Psalm 23 - You Anoint My Head with Oil

Tom Shrader explores Psalm 23:5, focusing on the phrase 'you anoint my head with oil' through the lens of ancient shepherding practices. He explains how shepherds used oil to protect sheep from nasal flies, parasites, and other pests, drawing parallels to how the Holy Spirit anoints believers with power and comfort. Shrader emphasizes that while Christians have an adversary in Satan, they have an advocate in Jesus, and the Holy Spirit helps them deal with daily irritations and maintain the fruit of the Spirit rather than works of the flesh.

“Biblical Christianity is entirely dependent upon God to move - everything else is on you do something.”

— Tom Shrader

Series: Psalm 23

Recorded: November 05, 2015

Duration: 39 min

Themes: shepherding, protection, anointing, holy spirit, spiritual warfare, comfort, provision, dependence, facing spiritual attacks, dealing with daily irritations, feeling overwhelmed, new believer, struggling with temptation, seeking spiritual protection, needing comfort, learning dependence

Scripture: Psalm 23, Psalm 23:1-3, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 23:5, James 4:7, James 4:8, James 4:10, Psalm 145:18, Hebrews 4:16, Hebrews 10:22, 1 John 2:1, Galatians 5:18, Galatians 5:19-21, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 4:5-8, Ephesians 4

Theological Themes: pneumatology, holy spirit, spiritual anointing, sanctification, biblical imagery, pastoral care, adversary, advocate

Full Transcript

If you have Bibles, open them to Psalm 23. We are going to be there this week and next and we'll finish this up. I think I've mentioned to you Sandy's teaching Psalm 23 right now, so it's really interesting to have the conversation and have her say to me the very thing I'm feeling. That is a little bit of repetitiveness to this.

By way of introduction, for this to work you got to get the imagery of shepherd and sheep. It's not just some sort of device that David's using—it is that—but the depth of understanding is going to explode with the shepherd sheep imagery. A sheep is a very dependent animal. I think we've been down this—it's not to be insulting—but a sheep is a dumb animal, a defenseless animal. You never hear about sheep hunting and eating. You'll never hear of a sheep trainer in the circus—they don't work. A sheep is entirely dependent upon the shepherd.

In its broadest sense, what David is saying is "The Lord is my shepherd." He's implying clearly that he's a sheep and that he is entirely dependent upon the shepherd. But the shepherd that we're dependent on isn't just a human who's flawed, even though he has a level of expertise. It's God. "The Lord is my shepherd"—personal pronoun.

The Structure of the Psalm

Look with me at verses one, two, and three. "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures"—there's rest. "He leads me to still water"—there's refreshment. "He restores my soul, He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."

Then we saw last week on verse four we made a transition. We said those first three verses we read as though David is talking to us. In verse four, it's as though it becomes a prayer and David is talking to God and we're listening. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod, Your staff, they comfort me"—there's discipline there, there's that refreshment there.

Verse five: "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows." That's a verse we're going to look at today.

The Shepherd's Seasonal Journey

Philip Keller writes this: "As one meditates on this magnificent poem, it's helpful to keep in mind that the poet is recounting the events of a full year of a sheep's life." So these six verses cover the whole span, and now we're into that summertime when the shepherd would lead the sheep up into the mountains into these rich pastures.

Again Keller continues: "He takes us with him from the home ranch where every need is so carefully supplied by the owner, into the green pastures, along still waters, up through the mountain valleys to the high tablelands of summer." In this area, though it would look beautiful, the shepherd would need to precede the sheep. There was lots of danger in this, even on what we would call the table or the mesa or the top of this mountain.

The shepherd would be proceeding along the way looking for poisonous plants. Keller talks about he and his son literally being down on their hands and knees going through these flowers, pulling these plants. Again, the sheep has almost no discernment in any of these issues. It's tedious, tiring work for the shepherd, but the shepherd does it because of his love for the sheep.

The Hidden Adversary

There's lots of danger from animals. He lists wolves, coyotes, cougars, bears. It was one paragraph that he wrote that really, in this application of shepherd and sheep for us, caught my attention. Keller wrote this of his years as a shepherd: "Yet despite the damage, despite the dead sheep, despite the injuries and fear instilled in the flock, I never actually once saw a cougar on my range. So cunning, so skillful were their raids that they defied description."

