“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint 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.”
Psalm 23:1-6 ESV
My cup runneth over, friends! The beloved twenty-third psalm is such a beautiful picture of the Lord’s faithfulness and love, of His comfort and provision. Historians believe that David wrote this while he was King, remembering the time he shepherded flocks of sheep as a boy. It was considered one of the lowliest, most grueling and least desirable jobs of the day, often given to the youngest son in a family. No one would simply choose to be a shepherd, and yet David compares our all-powerful and mighty LORD to just that.
The LORD as Shepherd was a common theme in early Judaism, so David could well relate here.
In his devotional, Come to the Waters, James Boice explains,
“Jehovah has chosen to be our shepherd, David says. The great God of the universe has stooped to take just such care of you and me. This is an Old Testament statement, of course. But Christians can hardly forget that the metaphor was also taken up by Jesus and applied to himself, thus identifying himself with Jehovah, on the one hand, and assuming the task of being the shepherd of his people, on the other.”
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.”
John 10:14-15 ESV
The psalmist reminds us that the LORD gives generously and cares for our every need, spiritual and physical. Even while our enemies surround us and the atmosphere is filled with urgency and fear, He provides a feast of nourishment, more than we could ever consume in a lifetime. Jehovah invites us to sit with Him a while and enjoy what He has gifted, to rest under His protection and be at peace.
Our cups overflow out of His abundance, out of His grace and love. We’ve received an unending supply of the Holy Spirit, forgiveness forever and salvation eternal, grace upon grace and mercies unceasing.
I’d like to believe our cups overflow so that His love in us can then spill over into the lives of those around us, so we can give generously with what has been so generously given us.
Charles Spurgeon posited,
“Beloved, I will ask you now a question. How would it be with you if God had filled your cup in proportion to your faith? How much would you have had in your cup?”
In our fallibility and sin and self-righteousness, our faith would be but a minuscule fraction of a drop, if any at all—certainly nothing in comparison to the perfect goodness of God. We would be utterly lost without Him, doomed to spiritual starvation and eternal separation. The table would be bare, the lands around us laid to waste, the waters dried up, the enemy advancing upon us.
And yet …
Our Father God looks at us and instead sees Jesus’s sacrifice covering over His sheep, essentially allowing us back into the fold, into green pastures, beside still waters, into the safety of His presence with a seat at His bountiful table … and He rejoices over us with shouts of joy (Zephaniah 3:17)!
Friends, the LORD has loved us from the beginning of beginnings and pours himself out over us because we are His beloved children, prodigal no longer. His lost sheep, once stuck fast in the muck and mire of this fallen world, have been found by Christ Jesus—our Good Shepherd—and returned white as snow.
Our cups runneth over because they are filled with the LORD, who never ends, who never forsakes us … and we shall dwell in His house forever. Amen!
FREEBIES
These free printables would make such a fun addition to a coffee/tea bar at home or would be a sweet gift for the avid coffee/tea drinker in your life.
PDFs for each image include an 10″x8″ print and a 7″x5″ folded card that would make a thoughtful note of encouragement or thanks to anyone you consider a blessing. Enjoy!
