Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Much MORE Than a Kitchen Table - Psalm 23.... by DianaDee Osborne

May 8                                                                                        SUBSCRIBE  
Psalm 23: 5 holds a familiar line:
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies...

I used to think,  well, maybe God is showing unbelievers His power to help me and nay-nay-You can't stop God!
(I didn't say I got that interpretation in church....)

Then I figured that was like a kitchen table -- full of good stuff from God.  But hey -- this is GOD making this promise.  So....
Probably it's a luxurious dining room table.   That word is so far out of my Life that I had to look up the spelling!

This week I learned some more great Hebrew  to help us
as Christ-followers better understand words we never really studied:

The word TABLE In Psalm 23 is MUCH more than an ordinary table.  You have NEVER  sat at such a table on this earth, unless God blesses me with some really prestigious-by-human-definition persons reading this blog.  The Hebrew Word (Strong's concordance #H7979)  is  shulchan.
And, specifically, it is a KING'S Table... for PRIVATE and SACRED uses.

This is the word that Exodus 25 and 26 and 30 and 31 and 35 use in connection with the "showbread"....The 12 loaves of consecrated (blessed)  unleavened bread placed in the sanctuary of the Tabernacle every Sabbath by the Hebrew priests of ancient Israel as an offering.

And this "showbread(lechem haPānīm‎),  literally means "Bread of the Presence".   WHY? --> Because God requires through Exodus 25:30 that this bread be constantly in His presence.  

Perhaps by now you are thinking of Jesus saying 4 times in John 6
that  "I  AM  the bread of life"......

The table in Psalm 23 is God the KING'S table... prepared for you and me.  How can we let ourselves think we are UN-important to God who invites us to His own table?  What an   insult   to our Host!
Sure.... we've sinned.
Sure... we've been quite selfish.
BUT ALSO .... Sure, God our King KNOWS  us.
Knows our selfish sins... whatever kind.         
And He invites me and you to His table            anyway.        It's PREPARED.
                     But will you come?
See Tomorrow's blog for part 2.


PRAYER
LORD GOD,  I don't often think of Psalm 23's "table" promises because, frankly, it's hard for me to picture You the Creator of the Universe doing such work for little me.  Please forgive me for not seeing the full glory of such a wonderful Word from You... Promise from You.  THANK You!

©2013 DianaDee Osborne (all material), all rights reserved. FREE personal usage; see website.  But feel free to print with copyright info, & share for nonprofit usage!
With thanks to BlueLetterBible.org  for providing God's Word in easy-to-research format.
Additional encouraging resources at 
http://DianaDeeSongStories.blogspot.com

No comments:

Post a Comment