You Prepare
Tom Shrader walks through Psalm 23:5, using Philip Keller's shepherd imagery to show how God prepares a place of safety for His people even in the presence of enemies. He connects the anointing oil of the shepherd to the indwelling Holy Spirit, drawing on Galatians 5, Philippians 4, and Colossians 3 to call believers to set their minds on things above rather than conforming to the world. He closes with practical counsel on handling offenses before bitterness takes root, and on the overflowing cup as a picture of God's generous, unceasing provision.
“The Lord is my shepherd, because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want — He prepares a table for me in the face of my enemies, and He anoints my head with oil, and there is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Psalm 23
Recorded: 2007 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 51 min
Themes: protection, provision, anointing, bitterness, forgiveness, peace, gratitude, holy spirit, dealing with enemies, struggling with bitterness, feeling overwhelmed, new believer, parent, navigating conflict, young adult, feeling anxious
Scripture: Psalm 23:1-6, Psalm 78, Psalm 100:3, Psalm 145, Isaiah 55, Isaiah 63, James 1:5, James 3:8, James 4:7-10, 1 Peter 5:8, 1 John 2:1, 1 John 4:4, Hebrews 2, Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 10:22, Ephesians 4:29-32, Ephesians 4:30, Ephesians 4:31, Philippians 4:5-9, Colossians 3:2, Galatians 5:16-22, Romans 8:5, Romans 12:2
Theological Themes: pneumatology, indwelling spirit, sanctification, becoming holy, divine provision, fruit of the spirit, biblical meditation, shepherding
Full Transcript
Welcome and Announcements
Good morning. It is good to see you this morning. Grab the bulletin you received when you came into the room today and let's work our way through that. If you are with us for the first time, or if you've never taken advantage of the opportunity, we'd ask you to complete the guest registry card and drop it in one of the boxes as you leave. On those boxes you'll also find little baskets with information packets about East Valley Bible Church. That, along with a trip to the website, will help you understand an awful lot about us very quickly.
Let me highlight a couple of things that are in the bulletin, and then a couple of things that aren't. First, the things that are not in the bulletin: there are institute classes being offered, and Bill Hartley sent me an email saying he especially wanted to mention one from our biblical counseling department on how to master materialism. That was interesting. During our staff prayer time this week — about an hour on Tuesday morning — we've developed a wonderful time of corporate prayer where we stop and pray in short, one-sentence prayers. Someone prayed, "Father, help our children and keep our children from materialism," and about ten seconds later, somebody prayed, "Keep our adults from materialism." Then I get the note about the class. There's a message here. Check it out when you get online or give the institute a call for details.
Also, many of you participated in Angel Tree last week, and if you feel you got shut out, one of the components we've added is a food component from Frye. You can purchase a $20 gift card over in the office — if you're coming out of the conference center, the office is right there, and if you're in the chapel, head to about the middle of campus. Those gift cards will be part of what we deliver this week.
Two things that are in the bulletin: United Blood Services struggles to keep supplies all year long, and December is the worst month. They will be on campus next week, so you can sign up now and donate blood — that's something truly helpful. As it relates to Christmas, this coming Friday and Saturday night in the chapel is our Christmas Night of Praise and Prayer. We'll meet for about an hour to an hour and a half, then go over to the conference center to see old friends and make new ones — details are in the bulletin, and we invite you to both nights.
Christmas Eve, we will celebrate on the 23rd and the 24th — Sunday night and Monday night — with six services each night at 3:00, 4:30, and 6:00. All six services are the same, so figure out what works for you. We also ask — and we haven't done this in a few years — that you grab tickets. The whole point of ticket distribution is so that, if I look and see that the 4:30 on Monday or the 6:00 on Sunday are already gone, I can steer you toward another service. It's totally selfish on our part in the best sense — it simply allows us to better minister to the body. I know it's a hassle and takes extra time, but will you go and grab those tickets today?
