High School Study week 5

4/20/2020

Psalm 23:5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

How does the picture of God throwing a feast fit into your typical view of God?

As Matt pointed out in the session, all of verse 5 builds to an overwhelming vision of God’s delight in his people, one we often struggle to incorporate in to our own views of God. It’s easier to think of God as a distant judge—one who gives us rules to live by and who doles out punishment when we come up short. But that’s not the picture of God we receive here in Psalm 23. If you belong to the Lord’s flock, he delights in you today.
What’s one way the truth that God delights in you here and now could change how you approach your relationship with him today?

Sometimes it is difficult to say along with David “my cup overflows.” Jesus said that he came that we may have abundant life.

In what ways do you struggle with feeling like God is distant? In what ways do you experience the feast David is talking about? How can we say along with David “my cup overflows” even in the midst of our enemies as well as in the valley?

6 Comments

Bekah Felten

4/21/2020 07:55:01 am

Sometimes when I feel ashamed of myself, I automatically assume God will be ashamed of me too. Too often I get stuck in the "sinner" part of the Gospel without remembering the "grace" part. I know that I'm a sinner who deserves God's wrath and judgement, so it's hard for me to comprehend that He delights in me so much that He wants to throw a feast for me. But when I get stuck here, I completely underestimate God's love, forgiveness, and mercy. The beauty of the Gospel is that God chose to save a world of sinners, not because we are or have done anything great, but because He has a heart of perfect love. If Jesus loves me so much that went to the cross and died for me, I can be confident of His love at all times. I can approach Him with joy and peace knowing He wants to give me every good thing.

Even thought I know God's love is infinite, I still struggle to grasp it, especially because I can't see Him physically. In times of discouragement, all I want is to see His face and rest in His arms. Because of His grace, He has given me this, and He will help endure the suffering of this world before I can be with Him face to face. I need to walk by faith and not by sight.

When I'm feeling ashamed of my sins and afraid of God's judgment, it's wonderful to remember His gentleness. He comes alongside me and assures me not to be afraid because He has taken on the burden of my sin and wants to make me new. My cup overflows because the sovereign, Holy God of the Universe has chosen this weak, sinful, mess of a human being to be His daughter.

Eric Rossman

4/22/2020 03:12:46 pm

I think what you described is one of the biggest hurdles we face to truly walking in the joy the gospel brings. It can be so hard to believe God delights in us, but the more we grasp this the more joy we walk in. Matt Chandler talks about how one of the greatest signs that we are truly grasping the gospel is that when we fall or screw up we run to God and not away from God. We run to God when our failures don't make us feel like he is ashamed of us, the gospel is the proof he is not.

Johannah Snider

4/22/2020 04:49:58 pm

Often, I struggle to believe that a perfect being like God, would be able to, let alone want to, delight in me. Why would the Creator of the world want to love someone who constantly fails Him?
I think this comes out of focusing too much on His judgement, and not enough on His love and mercy. When I lose sight of how great His love and care for us really is, I tend to think that God is very distant from me, and prayer seems pointless.

This is a big trap for me, that I often fall into. I need to keep sight of the big picture of God, that He is both loving and just. Believing in a kind Savior, not just an all-knowing God, completely changes the way that I approach Him.

When I truly believe that God delights and loves me, I feel secure, and can enjoy knowing Him. It stops being a chore, or a guilty obligation, and becomes a lifegiving pursuit; my cup overflows.

4/26/2020 10:54:46 pm

"Believing in a kind Savior, not just an all-knowing God, completely changes the way that I approach Him. "

That's a good point. Really it makes us actually approach him. I think so often when we see God as waiting for us to mess up and we don't see his love, we try to keep our distance from him relationally. We still try to live in ways we think he would want us to, but we don't run to him with anything.

Isabel Anne

4/24/2020 06:19:00 pm

The idea of God throwing me a feast makes me feel happy, but also like I don't deserve it. Of everyone, God is the one who knows how truly sinful I am. At the same time, I know he loves me so deeply.

I know that God is always there, so I never feel that He is distant, but often I distance myself from him. Then I feel guilty, and my guilt keeps me away from him. So it's a repeating cycle.

When things are going well, I'm grateful to God, but I also can neglect him because I feel that I don't need anything. If things go downhill, I turn to him, but sometimes just ignore him because I'd rather use "easier" coping mechanisms. I want to turn to him all the time.

4/26/2020 10:58:05 pm

Thanks Isabel, your post made me think of this Francis Chan quote: “The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time.”

High School Study week 5

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