something to eat. You see, for God to prepare a table in front of us that means that we have been invited into His dwelling. He’s not preparing some random table out in a field. Dining tables were inside the house or tent. So for God to prepare a table before us, that means that we have been invited in. And that’s hugely significant.
In the ancient near East culture, when someone invited a guest into their home (whether that be a house or tent or whatever) that guest would be provided for and protected at all costs, even above the family members of that household. Guests were given choice foods and drinks (My cup overflows). They were given oil to rub on their faces to alleviate chapped skin from the harsh desert conditions (You anoint my head with oil). And if the dwelling was attacked, the guests were protected above all else.
We see this recorded in Genesis when Lot invites two men (who were actually angels) to stay at his house. That evening when the men of Sodom came to Lot’s house and demanded that Lot hand over the two men, he does what we think is ludicrous: he offers them his own daughters so that they will not defile or harm his guests (Gen 19). Guest protection was serious to them.
We have been invited into God’s dwelling place. And even though we are in the presence of enemies, we need not worry. In order to save us, God gave His only Son to die in our place. God is serious about our protection and our provision.
Next time you read this beautiful Psalm, I hope that it has a little bit more meaning knowing that you aren’t just sitting down to dinner, you have been invited into God’s house.