Introduction to Psalm 23
Open your Bibles, if you would, to Psalm 23. The principal characters in this Psalm are the shepherd and the sheep. For application purposes, God is the shepherd, and we who are His kids are the sheep. As David writes this Psalm, he personalizes it with a singular pronoun: "The Lord is my shepherd" — a personal relationship — and because that is true, all these other things are true as well.
As sheep — and we don't need to go through this every week, just a reminder — we are some of the most needy creatures on the planet. We are totally dependent upon the shepherd for survival. Without the shepherd's care and instruction, we won't survive very long at all.
So the Lord is my shepherd, and because He is, I shall not want — there is supply. He makes me lie down in green pastures — He gives me rest. He leads me beside still waters — He gives me refreshment. He restores my soul — that is healing. He guides me in paths of righteousness for His namesake — that is our purpose.
We said that verses 1, 2, and 3 are as though David is speaking to us and God is listening. At verse 4, that changes. From verses 4 through 6, this becomes much more of a prayer. We looked at verse 4 last week: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me." He is not saying he is unafraid because it is not scary. He is not saying there is no danger. He is saying, "I am not afraid because You are with me." The rod and the staff are there to comfort him, to lead him, to discipline him.
Let me remind you of where we are in this Psalm by reading a short paragraph from Philip Keller's book, *A Shepherd Looks at the Twenty-Third Psalm*. As one meditates on this magnificent Psalm, it is helpful to keep—
The Shepherd Prepares the Way
The psalmist is recounting the events of a full year of a sheep's life. He takes us with him from the home ranch — that is where we start in verse 1 — from the home ranch where every need is so carefully supplied by the owner, into green pastures and along still waters, and then up through the mountain valleys to the high tablelands of summer. Once the snows begin to melt on the highlands, and the flowers begin to bloom, and the grass is green and fresh, the shepherd takes the sheep on a very treacherous route with all sorts of dangers, but he is there to guide them and comfort them. We apply that journey to our own lives as well.
Verse 5 is really an extension of that journey. The sheep have now arrived at these highlands, these mesas, these tabletops, where the grass is lush, spring is coming, the grazing land is rich, and water is abundant. But something interesting takes place here: before the shepherd takes the sheep on this journey, he precedes them. He makes a reconnaissance trip, an advance trip. He prepares a table before them in the presence of the enemy — he goes and scouts out the land.
In some instances where a brook or creek has been blocked by sticks, twigs, and fallen branches, the shepherd will go and clear it. In other places he will redirect water to create still ponds where the sheep can drink. He prepares the fields, and he scouts out for predators — wolves and coyotes, cougars, and bears.
Removing Hidden Dangers
As the shepherd looks out over the field, he finds flowers blooming alongside the grass. They are beautiful. But some of them are very good-looking and yet poisonous. Philip Keller describes literally taking his sons up to the highland, getting down on their hands and knees, and picking out these poisonous plants so the sheep would not eat them. It was tiring, tedious work, but it was work that needed to be done.
That is the picture here — the shepherd going and preparing this place against all sorts of dangers, not only those present in the poisonous plants, but the predatory animals as well. Keller describes seeing sheep that had been literally devoured, and sheep that had been attacked by cougars and other animals, surviving but clearly mortally wounded.
The Cunning of the Predator
Here is what Keller says: despite the damage, despite the dead sheep, despite the injuries, despite the fear instilled in the flock, he never actually saw a cougar on his range. He saw their effect, but he never saw the cougar itself. So cunning and so skillful were their raids that they defied description. They would hang around in these places and wait for just the right moment — most often when a sheep or a lamb would stray just a bit from the flock — and then they would simply pounce.
This brings to mind a nature documentary about crocodiles in Africa. There were animals — wildebeest, or something of that kind — trying to cross a river. Once they sensed it was safe, the herd would move across together. What was striking was that the crocodiles did not sit in the middle of the crossing and pick animals off as they passed by. Instead, they positioned themselves on the outside of the herd, and when one of those animals strayed just a bit away from the group, a crocodile would move in between that animal and the flock and slowly isolate it. Then they would close in — one grabbing the head, one grabbing the tail — and that was the end.
