BUS INESS 5; 81:16. Some of the best things on the table are (1) His Word (Jer. 15:16,.that of itself constitutes- a good many courses, “Sweeter than the honey and the honey comb,” Ps. 19:10). (2) But there is some thing better than the written Word to feed upon, that is the. Incarnate _Word, Jesus Himself, John 6:55, 56. Did you ever feed on Jesus Himself? Note where we are feasted, “In the presence of mine enemies.” Even Christ’s own have enemies, any man who will follow Jesus will be hated (John 15:19; 2 Tim. 3:12), but our wonderful Host will spread us a banquet in their very presence. He is doing so constantly. That is one thing that makes the world so angry at the church, they see what a banquet the church has and at the bottom of their hearts they know they only have husks. I his is one of the things that makes infidels so mad and violent. - “Thou anointest my head with oil.” There is something beside a feast, there is anoint ing. From Acts 10:38 and Hebrews 1:9 find that the anointing is the anointing with the Holy Ghost, the anointing with the oil of gladness (cf. 1 John 2:20 R. V.). If you have received this anointing, you will understand why it is that the Bible speaks of it as “the oil of gladness” (Heb. 1:9 cf. Gal. 5:22, 23). Jehovah Jesus just pours the oil over the head and it flows all over the whole person. In olden times the anoint ing was considered a necessary preparation for a great feast, and the anointing with the Holy Spirit is a necessary preparation for the Lord’s feast. But we should remember that it is He Himself who does the anoint ing. The chief condition of that anointing is absolute surrender to Him to do it and simple trust in Him (.Acts 5:32). “My cup runneth over." Of course, it does. When you get down to Jehovah’s table and He breaks the alabaster box over you and the oil flows over your head and suffuses your whole person, yotir cup will run over. It will run over and out to others to bless them (John 7:37-39). When our Lord Jesus anointed the heads of the 120 with oil on the Day of Pentecost, their cup
328 T H E K ING ’S into the dark valley, it is Himself. This is true to the experience of most of us. It is in the valley of deepest darkness that we come to know His personal fellowship, and it is no longer what the Lord does, but “THOU are with me.” “Thy rod and thy staff they comfore me.’' The rod and the staff seemingly are the shepherd’s implements for guiding and guarding the sheep. It is the thought of the shepherd himself near at hand to guide and guard in the dark valley that banishes fear and comforts the sheep. The Hebrew word translated “rod” means most fre quently in Bible usage, “A rod” of correc tion. And our Shepherd’s correction is most comforting to us if we are wise. Then the word means “a sceptre” and nothing is more comforting to the Christian than Christ’s sceptre, and every true Christian is longing for the time when it shall bear sway throughout the earth. Then it means, “A shepherd’s crook,” which is doubtless the primary meaning here. The Hebrew word translated “staff” means primarily that in which one depends, or upon which he leans, and is used of the staff David carried when he went to meet Goliath. Roth the crook and staff with which Christ guides His sheep and wards off the enemy is “the Word of God.” How efficient and sufficient it is to ward off the wolf, lion and bear appears in the history of our Lord Himself where Christ met and overcame the three-fold as sault of Satan with the thrice-repeated, “It is written.” Nothing comforts the Lord’s sheep like the Word (Rom. 15:4). III. Every longing satisfied , 5, 6. In this third division of the Psalm the figure changes, Jehovah Jesus appears no longer as a Shepherd, but as a bountiful Host.. v. 5. “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." These words taken alone would furnish a suffi cient text for a long sermon. If there were time, it would be well to study all that Jesus has spread before us on this table, no banquet on earth like that. As to the gen eral character of the feast, read Psalm 63:
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