If I take that imagery, let's see if we can drive it into our life. I think when I hear that cunning, dangerous adversary, I think Satan. The Scripture describes Satan as an angel of light, a subtle serpent, a roaring lion, an adversary—one on the prowl looking for those he can destroy.

Here's my experience with discussions about Satan. It's like so many other things—we have two poles. You've got one: a Barna survey found 70% of people who identified themselves as evangelicals said they did not believe Satan was real. Now if I'm Satan, that's a big advantage if you don't think I'm out there—not much defense there.

Two Extremes About Satan

The other side of the coin, and I've experienced this, are people who see Satan in everything. "Satan's out to get me, Satan's destroying this, Satan is working there." I remember years ago—my policy early on and it really still is—I go almost anywhere I'm invited when it's time to speak. I consider that such an honor and such a gift, such an opportunity.

So I'm one night in a church. It was kind of Pentecostal Baptist—it was a wild thing for me, way out of my comfort zone. I'm up there and the guy's getting ready to introduce me, and the mic's not working and nothing's working. They didn't have any money. So here's what he says: "Brother Tom must have a powerful message for us tonight because Satan—look at how Satan's really intervening!" And I'm going, "No, you're cheap. You got crummy sound equipment. I mean, Satan doesn't have to get into this—you got no money, you're using tubes, you know, transistor radios."

Well, we need to be careful. Satan is real. You have an adversary. Now he's not God—he's created, he's finite, he's limited, he can't be in all places, he's not a deity—but he is an adversary. Greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world, but he is a strong adversary.

Resisting the Adversary

James gives us this advice. I'm not going to turn there, but if you want to make a note, it's great. James 4:7: "Submit therefore to God, resist the devil." Literally, take a stand against, push back against, resist the devil, the slanderer.

How do I resist him? James 4:8: "Draw near to God" and enter into this communion, this fellowship with Him. It's a picture in the Old Testament of drawing near to God in a spirit of repentance, self-awareness.

And again, I'm 40 years behind everything, I guess, but every meeting I'm in in the last month we're talking about being self-aware—corporately self-aware as a board. Are we self-aware? Are you self-aware? Well no, I mean the only person I give the benefit of the doubt to is myself. I'm my best critic, and then I'm not critical of me. This idea of repentance is to be self-aware, is to see my sin.

Psalm 145 verse 18: "The Lord is near to all who call upon His name, who worship Him." Hebrews 4:16—and my point here is not to throw a bunch of scripture at you but to let you see this repetitive theme—"Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in a time of need." Hebrews 10:22: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith." I can come as a dependent shepherd to sheep, to my Shepherd, because He really cares.

Here's the key: James 4:10: "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord and He will exalt you." It's the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." That word means literally those who understand they're spiritually bankrupt. That's the challenge—to look and say I'm not just broken, I'm spiritually empty. I have no value.

The Difference Between Religion and Biblical Christianity

Religion isn't going to work for me. If by religion we mean—and this is the distinction you all hear all the time—the difference between Biblical Christianity and everything else is that Biblical Christianity is entirely dependent upon God to move. Everything else is on you: do something.

This is a time of year—you know, we start at church, we'll start to see it—it's the Christmas-Easter guy. So we'll get Christmas, we'll see a bunch of guys and they'll say, "Hey, I haven't seen you in a while." We're there every week, so it's not us. But they show up at Christmas and Easter.

I remember one year at Easter we were doing seven services. I was so frustrated by the fourth one that I did the message. I said, "I don't know why you people come on Easter Sunday. It's a terrible day to come. The parking's full. Children's ministry's full. We can't do what we need to do with your kids. I don't know why you come. You'd be way better off coming next week. And you're worse off because you come on Easter—you think you're okay, and you won't need this again until Christmas." After the service, the staff got me and said, "We can't do that one again." I said, "Well, isn't that true?"

That's what religion does. Religion allows you to feel good about yourself. We're constantly on that quest. It's my age-old thing I bring out this time of year and beat to death. It's that Thanksgiving morning when channels 3 and 5 and 12 and 10 will be down there, and there'll be people and families putting dressing on a plate and turkey and giving it to hungry people. And they'll say, "This is so true. We do it as a family." Well, why do you do it? Every time the answer is the same. What is it? "It makes me feel good about myself." It's not because he's hungry.