The Danger of Isolation
The application is this: we tend to be most vulnerable when we get isolated. When we drift off on our own, we make decisions we might never make otherwise. Sin can do that, pride can do that, or even simple busyness can do that. It does not matter why it happens — what matters is that somehow we end up away from the community we need.
This came up in a conversation this week with a young man who has been a Christian for about six months. He asked for advice on what he should do. The most important thing, it seems, is to find someone to mentor you — whether they are younger or older chronologically makes no difference — a godly person who will pour his life into you and be part of your life. You need that. And then you need to resist the natural tendency to drift away and do your own thing, because you are truly vulnerable when you do.
Satan, the Cunning Adversary
The second point the shepherd's story brings to mind is this: Keller says he never saw these cougars, yet how cunning they were. What comes to mind immediately when you hear that? Satan. Satan is described in Scripture as a subtle serpent, as an angel of light, and as a roaring lion. The name Satan literally means adversary. Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8, "Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion..."
Resisting the Devil
There seem to be two paths people take regarding Satan. One is to categorically dismiss him. According to a Barna survey, something like 60 to 70 percent of men and women who identified themselves as born-again Christians said they do not believe that Satan truly exists. That is a very scary position to be in. The other extreme is to see Satan behind everything, nearly making him into an omniscient, all-powerful creature.
Make sure you understand that Satan was created, and he is finite and limited in time and space. Though he is a worthy adversary, 1 John 4:4 reminds us: "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world."
James on Submission and Resistance
Turn to James chapter 4, verse 7. James says, "Resist the devil." In verse 6 he sets the context: "God is opposed to the proud, gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit yourself to God." As you submit to God, you resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The word resist means literally to stand in opposition, to stand against.
James also says earlier in the letter that if anyone is a friend of the world, he is an enemy of God. Resist the devil. Resist the accuser. Resist the adversary. This command is sandwiched within the solution: God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble, and we are to submit ourselves to Him.
The word submit is a military term meaning to rank under, to yield to Him, to find His will in Scripture and to do it, to accept His authority. In our Priority Living series, we have been unpacking Ephesians 4:29–32, and we looked closely at verse 30: "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption." Psalm 78 and Isaiah 63 both show us that the way to grieve the Holy Spirit is to rebel against God. When I am in rebellion against God's authority — whether direct or delegated — I am in sin against God and have grieved the Holy Spirit.
The way to stay in right relationship with the Holy Spirit and with God is to accept His authority and submit to Him. That is exactly what James is calling us to do.
Loving God Rather Than the World
When James speaks of the world, he does not mean simply the planet — we should love the world in that sense. What we are not to love are the things of the world: its attitudes, its mindset, its philosophy. We are to have a philosophy driven by God's Word rather than one that is worldly.
So how do we resist the devil? By submitting to God, acknowledging who He is, yielding our will to His, and drawing near to Him in intimate fellowship. In the Old Testament, the idea of drawing near is an expression for someone approaching God seriously, in repentance and humility. Psalm 145 records David writing that the Lord is near to all who call upon Him — that we are to know Him, worship Him, and commune with Him.
Hebrews 4:16 says, "Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." Hebrews 10:22 adds, "Let us draw near with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith." James 4:10 tells us how: "Humble myself in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."
The Grace That Should Still Amaze Us
God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves. This is not a false self-deprecation — an "oh shucks, I'm nothing" attitude. It is understanding that spiritually we are unworthy before God. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the spiritually bankrupt.
At Cannon Beach, Tom saw three t-shirts he wrote down. He could only remember one at the time, but found his notes recently. The first said simply, "Got Purpose?" The second said, "Just Another Poster Boy for Amazing Grace." The third was the one he had mentioned before: "I'm the Wretch the Song Was About." Those shirts prompted a question worth sitting with all week: Is grace still amazing to you?
