Psalm 23 – Verse 5

This is a long post. You might want to grab a cup of coffee or tea to enjoy while you read. ☕️

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. – Psalm 23:5 NKJV

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

There are two points to consider when we read about the table in this verse. Tablelands and feast.

Let’s start with tablelands. When David wrote this Psalm, some scholars think he had tablelands in mind. Tablelands are high plateaus where the sheep are taken during summer months. But the shepherd has to prepare the “table” ahead of time by clearing the land of anything that could bring harm to the sheep – holes, rocks, poisonous plants, to name a few things. This is painstaking work.

And when they are up in the high mountains, they are far from civilization. This means there are more predators around watching the sheep for an easy meal. This brings to light how the sheep are in the presence of enemies. The shepherd has to stay alert at all times, protecting the sheep from attack.

Being a shepherd himself, we know David, the author of Psalm 23, experienced this kind of situation firsthand. In the famous story when David faced Goliath, he was a young man at the time. This was prior to becoming king. The king at the time, Saul, protested because he didn’t think David could handle Goliath. However, David said to Saul:

“Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17: 34-37 NIV)

This gives us a glimpse of the threats that the sheep face. If they didn’t have a shepherd fighting for them, they would be destroyed.

There are also many authors who, when reflecting on this verse, write about a feast. At this point David is no longer speaking in terms of shepherd and sheep; he is now focusing on the roles of host and guest.

“To prepare a table was to make ready a feast. It was to do more than to give a loaf of bread to a weary pilgrim. It was to detain one as a guest and set before him the best of everything that could under the circumstances be had.” [1]

A couple of weeks ago when we focused on verse 3, I mentioned the story of the prodigal son. This story comes to mind again, because in this story we can see how the father had a big feast prepared for his son.

See Luke 15:11-32. Verses 22-24 I particularly want to highlight. “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”

The father wanted to make sure his younger son had the best of everything. God also celebrates us as His beloved children. He wants only what’s best for us.

And remember in the story of the prodigal son how the older son behaved? He was prideful and jealous of what the father did on his brother’s behalf. But the father told the older son, “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours” (v. 31). In His great love, God gives us everything. He doesn’t hold back.

In Romans 8:32 (NLT) it says, “Since [God] did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”

God extends His goodness and blessings to us each and every day.

“In a figurative sense, God’s table is His favor, blessing, and communion extended to us. It’s an invitation to partake of the good things of God. It’s an opportunity to accept God’s provision, experience His protection, and enjoy His pleasure.” [2]

Notice how this verse says “You” prepare. This means God is the one preparing the table. In David’s culture if someone was invited over for dinner there would have been servants preparing the food and the table. But God, in His great love, prepares the table for us. This shows us, all the more, how great His love is. What a magnificent Heavenly Father we have.

This also makes me think of the parable that Jesus told about those invited to the marriage banquet. The original list of invitees declined their invitation. So a new set of people were brought to the party. Basically, anyone they could find on the streets. (See Matthew 22:1-14).

This reminds us that many of God’s chosen people, who were originally invited into a relationship with Him, didn’t accept His offer. But God’s offer is for all the world. Any of us who will accept Him. All we have to do is accept our invitation in order to enjoy the feast. How amazing it is that God offers us so much. Let’s take a moment today to thank the Lord for a seat at the table.

In this verse, it doesn’t just say the Lord will prepare a table before us. But it adds an additional layer – the table is prepared in the presence of enemies. David, the author of this Psalm, knew a lot about enemies. Throughout his life he was faced with too many enemies to count.

As children of God, our main enemy is satan. He can’t have our souls, but he does try to steal our peace while we are on this earth. He tries to take us off course, because we are doing Kingdom work. And often times the battles we face in life are coming from him. The stress and worries that sneak into our lives can be the work of the adversary. He will use whatever he can to push our buttons and get us off course.

But one thing to remember is that Jesus already won the battle. We don’t have to worry about the enemy, when we have God Almighty beside us. He will be sure to see us through any trouble we face.

Unfortunately, though, we might give the enemy too much credit or focus in our lives. By that I mean that we might allow the troubles he brings our way to take us down. We might allow worry to take over our minds. We might allow bitterness to get into our hearts. We might allow the enemy’s destruction to appear bigger than God’s feast.

As pastor Louie Giglio aptly says in the title of one of his books – “Don’t give the enemy a seat at your table.”

When we are being attacked by the enemy, our faith needs to speak louder than our troubles. This is not necessarily our instinct. So we have to take action through prayer and holding onto God’s promises. We have to walk and talk like our God is mightier than anything the enemy throws at us. We have to sing praises to the One who is fighting our battles. When we put our focus on God instead of our battles, it helps us to properly place power in the right place. 

You anoint my head with oil

As there were several angles to look at regarding the table, this is also the case with oil. As we go through this, keep in mind that anointing with oil in the Bible is often associated with the Holy Spirit and God’s Presence in our lives.