We finally had—two years ago we were calling to try to get people placed to work at different entities. The guy said, "We have so much help at Thanksgiving and Christmas. Where are your people in August?" There are hungry people in Coronado too. You know, they have different tastes, but they're hungry too. But that's it—it's that humble "I feel good about myself. I'm doing something." Biblical Christianity says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord." There's nothing that you can do. There's nothing you can do to please God.

We Have an Advocate

Now, as we have an adversary in Satan, we have an advocate in Jesus. First John 2:1 says that we have an advocate with the Father, and it's Jesus Christ. He understands us. He gets us. He's been where you are. He's like you in every way except sin.

I was at the doctor Tuesday—all good doctor reports. I had my annual physical yesterday. He said I'm a specimen. I let it go after that. I didn't push to see what he meant by that. The devil's in the details, I figured. But I met my doctor and she said, "How you doing?" I said, "I feel so good today. I feel really good. My hands are working. I feel good." She said, "Is there anything?" I said, "Well, I'm tired." She said, "I would venture to say 95% of the people I see say they're tired."

You don't know tired. I remember when I was taking care of Susan, I would go nuts. I'd say, "Let's just go for a ride." She said, "Tom, I can't. I'm too tired." I'd help her, I'd get her to the car. I remember I'd get so frustrated and probably a little angry and go, "We're all tired."

Now I've been there. Sandy the other day was saying, "Let's just go." I said, "Sandy, stop. I'm so tired. I can't get out of bed except for an Iowa game." She doesn't understand how I can walk a mile and a half from the student union to the stadium, but I can't get up and go across the street to spend a little time with the neighbors. I said, "Well, have you met the neighbors? There's the problem." It's different. But until you've been in that situation, you don't know.

Here's what James is saying: you have an advocate who gets you, who's gone ahead. I mean, make this point—it's strikingly similar to last week. My assumption is that's because we need to hear it again. That's my assumption. Not because He ran out of things to say.

The Shepherd's Provision Doesn't Eliminate Problems

So Keller offers this insight, then we'll unpack it: "Just because the shepherd has gone ahead and made every provision for the safety and welfare of the sheep while they're on the summer range does not mean they will not have problems. Predators can

Still, attacks can come. Poisonous weeds can still grow. Storms and gales can still swirl around the peaks, and dozens of other hazards remain. Yet in His care and concern for us, Christ still ensures that we shall have some gladness with our sadness, some delightful days as well as dark days, some sunshine as well as shadow.

There's that point again: Is the Lord your shepherd? I mean, you have the list by now. You have it all: shall not want, lie down in green pastures, all these things. They're promises. That's not to say that you won't have hardship in the midst of this. It's not to say that you aren't going to have economic problems.

I mean, we could go around this room with a microphone and just say, "All right, let's talk a little bit about life." I could push a little bit and you're going to hear all sorts of stories about economic hardship, relational difficulties, children—children that were hard when they were two, hard when they were twelve, hard when they're twenty-two, hard when they're thirty-two. It's all over. We all have it. He's not saying you'll be exempt from that. He's saying in the middle of that, the shepherd is still with you.

The Four Attacks of Fly Time

This is a little graphic, but I think it's helpful. They describe the summertime as, according to the shepherd, "fly time." There are four kinds of attacks that are pestering.

The first one involves parasites, and He lists them: nasal flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats, winged parasites. The attack on the animals can readily turn the golden summer months into a time of torture. Especially troubling, according to the shepherds, is something called the nose or nasal fly. You can figure it out—up into the mucus in the nostril where they lay eggs. They become so annoying, literally driving the sheep crazy. Here's the thing: "You anoint my head with oil." Here's the oil they would use—they would put oil into that nostril, and that was the only comfort that they could get.

The second type of annoyance is scab mites. Irritating. Usually from the introduction of other sheep into the flock, this kind of contagious scab mite follows the same principle—it would drive them crazy. The only antidote, again, was the oil.