There was a time when you truly heard the gospel for the first time — not just audibly, but when God graciously opened your ears so you could understand it, and see who you really are. For some it was the moment, like Isaiah, of saying, "Woe to me, for I am ruined." Remember when you were overwhelmed — some of you to the point of tears — by the fact that God loved you so much that He would send His Son, at Christmas, to live and to die an agonizing death to do for you what you could not do for yourself?
When we understand that the Father chose us before the foundations of the earth, that the Son died for us, and that the Spirit applied that redemption to us — that is all grace. It is critical that we never cease to be amazed by that grace, because that amazement keeps us in proper perspective. It keeps us humble before the Lord.
Jesus Our Advocate
If Satan is our adversary — and that is literally what the name Satan means — then Jesus is our advocate. Jesus intercedes for us. As 1 John 2:1 tells us, we have an advocate with the Father.
The Shepherd Who Goes Ahead
Our advocate with the Father is Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapters 2 and 4 tell us that Jesus was like us. He came, and He lived, and He understands. He has been like us in every way except sin, and He goes and is our advocate with the Father. He prays and intercedes for you. He understands you. He identifies with you. He cares for you.
He is the shepherd. He has gone ahead, and He has prepared a table in the face of the enemy for you. He has cleared the way.
Keller writes this interesting paragraph: "Just because the shepherd has gone ahead and made every possible provision for safety and welfare for his sheep while they're on the summer range does not mean they won't have problems. Predators can still attack. Poison weeds can grow back. Storms, gales can still swirl over the peaks and deserts of hazardous yet hazards in this land. Yet in His care and concern for us, Christ still ensures that we shall have gladness with our sadness in delightful days as well as dark days."
Whatever it is you face, you have an advocate who understands. You have an advocate who cares. You have an advocate who has gone ahead of you. You have an advocate who has interceded. You have an advocate who has prepared the way. You have an advocate who will not allow you to be tested beyond what you can endure — not that He will not allow you to be tested, and not that hardship and difficulties and challenges will not come into life.
This feels very much like last week's message and the same idea running through the psalm. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, He is there, and I fear not. Why? He is with me. He goes and prepares a place for me right in the midst of my enemies.
The Table Prepared in the Presence of Enemies
There is rich imagery here as well. There is the imagery of Jesus preparing the table on the night before He died, actually right in the presence of His enemy. They are all gathered together, and then all of a sudden He says to Judas, "Time for you to leave, my friend." The table was prepared in the place of His enemies.
The second part of the verse has equally huge practical application to us: "You have anointed my head with oil." The summertime on the mesa and the tabletop is a beautiful time — probably the prettiest time of the year. There is, pardon the pun, a fly in the ointment. Summertime is, as one of the shepherds says, fly time.
There are four serious problems that sheep face for which the antidote the shepherd uses is oil.
Four Problems the Sheep Face
The first is troubling parasites. The list includes warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and other winged parasites that drive the sheep to distraction. The most annoying of all is called a nose fly or nasal fly. The fly finds a spot in the mucus of the sheep's nose and inches itself up inside with the intention of laying eggs. Within a few days there are slender worm larvae living there, and it literally drives the sheep to run against trees or against anything it can find, doing serious damage to itself in the process. The only solution is to fill the nose with ointment.
The second problem is called scab. It is a parasite that spreads throughout the flock. Keller talks about the only time he experienced this in his own flock, which was when he bought a couple of sheep from another man. The scab was almost undetectable on the new animals, and it spread among the flock through contact as the sheep rubbed against one another. The only solution is to literally dip the sheep — to immerse them completely in oil — and to do it again and again. It costs a great deal of money and a great deal of work.