Oil has a number of useful benefits for tending sheep. From the perspective of a shepherd, Phillip Keller wrote about oil deterring the array of insects that pester sheep. “There are warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, nose (nasal) flies, deer flies, black flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and other minute, winged parasites.” The nasal flies are one of the most aggravating. “For relief from this agonizing annoyance, sheep will deliberately beat their heads against trees, rocks, posts, or brush. They will rub them in the soil and thrash around against woody growth.” In order to prevent this, a shepherd would rub oil on the sheep’s nose and head. “What an incredible transformation this would make among the sheep. Once the oil had been applied to the sheep’s head, there was an immediate change in behavior. Gone was the aggravation, gone the frenzy, gone the irritability and the restlessness. Instead, the sheep would start to feed quietly again, then soon lie down in peaceful contentment.” [3]

This is a reminder of how little annoyances in life can cause a lot of destruction, if we allow them to. But God’s presence in our lives is like an anointing that brings peace. When we are with our Good Shepherd, the little gnats don’t have the power to pester us. Note, though, that it’s not a one-time thing. Just as the sheep would need the oil reapplied at times, we too need to continually commune with our Shepherd.

Oil can also be used on sheep to aid in healing wounds. This reminds us that the Lord’s Presence in our lives heals our hurts.

“It’s often during life’s hurts that we come to understand the heart of the Shepherd, as we learn to accept His care and to trust His heart. As He tends us and mends us, we fall in love with Him and receive the comfort He gives.” [4]

Oil can also prevent injury on feisty rams who want to butt heads. When we seek the Presence of God consistently, He helps us to walk in peace where we are less likely to butt heads with those around us.

Our daily action of spending time with the Lord brings immeasurable blessings that we might not even understand.

“The sheep doesn’t understand why the oil repels the flies. The sheep doesn’t understand how the oil heals the wounds. In fact, all the sheep knows is that something happens in the presence of the shepherd. And that’s all we need to know as well. ‘LORD, I give myself to you; my God, I trust you.’” [5]

Something else to consider is that David was anointed with oil when he was chosen to become the second king of Israel. (See 1 Samuel 16:1-13.) In this case, the act of being anointed is symbolic of being chosen. And as God’s children, we too are chosen. What a privilege it is to be chosen by God.

In John 15:16 (NIV), Jesus said, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.”

(Funny story about oil. Last week we received a box from Amazon which was supposed to have a bottle of vitamin D3 softgels in it. But instead it had a bottle of anointing oil from the Holy Land. My husband and I agreed that God had to have sent this!)

My cup runs over

The word cup here is symbolic of blessings. In another Psalm by King David, he wrote “LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure” (Ps 16:5 NIV). The Amplified Bible puts it this way: “The LORD is the portion of my inheritance, my cup [He is all I need]; You support my lot.” I love that statement – “He is all I need.”

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, brings us abundance. In John 10:10b ESV, Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Note that in Psalm 23 it says that “my cup runs over.” God doesn’t just fill our cup, but He gives us so much that the blessings run over.

“The overflowing cup was a powerful symbol in the days of David. Hosts in the ancient East used it to send a message to the guest. As long as the cup was kept full, the guest knew he was welcome. But when the cup sat empty, the host was hinting that the hour was late. On those occasions, however, when the host really enjoyed the company of the person, he filled the cup to overflowing. He didn’t stop when the wine reached the rim; he kept pouring until the liquid ran over the edge of the cup and down the table.” [5]

This is incredible to consider. This helps us to understand how deeply God wants to be with us. God loves our company and He wants us to know it. He wants us to continually commune with Him. This is our God’s heart for us. He loves us so much and wants to bless us.

Thanksgiving Day in the USA will be celebrated on Thursday; and I believe in light of what we learned here today this is a wonderful verse to ponder and express our gratitude to God.

God loves us so much. It’s humbling and overwhelming to think about it. I wish we could always remember this. Yet too often we complain about minor grievances. May we pray for God’s forgiveness when we are quick to complain. May we learn to keep our eyes open to His love and His goodness. And may we love Him in return, with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Thank you for reading. I will be back on Thursday with a quick post. God bless!

© 2018-2025 Bridget A. Thomas. All rights reserved.

[1] William S. Plumer, Psalms: A Critical and Expository Commentary with Doctrinal and Practical Remarks, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1975), 314.

[2] Psalm 23 – Bible Study by Jennifer Rothschild. Published by LifeWay Press® • © 2018 Jennifer Rothschild.

[3] A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 by W. Phillip Keller. Copyright © 1970, 2007, 2015 by Phillip Keller. Published in Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Zondervan.

[4] The Lord is My Shepherd by Robert J. Morgan. Copyright © 2013 by Rob Morgan. Published by Howard Books.

[5] Safe in the Shepherd’s Arms: Hope and Encouragement from Psalm 23 by Max Lucado. Copyright © 2002, 2009 by Max Lucado. Published by Thomas Nelson.