The third time was mating season. The necks of the rams would swell and they would strut proudly across their pastures and fight furiously for the favors of the ewes. The crash of heads, the thud of colliding bodies. They would oil them kind of like a boxer—they would oil them up so a glancing blow maybe minimized the impact.

There was a fourth one called an adder—a small brown snake hiding in holes. It would come and bite the sheep. It wasn't fatal, but the puncture would become infected. The antidote for all of that was oil.

The Holy Spirit as Our Oil

When He says, "You anoint my head with oil," when we hear the word oil in our New Testament context, what do we think of? The Holy Spirit. Here's the power I have—the Holy Spirit is that power.

Oftentimes, again according to Keller, we need to get our heads together. Our thoughts, our ideas, our emotions, our choices, our impulses, our drives, our desires are all shaped and molded through the exposure of our minds to other people's minds, to mass communication.

Sandy and I have had endless conversations lately trying to unpack this chronic dizziness and tiredness that we see all around us. It's like every young guy I'm around is so tired, and I'm trying to figure out why. I mean, some of you even chuckled in the midst of that. You started businesses, you're working ten to twelve hours a day, six to seven days a week. Where are you? You guys would look at them and ask why they're soft. I say they're not soft, and Sandy goes, "They're soft." That's Sandy, so you don't go there for mercy.

The Constant Barrage of Information

I think a lot of it is this: I'm at a dinner the other night, and there's a kid next to me—kid's thirty-five. We're going around sharing at this annual fellowship, trying to build camaraderie and team spirit. Half the time he was on his phone.

All this stuff I'm reading about the brain, which I assume is right, says that you literally physically can't multitask. If you're in a car and you start with this, it takes twenty-five to twenty-seven seconds for you to completely be retooled back into driving. I don't know if that's accurate or not. I feel like I must be the exception. I feel like I can do that, but I'm sure it's not true. I'm sure the science isn't lying. It's that constant barrage.

Yale comes over the other night. My fantasy football is turning into a nightmare, and I don't have enough players to fill my roster this week between injuries and byes. So I said, "Hey Yale"—because Yale, I mean, he's seven, but I don't mind taking advantage of him. I said, "Hey, I'll trade you Peyton Manning. I need a running back and a wide receiver."

He said, "Well, let's go check." I mean, we are on this ESPN site, and he's poking around. There's information flying: this guy averages 3.3 yards per carry and this guy averages 3.7. He'll go, "I don't need that guy. He's a bum." And I'm thinking, he's a human being we just disregarded. There's all this stuff.

So yesterday, because I'm feeling good, I want to go for a walk. I called Yale and said, "I want to go for a walk." He said, "Perfect. Let's go." So we're walking and he said, "Are you still going to trade me Peyton?" I said I will.

He goes into "not 3.7, 3.3, 3.7." He said, "Well, you know he's 14.7 average per when He throws to the right." And I'm thinking, I don't care. Yeah, all do you want him or not? What do you want to talk about? How was school today?

I think I told you—He's this interesting little kid. He's in second grade. If you want to know Yale, this is the only story you need: He's in second grade, they moved Him up to fourth grade math. I said, "Buddy, that's going to be hard," because Yale goes, "What, you know..."

The Need for Mental Discipline

My grandson was struggling with basic multiplication. I asked him what nine times three was, and he couldn't give me the 27. I'm worried because he doesn't need to be in fourth grade math again. So I said to him, "Is math hard?" This is all you need to know about Yale. He said, "I'm sure it is for some kids."

That's all you need to know about Yale. Yale has the perfect mentality. I don't know what else to say about him. He's got an athletic mentality, he's got a little bit of skill, but he can lose. He's really competitive, but he loses and he's on to the next deal. He can strike out and go back and put on his catcher's gear and go back out there.

Well, in this mind that we got going—this was the point that got lost five minutes ago—it is a mind we got going. We got all of this stuff coming at us. What sorts this out is the Holy Spirit.

God's Nearness and Peace

So Paul writes this in Philippians 4:5: "Let your gentle spirit be made known to all men. The Lord is near." That's a big truth. He's not off. He's not distracted. He's not worried about the downed Egyptian or Russian airliner. He's near.

So Philippians 4:6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension will guard your mind in Christ Jesus." Finally, "whatever is true and honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute—if there's any excellence, anything worthy of praise—dwell on these things."

Let me read you this from Eugene Peterson's paraphrase, summing it all up: "My friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things that are true and noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learn from me and what you heard and saw and realize. Do that, and God will make everything work together." Not smooth. "Think about those things that are good."

Personal Struggles with Mental Focus

This time of year, especially this time of year, my time on Iowa football is disproportionately unhelpful. It's not healthy. I mean, it's nuts. And the season's more than half over—eight games over, maybe 14, maybe should be 14.

But I'm going—it's a fair question and it's a condemning question. In my mind, I'm spending more time on Iowa football than I am on Jesus. That can't be right. Now, that doesn't motivate me enough to change it. I'll wait till next year. Next year I think is the year to change it.

But those are those things that come along. Those are those things that come along. And He said, "Listen, the Holy Spirit helps you get control of your head."

Being Led by the Spirit

How do you know? Turn—I'm going to have you turn to Galatians chapter 5. Because what we're talking about here is being led by the Spirit. So people will say, "Are you led by the Spirit?" and they have a whole different dictionary that defines what they mean by that.

Are you being led by the Spirit? The option—it's an either-or. I'm either being led by the Spirit or led by the flesh. Well, how can I know? What's the decision-making metric to conclude that I'm being led by the Spirit or led by the flesh?

Well, Paul tells you in Galatians 5:18: "If you're led by the Spirit, you're not under the law." Now the works of the flesh are evident. Okay, so if I'm not being led by the Spirit, if my mind is wandering, okay, I don't—I'm not being anointed with that oil, filled with it. The evidence and work of my life are evident: "sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like this"—things I warned you about.

The Evidence of Spiritual Problems

Here's how I know if I have a problem. If I have a problem, I see the deeds of the flesh. And when we think of that—the sexual immorality and all that stuff—we get it. But He's tucked some stuff in here that really I need to look at relationally: enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger.

Don't get along in the homeowners association. Don't get along at the gym. Don't get along with the family. Don't get along—here comes Thanksgiving. I know it's going to be a nightmare. Do I even invite these kids? If I invite them, are they going to bring their kids? How long are they going to stay? Can we go to Mimi's and have them cook it so we can just get out of this and get it over?

If I have those things in disharmony, I need to stop and take a look. Because Paul says, "As far as it depends on me, live at peace with one another." Some people you're never going to have peace with. Got it. But if the characteristic of my life is all these relationships are broken, then that anointing, that comforting, that setting my mind on the things above is not what's happening.

The Fruit of the Spirit

The fruit of the Spirit—Galatians 5:22—"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control."

Now take those nine characteristics and put them in the context of the turmoil of life. Here are those things, whatever they are: budgets that don't get met, quotas that aren't there, whatever it is. In the midst of that, I have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

How? The Shepherd comes and the Shepherd protects me in this. The Shepherd is the one who preserves me, who watches over me. The Shepherd is the one who prepares the way.

Mental Training and Precision

What do I do? Well, a lot of this is played between the ears. A lot of it's mental. I was talking to a friend the other day, trying to figure out how to say this, make it anonymous enough, but he is helping coach college golfers. Okay?

Now, college golfers—they can play or they wouldn't be there. It's a D1, it's a real school. But I said, "What are you spending time on?" He said, "You know, now those of you that are golfers, you're going to love this. I'm spending time on trying to get them how to hit a wedge exactly 60 yards." He said, "These guys will be 80 yards from the green and knock a wedge 30 feet and they're happy with it. And I'm going, you're never going to play."

Whatever the difficulties we face in life—like athletes playing in their heads instead of trusting their training—we need the daily anointing of God's Spirit on our minds. Kirk Ferentz and other coaches spend significant time coaching their players' brains, telling them they're in rarefied air they've never experienced before. But if they start thinking they're invincible, they'll get blown out of the gym. The same mental game affects us in the midst of life's difficulties.

The Daily Anointing of God's Spirit

In the daily anointing of God's gracious Spirit upon our minds, He produces in us a life of personality traits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. These are the fruits that should characterize our lives.