The third problem occurs at mating time. Keller describes it this way: "The necks of the monarchs, the men, swell and grow, and they strut proudly across the pastures and fight furiously for the favors of the ewes." My brother and I were in Flagstaff for a week this past August, just the two of us. One morning I came up and he said, "Did you hear that this morning?" I said I had been sleeping and heard nothing. He told me it was right outside my room.
What we had were these enormous animals — elk, or something like elk. I will be honest, I am not entirely sure of the difference between an elk and a deer, other than that elk probably have better food at their place. They were big and huge, with massive antlers. Right outside where we were standing there was a giant bush, about half the size of this piano, and these two animals had completely destroyed it while they were rutting. My brother said it woke him up — he could hear them slamming against each other. During mating season this was obviously a serious problem for the sheep, as they would damage themselves badly. Keller said he actually used axle grease on their heads and horns so that when they hit, they would glance off one another and eventually grow frustrated.
The fourth problem was a little brown snake called an adder that lived in the area. It would bite the sheep and, while not poisonous enough to kill outright, it would open a sore that would become infected and cause serious illness. The shepherd's solution was to pour oil down into the snake holes and then apply it all over the sheep, which would repel the serpent.
The Application for Us
The picture for us, as we begin to apply this, is not a linseed tar-based...
Anointed with the Holy Spirit
Oil, in Scripture, is so often a picture of the Holy Spirit. We have a Shepherd, and the Shepherd prepares a place for us. You and I have been anointed with this oil — anointed, filled with, indwelled by the Holy Spirit. He says, "I anoint your head," and so I want to stay on that thought in particular: taking our lives and taking control, particularly of the things that begin in our head.
It is so easy, it seems to me, to get focused on behavior and miss a significant core of the problem. For me, when I pray, I rarely pray, "God, make me a good husband." I'll pray, "God, make me love You more. Make me fall in love with You. Make me be the man You want me to be." That incorporates in it the idea of being a husband, a father, a grandfather, a boss, a friend — whatever it is I am to be. It is to be filled with that Holy Spirit, with Whom you and I have been sealed. We have the Holy Spirit living within us, a power that passes all understanding, and we can live supernaturally.
James chapter 3, verse 8 says no one can tame the tongue — no one ever has. But how do we get control of the tongue? No person can on their own, but as the Spirit indwells me, the Spirit gives me strength to live in a supernatural way. One author writes this: our thoughts, our ideas, our emotions, our choices, our impulses, drives, and desires are all shaped and molded through the exposure of our minds — our exposure to other people, the dangers of television, radio, magazines, newspapers, fellow students, parents, teachers, the Internet, and all that goes with that.
Guarding the Mind: Philippians 4
Turn with me to Philippians chapter 4. We are going to begin in verse 5. "Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
I can live supernaturally as the Spirit of God invades my life and the peace of God begins to fill my life. He doesn't talk here about peace with God — we have peace with God as believers. But as followers of Christ, we now have the peace of God. We have the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, and all the things that go with that. He says to guard your mind, to protect your mind.
Verse 8: "Finally, whatever is true" — he is talking about the real, genuine, authentic thing — "and noble, worthy of respect, honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, undefiled, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence or anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." What should I be thinking about? The things of God. The battle is in my mind.
If you flip over one page to Colossians chapter 3, verse 2, he says, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of the earth." What are those things above? I think they are the categories you see in Philippians 4:8. Set your mind on the things above. Have that disposition. Think that way — heavenly thoughts. Think as God thinks. See the world as God sees the world. See people as God sees people.
Seeing People as God Sees Them
I always struggle with how much to share, but I was at the mall the other day and there was a homeless man in a bookstore, just hanging out and sleeping. He smelled awful. He was right in the section I wanted to be in, and you could smell him from around the corner. I will confess that my first instinct was to look at him and think, "Pull it together." But I found myself stopping around the corner — he was sound asleep — and I spent about five minutes there just praying for him. "God, touch his heart. God, meet his needs. God, if I am to meet those needs, wake this man up. Here I am."
That is what it means to begin to immerse your mind in the things above — to begin to see that man as God sees him. And the easiest way to do that is to see yourself as God sees you. You are no better than anyone else. When you begin to see the world as God sees it, you begin to love the people God loves. That is what He is saying: dwell on those things.
Do As I Say and As I Do: Philippians 4:9
Look at verse 9 — it is an extraordinary statement. We are going to study the book of Philippians next, right after the first of the year, but I want to unpack it now. "These things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things and the peace of God will be with you." That is an amazing statement. We are prone to say, "Do as I say, not as I do." Paul is saying, "Do as I say and do as I do — the things you have heard from me and the things you have seen from me."
I am convinced, and I mentioned this earlier, that for you to grow spiritually — for me to grow spiritually — there must be around you genuine, authentic relationship. The reason Paul could say "the things you learned and received and heard from me" is that the people he was writing to were in contact with him. Just as I said to that young man, and I talked about it earlier, the only way you are going to grow —
Living Life in Authentic Relationship
The only way to really grow spiritually is to live life in the context of authentic relationship. Otherwise, you are just out there trying to figure it out on your own. Looking back in my life, along the way God provided guys at various points. Initially for me, it was Larry. After God saved me, Larry and I met every Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock and went through a little book called *The Green Letters* by Miles Stanford — some of you have been through it. Little chapters, six or seven pages each.
We would get together every Tuesday morning at 6 o'clock, and some Tuesdays we would go until 7:45 or 8. Some Tuesdays we would be in there until lunch. It was not that Miles Stanford was the key — it is that we were living life together in that context. This was 1980, Sarah was three, four, five years old — Yale's age — and Haley was on the way, and I was trying to figure out Susan and life and all that goes with it. I was able to live my life in the context of authentic relationship. If you do not have that, you are being deprived, and you can find it in a variety of ways.
Something really meaningful happened this week. I was talking to Jim Harper, and you may remember how we spent four weeks talking about area ministry — the most extended period of time we have ever really given to a single topic. Then we held the Taste of Community, where we put together sample groups for people to explore and see if small groups worked for them. As a result, I am not talking about just the number of people who attended Taste of Community — I am talking about the people who, as a result of that experience, are now in groups, starting groups, or leading groups. Somewhere between 350 and 400 people are in small groups now who were not in small groups three months ago. That is an amazing and important spiritual moment in the lives of those people and in the life of this church.
Now, being in a small group does not automatically mean you are in genuine, authentic relationship — we can still fool each other. But at least there is an environment for it. And I will tell you, if I speak to Chris Evans, who connects women who want to be mentored with mentors, here is what she will tell you, ladies: she has far more women who want to be mentored than she has mentors. That is a burden on you. You will grow in that whole context.
The Mind Set on Things Above
It is a remarkable statement that Paul makes in Philippians 4:9 — "the things you learned and received and heard and seen in me." That verse applies context, relationship, and proximity. Now go and do. Follow me as I follow Christ. Set your mind on the things above.
Look at Colossians 3:2: "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of earth." There again is the contrast. Paul makes a similar contrast in Romans 12:2: "Do not be conformed to this world." By that he means — as one translation puts it — do not let the world squeeze you into its mold. It is the idea of assuming an outward expression that is not really what is inside. It is the idea of pretending. "But be transformed" — the Greek word gives us our English word *metamorphosed* — be changed. Transformed how? By the renewing of your mind.
This begins in your mind. The Holy Spirit allows you to begin to think differently. You do not think the way the world does. You have a whole different value system, a whole different way of looking at things, and you see all the things associated with life in a very different fashion. You are thinking of the things above. You are trying to see life as God sees it. Isaiah 55 says, "My ways are not your ways, says the Lord. My ways are higher than your ways." It is not for me to try to get God to understand what I am going through. I need to understand who He is and what He says, and how He protects me, and how He guides me. My mind is now thinking not of the flesh but of the Spirit.
