You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. Psalm 23:5
What a strange place to prepare a table for a warrior. This could be interpreted in so many ways. I think probably the basic idea is provision. God provides us with what we need in the face of our enemies.
But I would like to take a definitely bolder approach to this. True biblical scholars should probably look away right now as I proceed to ignore every rule of hermeneutics known to man, and on the most studied, well-known Psalm the world over, no less. But when I read this, I think not only of provision for David, the Psalmist, in battle, I see an opportunity to bring others to the table, even one’s enemies.
Picture this: two 5-year-olds in their cardboard armor and with their wooden swords battling fiercely when Mom brings out a tray of PB&J sandwiches and milk and they drop their swords and run to the table.
If God laid out a grand spread for David in the presence his enemies, what would keep him from inviting them to join him at the table? Even in an Old Testament context, Jesus would love that, since He has clearly commanded us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. It sure would change the dynamic of the battle.
It reminds me of an audio book we listen to every year around Christmastime about an infantry battle near the end of World War I between German and British soldiers. On Christmas Eve, during a lull in the fighting, someone on the British side started singing Silent Night over the fighting field and someone on the German side echoed it back. It led to a Christmas Eve truce where they gave each side permission to bury their dead, and by Christmas Day, they were sharing their Christmas rations and even playing soccer together on the killing field, taunting each other, yelling and laughing, and boasting about who was best.
I always wonder what did they do next? How could you jump back into your foxhole and start shooting at the guys you just laughed with on the soccer field? Loving your enemy changes things, and inviting your enemy to the table changes the battlefield to a soccer field.
What happens here is that we see our common humanity. We see what makes us alike not what makes us different. The foreigner is no longer a foreigner. Ruth is no longer a Moabite; she is one of us.
At the table, we all belong. At the table it’s no longer us and them, it’s only us.
Come. We’re holding a seat for you…
The Table
The table is a place where we overcome differences.
It’s where things that separate us fall away.
We know we belong because others are experiencing the same things we are.
Come to the table where enemies cease.
Come to the table where everyone belongs.
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