THE OVERFLOWING CUP

For the last few weeks I have been teaching a Bible class on Psalm 23 at our home church. Over the past forty years I have preached and taught on Psalm 23 dozens of times and have spent countless hours studying this amazing love expression of King David. It is no exaggeration to say that Psalm 23 is one of the most widely read and respected passages of Scripture in all literature.

My experience with this psalm is akin to holding a diamond up to the light. Just when you think you’ve seen all the beauty and colors the gem has to offer, with a slight turn you suddenly see new flashes of brilliance. So it was this time as I prepared to teach the Bible class.

I will take the time to review only one verse but it definitely is a gem.

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (Psalm 23:5, ESV).

In this verse the setting of the psalm changes from that of God as a shepherd to God as a gracious host.

David’s family essentially lived a nomadic/bedouin lifestyle. In the bedouin law of hospitality, when a guest was received into a host’s home and food had been prepared for him, he was then under the protection of his host.

This verse says, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” God displays His love, His provision and His protection for us “in the presence” of those who are trying to destroy us.

Verse 5 goes on: “You anoint my head with oil.”

In the early evening after a long day of tending the sheep as they grazed, the shepherd stood at the door of the sheepfold with a bowl of oil and a jar of water beside him. He watched each sheep as it was brought in and whichever one needed personal attention received it immediately—a healing touch of the oil or some refreshing water.

Life at times bruises and hurts us. Just as the shepherd dealt daily with the wounds of the sheep, so our Shepherd daily puts His healing oil on the wounds we have sustained on our journey through life.

In David’s time, when a guest was received into a home, one of the first things a host did was “anoint the head” of the guest with perfumed olive oil. This was both refreshing to the traveler and also served as a way to cover over the smell of travel through the dry, parched countryside. There was little water and I don’t believe showers had been invented yet—and Right Guard deodorant certainly was not yet in wide distribution.

Verse 5 goes on: “My cup overflows.”

In David's time, there were few inns or places for travelers to stay or secure food. The rules of hospitality of the day required that residents along the traveler's path provide food and drink for those who asked. At the end of the meal, the host would often pour a final glass of wine. If the host poured half a cup, it was a sign to the guest that the host's obligation of hospitality had been met and it was time for the traveler to move on. But if the host poured the cup until it overflowed, it was an invitation to the guest to spend the night (or longer).

In Psalm 23, David has been granted hospitality at God's table (You prepare a table before me). At the end of the meal, God pours the cup to overflowing. This is God's invitation to stay, to dwell in His house, to be received into His kingdom for all eternity!

John 10 describes Jesus as the Good Shepherd. In verse 10 He says, “I am come that they might have life and that they may have it more abundantly.” The word abundantly used here means “to be filled to overflowing.” Jesus died for us that we might receive “abundant/overflowing” life. His death guaranteed us the “overflowing cup” and the invitation to enjoy His presence for all of eternity.

We sit at His table and partake of His food, yet we settle for so little when there is so much more. It is time to lift your cup to Him and let Him fill it to overflowing—let Him give you an abundant life.

“Fill my cup, Lord, I lift it up, Lord!
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul;
Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more;
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole!”

(Fill My Cup, Lord  lyrics by Wanda Jackson)