Walking by the Spirit
Turn to the left from Colossians — through Philippians, Ephesians — to Galatians chapter 5. If you are a note taker, you might also want to write down Romans 8:5 as a cross-reference. But Galatians 5 is a passage more familiar to most of us. Paul says in verse 16: "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
He then lists the deeds of the flesh, and they stand in counterbalance against verse 22, which begins the deeds — the fruit — of the Spirit. Paul is saying: here is how you will know whether you are walking in a Spirit-led life. You hear that term often. How do I know if I am Spirit-led? If I am thinking and acting in a godly fashion. If my mind is set on the things above. If in my life there is love —
The Anointing Oil and the Holy Spirit
Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. Do you see the contrast there? It is a wonderful thing. If your life has in it immorality or impurity or sensuality or idolatry or sorcery, or if your life is marked by enmity and strife and jealousy and disputes and dissension and factions — and then he adds envy, drunkenness, and all the other things — if those things are present in your life, then you are not being led by the Spirit.
My head has been anointed with oil. I have the Holy Spirit. That is the picture: I have the Holy Spirit in me, and though life will still present its irritants, I have this power, this extraordinary power. Max Lucado notes that livestock, especially sheep, have three instances where oil is used: first, to repel insects; second, to prevent conflicts; and third, to heal wounds. We then bring this over into our own application.
Lucado writes that sheep are not the only ones who need preventative care, and sheep are not the only ones who need a healing touch. We also get irritated with each other. Heads get wounded. Many of our disappointments in life begin as irritations — little, small things. A large portion of our problems are not lion-sized attacks but rather day-to-day swarms of frustrations and mishaps and heartaches.
You don't get invited to a dinner party. You don't make the team. You don't get a scholarship. Your boss doesn't notice your work. Your husband doesn't notice your new dress. Your neighbor doesn't notice the mess in his yard. You find yourself more irritable, more gloomy, more and more hurt.
The Progression of Bitterness
That is what we have been studying. We studied it again this week in Ephesians. Turn to the right from Galatians to Ephesians chapter 4, verse 31: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice." There is a progression there — an acceleration — that begins with bitterness.
The author of Hebrews calls it a root of bitterness, something that gets into the heart. Sometimes it is a large, significant event in your life, but so often it is some little thing. Somebody slights you. Maybe they sin against you in some way, or maybe it is just a misspoken word, an attitude, a snub — whatever it might be. It gets planted in the heart as a bitterness.
Then look at the explosion. It moves to wrath — and that word is actually an implosion, it is internal — and then to anger, and clamor, and slander. Now the desire is simply to destroy the other person.
Three Options When Someone Offends You
Let me offer some practical advice. When somebody sins against you, slights you, or says something that hurts you, you have three options.
The first is to forget it — just let it go. Now, listen carefully: forget it if you can. Years ago I received a call from a young man who said he needed to meet with me, that he did not think his marriage was going to survive. He said they needed to meet right away. They came over, and they looked like they were about twelve years old. I said, "How long have you been married?" He said something like sixty or ninety days.
I asked the wife what the problem was, and she told her husband to tell me. He said he didn't know. She insisted. He said he felt stupid. So I said, "We aren't going anywhere — tell me." And he said, "My wife does not know how to butter bread."
I asked him how she buttered bread, and he said she takes a piece of bread, cuts off a slab of butter, sticks it in the middle, and hands it to him. I have to stop here and say that Susan does exactly that, and it drives me absolutely crazy. That is how Susan butters bread. She calls that buttering. I have worked through this. When I asked him how he would butter bread, he said he would spread it to the four corners, drag it to the middle, take it all the way across, and then hand it to a person.
We were able to work through the situation and they survived. But notice what had happened. This man said that every single night at dinner it was driving him crazy. I asked why he hadn't said anything, and he said it was so stupid he didn't want to bring it up. I told him that if he had said something, they might have worked it out. Somebody offends you — big, small, large, whatever — forget it if you can.