But does this actually describe you? Not just in your own assessment—if I gathered five of your closest friends, would they use these words to describe you? Joy, contentment, love, patience, gentleness, peace?

I remember when my father was receiving some award years ago. I was there with my three brothers, and three different people got up to speak about him. One said, "When I started at the bank, Jim was amazing to me. He mentored me, spent time with me, was so patient with me." His admin said she had been overwhelmed when told she'd work for Jim, but he was so patient and kind. A third person said he totally screwed up his first day at the bank, but Jim came alongside him.

My brother leaned over to me and said, "Who are these people talking about?" Because we didn't use words like "patient" with our dad very often. Not that he wasn't patient—I think he was a typical dad. But the people in your sphere of influence, how do they describe you?

The Shepherd's Preventative Care

When the shepherd goes ahead and prepares a place for you, anoints you, and fills you with His oil, the people around you should see personality traits like joy, commitment, love, patience, gentleness, and peace. What a contrast to the tempers, frustrations, and irritability that we may display on a daily basis.

Sheep aren't the only ones who need preventative care. Sheep aren't the only ones who need a healing touch. We also get irritated with each other, butt heads, and get wounded. Many of our disappointments in life begin with irritations.

The large portion of our problems are not lion-sized attacks, but rather the day-to-day swarm of frustrations, mishaps, and headaches. You don't get invited to a party. You don't make the team. You don't get the scholarship. Your boss doesn't notice your work. Your husband doesn't notice your new dress—or nowadays, your wife doesn't notice your new dress. Your neighbor doesn't notice the mess in his yard.

Dealing with Life's Irritations

You find yourself irritable, gloomy, and hurt. This is what Paul writes about in Ephesians 4—it's the wear and tear of life, and this becomes a root of bitterness. As the shepherd takes care of the sheep every day with oil to deal with annoyances and pests, the Holy Spirit comes and strengthens you to deal with the everyday situations of life.

When an irritating annoyance comes along, you have three options. The first is to forget it. If you can do that, it's pretty acceptable. If someone cuts you off in traffic or something happens and you can forget it, that's good. But most relationship issues are pretty hard to forget. It's like the guy who said, "Every time I argue with my wife, she doesn't get hysterical—she gets historical. 'Remember in 1972 when you did that?'"

The second option is to confront it in love, especially in relationships. I watch couples who have been married a long time, and I respect that they can stick it out, but they don't treat each other very well. He cuts her off, she cuts him off. He speaks down to her, she demeans him. How do you do that? That would bother me.

Unpacking Issues Daily

I think over time, you just store things up. You don't confront issues, you let them sit, and you end up in a relationship where—I don't care if you've been married fifty years—when she cuts you down or you put her down, it hurts. There's a great ad on TV right now where a woman steps on the scale and says, "I've lost five pounds!" Her husband responds, "Only twenty-five more to go?" That's not complimentary. It's funny and we laugh at it, but I have to unpack that stuff every day.

Sandy said something to me the other day—I can't remember what it was—and I was in a particularly vulnerable, sensitive state. I said, "That kind of hurts my feelings." She said, "I'll never say it again." It wasn't anything big. I can't even remember what it was—something about my legs, I think. But you have to do that. You unpack this every day so there's no baggage. It's the Holy Spirit who gives you the strength to do it.

God's Overflowing Goodness

Whatever blessing is in our cup, it's sure to overflow. With Him, the calf is always a fatted calf. The robe is always the best robe. The joy is unspeakable. The peace passes all understanding. There's no grudging in God's benevolence. He doesn't measure out His goodness like a druggist.

counts pills. Slowly, exactly. If you lack wisdom, ask and He'll give it to you. He's not going to say, "I gave you wisdom four days in a row, what are you doing back here?" His grace is abounding. That's what this verse is saying, is that He will take you to overflowing.

Well, how long? Forever and ever, that's next week. Let's leave it right there.

Father, thanks for this. Thank you for this group, and as we come up on the holiday season, I start to pray for all of us, because these are tough times for people. A lot of baggage, a lot of hurt. We think of lives that are lost, and people who are not here with us any longer, people we love.

And God, we pray that you would anoint your people with your spirit. Allow us to experience the comfort of the perfect shepherd. Father, we pray that to you in Christ's name, amen.