Dining in the Presence of the Enemy

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all my days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD as long as I live. —Psalm 23:5–6

My family watched professional wrestling when I was a kid. In the mid-1980s, professional wrestling was very localized. I was born in the South, so a lot of the wrestlers I grew up liking were from places like Atlanta, Georgia, or Charlotte, North Carolina. One of the things I loved about professional wrestling was the way the promoters wrote good storylines. The promoters behind the sport came up with colorful characters and plots that made us enjoy the good guys and dislike the bad guys. Every Saturday night, my family gathered around our television to watch the world of good-versus-evil come to life in a scripted display of athleticism and showmanship. We cheered on our favorites and shook our fists at the bad guys.

One of the things I’ve noticed about worry is that it makes everything and everyone seem like the bad guy. As I’ve mentioned, anxiety makes circumstances and situations seem more significant than they are. Worry also can cause conditions, events, and often people look like the enemy. Anxiety and fear often will make us paranoid, making us believe everyone is out to get us. Stress has a way of making everyone and everything the enemy.

Worry and fear affect us all differently. As mentioned, some of us are dealing with crippling anxiety, and the best step for those people is to seek a professional who can help them deal with their struggles. All of us, however, at some point of our journeys, will deal with how worry affects us. Worry can get hold of us by making the things we are facing seem like the enemy. When everyone and everything looks like the enemy, even everyday conversations and situations can cause worry. Have you ever heard someone say, “I wonder what he meant when he said _______ to me”? Or “I don’t like the look that person gave me. I wonder if everything is okay between us”? Many of us have spoken with others—or even to ourselves in our heads—about a conversation or encounter that makes us concerned or worried. Often, these thoughts are wrong, or there is some misunderstanding of what has happened. We have allowed a misspoken word to create a distance between us and a good friend, or we have allowed someone’s tone to dictate how we act and speak to that person in future conversations.

I have talked to and counseled many who suffer from anxiety that has its root in a misconceived encounter. A lot of times we procrastinate and do not have the crucial conversations we need to have to “clear the air.” People may have good relationships, but because of the lack of communication and the anxiety of the moment, good friends can become bitter enemies. I urge you not to allow the worry you feel to dictate the words you say, and don’t let the things you do become actions you will later regret. Don’t allow the anxiety of the moment to ruin great relationships.

But what about times when we face real enemies? The scriptures are full of people who met real enemies. As God’s children, we may face real enemies as well. What do you do when the anxiety you feel about a relationship is real? What about when you meet those who come against you, wanting to see failure or harm come into your life? Let’s look at some powerful and comforting truths from Psalm 23 that we can apply to our lives when we face different kinds of enemies.

The Comfort of the Presence of God

Psalm 23 is a very familiar psalm that has provided comfort to the lives of many during times of stress, loss, and grief. The psalm is raw and emotional, teeming with the real-life struggle of the human experience. “Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4).

Notice David doesn’t say his fear is elevated because his circumstance is pleasant or that all his relationships are healthy. Quite the opposite. David is communicating that even when his times are dark and low, his level of fear is not elevated. Why? The clear meaning of the text leads us to one truth. The presence of God casts this fear aside, allowing David to point us to the comfort of God. The presence of God has a way of bringing happiness to the most challenging places.

Once a wise older pastor gave me a great piece of advice regarding the comfort that God’s presence can bring. He told me that my presence as a pastor could bring some level of satisfaction, but I should not make the mistake of thinking it could bring ultimate peace and comfort to a situation. I could help and I could support, and I might bring hope and peace with my words and actions, but they will be short-lived. On the other hand, the gospel of Christ offers a person an eternal solution. The greatest comfort one can find is in the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, who has walked through the darkest valley of the cross and gives us the life-giving grace of the resurrection.

The Comfort of the Provision of God

One of the mistakes I make in my relationship with God is that I think God’s provision is not big enough for whatever I’m experiencing. I believe Jesus is just holding me as I go through the rough moments of my life. Sometimes when I am going through a difficult time, I picture Jesus covering me up until the storm passes over. When my children are scared, I do the same thing; I protect them in the best way I can from the things they see as dangerous. I can remember holding them when a strong storm rolled through the area, or I picked them up when they were in an uncomfortable and scary situation. As admirable and comforting as these actions are, they fail in comparison to the provision God provides.

God’s rule does not start when the storm ends; we can experience his control in the depths of our troubles. Don’t underestimate the power of this truth. You can experience the depth of God’s love and grace in the presence of your enemies, and then you can experience it by his taking you out of the existence of your enemies. We may pray for the Lord to deliver us from our enemies, to take their power and control away from us. This reaction is normal. No one wants to suffer at the hands of someone who intends harm.

Psalm 23:5 states, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” A table is a place of community and provision. A table welcomes weary souls to dine and refresh themselves with food and drink from a kind and friendly host. A table is a place of conversation and laughter. A table is what God sets before his children in the presence of their enemies. God delights in making provision and in giving himself to his children in the darkest times. When we realize there is a table of grace in the midst of our enemies, our minds and thoughts can run to the one who sets the table, instead of those who surround the table.

The truth found here has brought great comfort to my soul when it could easily have become distracted by the outside influences, whose desire is to harm and not to heal.

The Comfort of the Pursuit of God

David is the writer of Psalm 23. First and Second Samuel record much of David’s life, and we see a man who spent a lot of time running from his enemies. King Saul desired to destroy David. “Every day Jesse’s son lives on earth you and your kingship are not secure. Now send for him and bring him to me-he must die!” (1 Samuel 20:31).

King Saul was not David’s only threat. As a youth, David faced bears, lions, and even a giant warrior named Goliath, who said, “I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!” (1 Samuel 17:44). We see the deliverance and provision of the Lord throughout David’s life, even when his circumstances were dire. David proclaimed it wasn’t his enemies who pursued him during most of his life; he said that only God’s “goodness and faithful love”pursued him. We might think he would have recounted all of his enemies and the trials he faced, but instead, he spoke of the unfailing love of the God of Israel as his pursuer. I think this is how grace works; it lifts our eyes from the everyday trials that make us scared, worried, and anxious and helps us recount how many times these trials were not faced alone.

Anxiety cannot keep up with the grace of God. The grace of God will always outrun and outlast the things we worry about the most. Hold on, and embrace this great truth. We can either turn our eyes to the hard stuff in our lives, or we can see the abundant love of Christ in hot pursuit of his children.

Excerpt from Gospel Shaped Emotions, © Kevin Wilson, 2019

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash.