{"id":9842,"date":"2024-03-27T05:20:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9842"},"modified":"2024-03-27T05:22:54","modified_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:22:54","slug":"psalm-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9842","title":{"rendered":"
Psalm 23<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the Season of Lent (Maundy Thursday)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the high holy days which are the center of the Christian year. The word \u201cMaundy\u201d comes from the word \u201cmandated,\u201d that is, we are commanded, or called on, to celebrate this because it is the beginning of the Lord\u2019s Supper. It is \u201cthree days\u201d from Thursday night to Sunday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a confused time. From the first Sunday in Advent, through Christmas, we\u2019ve been looking forward to these high holy days of the Christan faith. What is this center that we celebrate, which involves betrayal and death? And yes, also resurrection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tonight we will look at the Psalm you know best, the Twenty-Third Psalm. It is probably the most well-known portion of the Bible. We know it particularly in the King James Version. We don\u2019t want to look down in any way on the King James Version because it is in many ways the foundation of our English language. But because it is older, its Elizabethan English can lead us astray at certain points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know this Psalm is about the Good Shepherd, and then suddenly after fourth verses, without any warning, the setting changes. In the KJV it goes like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have learned that with slight variations because that\u2019s the treasure of the King James Version. What surprises us is that it doesn\u2019t have to do with the Good Shepherd. A lot of scholarly efforts have been made to say: \u201cYes this is still the Good Shepherd, and we are looking at how the Good Shepherd feeds the sheep, anoints them, but then when it comes to the \u201ccup overflowing,\u201d it\u2019s difficult to keep the setting the same. It is pretty well agreed by scholars that first we have the Good Shepherd and how he cares for us, and then the setting changes to a banquet. Not only does the setting change, but there are some words that we can change for the better to understand what it\u2019s about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we put verses five and six in present-day English, it helps to bring out the meaning that\u2019s behind the text. In present day English, Psalm 23:5 says: \u201cYou prepare a table before me.\u201d That\u2019s either a meal or a banquet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then comes: \u201cIn the presence of my enemies.\u201d You can get the picture. The enemies are hovering around. This reminds us of the fourth verse: \u201cEven though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death [or of deep darkness],\u201d but it includes more than that. The words include all the deep darkness that can come upon us. Not only the darkness of our own deaths and the deaths of others but all the loses, all the threats, all the defeats that are hovering like enemies to get at us. The picture, the setting, is a note of defiance: Lord, you prepare a table before me right in the middle of my enemies, and they can\u2019t do anything about it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It then goes on to say: \u201cYou anoint my head with oil.\u201d In many ways this is the most confusing, the strangest of the metaphors or pictures here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can show what this means when we look at Psalm 133:1, which says: \u201cHow good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard . . . running down on the collar of his robes!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We ask ourselves: What strange custom is this? I would remind you that we have our own strange customs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even stranger than that is something that happens today in the United States. After a football game, the players of the winning team dump a huge tub of Gatorade on their coach. Try explaining that to someone not familiar with American sports and customs. It makes no sense whatsoever. To us it\u2019s a way of celebrating, and it helps us understand what is meant by: \u201cYou anoint my head with oil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of oil did they use? It could be regular olive oil or oil that has been perfumed with cinnamon or myrrh. In a desert-like climate it is not surprising that someone could be anointed with perfumed oil as a way of welcoming them to a banquet. It actually talks about that in that well-known account of the woman who anointed Jesus\u2019 feet (Luke 7:36-50), in which Jesus says to the Pharisee who invited him for dinner: \u201cYou did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment [perfumed oil]\u201d (Luke 7:46).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Psalm 23 says: \u201cMy cup overflows.\u201d This reminds us of the first verse: \u201cI shall lack nothing.\u201d It\u2019s like Luke 6:38 which says that the blessing of the Lord, \u201cpressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap.\u201d And Ephesians 3:20: \u201cExceedingly, abundantly, beyond all that we can ask or think.