The second option is to confront it in love. You simply have to say, "You did this," or "You said this." A few weeks ago I said something to Susan, and as I said it I thought it sounded a little harsh. She didn't say much at first, then the phone rang and I got distracted. A little while later she came back and said, "That's not right. What you said is not right."
Overflowing Grace
I said, "Honey, when I said it, I knew it wasn't right. I'm sorry." And it's gone. Boom. But she didn't let it sit in there. The third thing — and it's no option at all — is to store it. That's how you get into that whole root of bitterness. Now it's in there, now it's brewing, now you're dealing with this huge thing.
When I set my mind on the things above, I begin to handle things as God would have them. And all of a sudden comes forgiveness. These are what Lakato calls the small day-to-day irritants — and the big things as well.
He made us and we belong to Him. We are His people and the sheep He tends (Psalm 100:3). We will have sin in our life, and God forgives us. He anoints us. The Holy Spirit is with us and He'll protect us.
My Cup Overflows
Then there is that little phrase that closes the verse: "my cup overflows." F.B. Mayer writes this: "Whatever the blessing is in our cup, it is sure to run over. With Him the calf is always fatted. The robe is always the best robe. The joy is unspeakable. The peace passes all understanding. There is no grudging in God's benevolence. He does not measure out His goodness as an apothecary counts his drops or measures his doses."
The minute I read that, I think of James chapter 1, verse 5, where he says that if anyone lacks wisdom, all he has to do is ask, and God gives to all generously and without reproach. He doesn't say, "Well, listen, you've asked for wisdom four days in a row, and I'm done with wisdom." Whatever it is He gives me, He gives it to me overflowing.
In David's economy of thought, and in ancient times, that would picture a guest whose cup is full, and you as the host would keep filling it and filling it and filling it — literally to the point of almost overflowing — to let that guest know they were still welcomed, still being blessed by your presence. God gives us abundantly all that we need.
He Is There to Protect Us
The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want. He prepares a table for me, He anoints my head, and there is the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life. His presence and His guidance are preserving me and strengthening me. It does not mean there won't be danger. It does not mean there won't be harm. But it does mean that He is there to protect me.
Just as He said to Peter, Satan has come to sift you — but I will be there, I'll protect you. The same is true in the case of Job. God is present in our life for our goodness. We are sheep; we are needy creatures. He alone is the one who can protect us, who can heal us, who can guard us against the dangers of life, and He fills our cup to overflowing.
As for how long — verse 6 tells us: "Surely goodness and loving-kindness will follow me all the days of my life." That is what we will look at next week.
A Time for Prayer
One of the many promises and gifts that God gives us is the ability to talk to Him — to come to Him in prayer, to come individually, to come as a group, to come as a church. I want to give you that opportunity now.
You may be uncomfortable. You may be here for the first time thinking you don't want to pray with someone around you, and that's okay. If you'd like to pray with me, I'll be up here and you're more than welcome to join me. You may be here as a family, as a couple, as friends — whatever the case. We want to go to the Lord in prayer together.
We want to pray for the church and for wisdom for leadership. Someone reminded me the other day that it has been a long time since we've prayed for the men and women in the military whose lives are in danger for our good. That launches us into the whole idea of government and protection — areas that need prayer as well.
The Weight of the Christmas Season
This is a time of year when there are two extremes, and then most people in the middle. There are some people who absolutely love Christmas — they started playing Christmas music on September 1st. And then there are others who are bah-humbug all the way. Oftentimes they are in the same family and married to one another, which presents its own challenges.
What Christmas does is bring people to a place of reflection on the previous eleven and a half months. All that hurt and pain from those months — whether it's been a death, a sickness, or some awful and terrible thing — comes home to roost. There are a lot of hurting people around you, and those are some things to be bringing before the Lord in prayer.
Let's go ahead and pray. In a few minutes, I'll invite the servers forward in both this room and the conference center. They will present the elements to you, and I'll invite you to hold them so that we can take communion together this morning.