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy cup overflows\u201d means the Lord provides superabundantly. Then it goes on to say, using an alternative translation: \u201conly goodness and steadfast love shall follow me.\u201d You\u2019ll notice this is a little different from the King James Version, which says: \u201cSurely goodness and mercy shall follow me. . . .\u201c \u201cSurely\u201d can be misunderstood. \u201cSurely\u201d could mean: \u201cWell, I hope so.\u201d The proper meaning is \u201conly\u201d: \u201cOnly goodness . . . will follow me . . . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then comes the strange slip by the King James Version: It uses the word \u201cmercy\u201d instead of \u201csteadfast love.\u201d In all of the Psalms we\u2019ve looked at this season of Lent, except this one, we have found the term \u201csteadfast love,\u201d that covenant love, the electing love which does not change. The better translation of verse 6 is: \u201cOnly goodness and steadfast love . . . .\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnly goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me,\u201d not \u201cfollow me.\u201d We know that the original Hebrew says \u201cfollow,\u201d and yet the context requires that we not think of this like something that comes behind, some kind of thing that is dragged along, or follows that way. No, the context is over against those enemies that hovering around, surrounding us, God\u2019s goodness and steadfast love is surrounding us and pursuing us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It goes on to say: \u201cAll the days of my life.\u201d There\u2019s a direct connection here between Psalm 23 and the great Psalm 139. In 139:7-10 it says: \u201cWhere shall I go to escape your Spirit? If I go to the highest heaven, you are there! If I go to the depths of Sheol [which is death itself], you are there! If I go to the furthest distance from the morning or the greatest depths of the sea, even there you are and your right hand shall hold me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the same message: \u201cOnly goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me, shall hold me, all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord.\u201d The house of the Lord is not a synagogue; it is the temple where God is and where one finds refuge. \u201cAnd I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.\u201d Actually, in Hebrew it says, \u201cas long as I shall live.\u201d Why then do we say forever?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, we find help in Psalm 139, this time, in verse 18. There is a tiny footnote which gives this translation: \u201cEven if I come to the end of my days, you are there.\u201d Because it is the house of the Lord, he is there now and forever with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does this then work out for those of us who are in the New Covenant, in the steadfast love that has been fulfilled in Jesus Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may recall in Revelation 21:22 where there is an image of the New Jerusalem, it says; \u201cThere\u2019s no temple.\u201d There\u2019s no temple because the temple is Jesus Christ. (Rev. 21:22: \u201cAnd I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.\u201d)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are helped in understanding this by recalling that controversy in John 2:19-22, where Jesus says to the Jewish leaders: \u201cDestroy this temple, and in three days I will build it up.\u201d And they say: \u201cIt has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?\u201d Then it says (paraphrase): After the resurrection, his disciples realized that he had been speaking about his body (John 2:22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the New Testament the temple not a building in a particular place; it is Jesus Christ himself. He is the new temple. And the table which he prepares is the table of the Lord\u2019s Supper we are now going to gather round and celebrate. At this table he himself is living and present. He is present through his word, through the wine and the bread. He is present in a way we can see, we can touch, we can taste. He is truly present among us. Paul spells that out in 1 Corinthians 10:16-17:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, Psalm 23 ends with \u201cforever.\u201d Just like the end of Matthew\u2019s Gospel, where it says; \u201c. . . lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age\u201d (Matt 28:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the same ending in other words as Psalm 23. The Hebrew for \u201cI will be with you always,\u201d if you translate it backward, is \u201cImmanuel, God with us.\u201d That\u2019s what the new temple and his body is all about. It says: \u201cforever,\u201d always, because this is the Lord\u2019s doing, and the Lord is the one who is with us now and forever. Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sermon for the Season of Lent (Maundy Thursday)<\/p>\n

Maundy Thursday marks the beginning of the high holy days which are the center of the Christian year. The word \u201cMaundy\u201d comes from the word \u201cmandated,\u201d that is, we are commanded, or called on, to celebrate this because it is the beginning of the Lord\u2019s Supper. It is \u201cthree days\u201d from Thursday night to Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9842"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9848,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9842\/revisions\/9848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}