In what is probably his best-known Psalm, David speaks of the Lord as his Shepherd. He was acknowledging that the Lord was guiding him on his way through life and providing for him in every way. In the New Testament we find the Lord Jesus identifying Himself as the Good Shepherd, the One whom the sheep – true believers – follow and who cares for them.
One wonderful aspect of the provision, described in Psalm 23, that the Shepherd makes for His sheep is a table, which suggests a supply of food. Previously David had pointed to the “green pastures” to illustrate the same point; now, as he draws near to the close of this brief Psalm, the figure of the shepherd is less in the forefront. Yet, in making use of the idea of a table, we are pointed in the same direction, to the Lord providing a supply of food. And it is a plentiful supply that He provides. David goes on to speak of a cup that is running over, indicating the abundance of the Lord’s provision. Must we not believe that the supply of spiritual food which the Lord has placed on the table for David and all His other sheep must be just as abundant?
One thing should be particularly obvious in the light of Scripture: David deserved none of the blessings he found on this table, and all God’s other children are equally undeserving. Apart from the Good Shepherd, what they deserve because of their sins is eternal punishment – eternal death. But He tells us Himself: “I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (Jn 10:11). He stood in the place of the sheep and died instead of them; He took their guilt upon Himself and bore it away; He suffered the penalty which should have fallen on the sheep. So, in the place of eternal death, there is eternal life and all the blessings this term implies, for everyone who believes in Jesus.
David speaks of the Lord preparing a table for him in the presence of his enemies; and one can think of the Lord, in His providence, making provision for David when King Saul and other enemies were near at hand, so that he did not starve. But we are, no doubt, to understand that the “table” is loaded, not so much with temporal blessings as with spiritual, and that the spiritual blessings are absolutely abundant.
Christ told His hearers: “I am the bread of life” (Jn 6:35), “the true bread from heaven”. The Jews had referred to the “manna in the desert”, which was miraculously given to the Children of Israel to preserve their natural life. But One was present among the Jews who was able, not only to sustain spiritual life as the manna did, but to bring that life into existence. Jesus told them: “If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (Jn 6:51). We are to feed on Christ – that is, to receive Him by faith – as the One who died for sinners; and if we so feed, we will have eternal life. At the same time, Jesus warned, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you” (Jn 6:53). So if we do not believe in Him as the Son of God, who took human nature and died in the place of sinners, we can never have eternal life; we must perish in our sins.
But why should we perish? There is an abundance of blessing on the gospel table; no one need starve, spiritually speaking, who hears the gospel or reads the Scriptures. Christ has made an abundant provision for sinners; that is why the call goes out to all and sundry to come to Christ to receive spiritual blessings: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (Is 55:1). If the provision is wonderfully great, it is also perfectly suited to the needs of every sinner. No one has any right to turn away, thinking that their sins are too great or that they are too unusual. We must always remember that the provision on the gospel table for the spiritual needs of sinners can never run out. No sinners will ever come to the gospel table to find that there is no salvation for them. Christ assures us: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (Jn 6:37).
Think of Manasseh; he “did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the Children of Israel” (2 Chr 33:2). If we do not read to the end of the account given of him in 2 Chronicles, we might very seriously question if he could possibly be saved from eternal destruction; he was such a notorious sinner. But we should take another look at what is revealed about the gospel table; the blessings placed on the table and set before sinners, even particularly wicked and rebellious sinners, are so abundant and so wonderfully suitable for such sinners that when Manasseh humbly approached the God of his fathers, his supplication was heard. The provision on the gospel table proved perfectly suited to his need, in spite of how long he had gone on in rebellion against the living God.
It is fundamentally the same salvation that all sinners need. Most people have been restrained, in God’s mercy, from going to the same length in sin as Manasseh, but the seeds of his sins lie in their rebellious hearts also. In particular, they have been guilty of the same sin of unbelief – though not necessarily rejecting the authority of God to the same extent. They are rejecting His authority when they refuse to come to the gospel table and receive the blessings of salvation – when they refuse to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour of sinners.
The provision is so great that those who come to the gospel table are encouraged to keep on receiving from the blessings that are on it. “Eat, O friends;” they are encouraged, “drink, yea, drink abundantly” (Song 5:1), for the blessings laid on this table are limitless. Among these blessings are all the promises of God as revealed in Scripture. Paul assured the Philippians believers: “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19) – whatever their needs are, no matter how many, how complex or how longstanding they may be. And God makes the same promise to each of His children; they are not to hold back from receiving by faith the supply of all their needs, for it is Christ’s glorious riches – which He has purchased for them – that lie on the table so that His children may receive them freely.
Is the believer conscious of a special need for grace in the face of some particular difficulty, or some particular duty that he ought to carry out? Let him come to the Lord with that difficulty, knowing that He “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think” (Eph 3:20). However one might feel in the face of the difficulty or the duty, believers are to trust in the abundance of the divine provision, a provision that is perfectly suited to them in their exact need. Yet they are to bear in mind that one aspect of the abundance of blessing is that the Lord knows when it is best to bestow it on them. He knows when to give an answer to prayer, and that may be very different from the time when they would wish to experience help.
Are believers specially concerned to be delivered from particular sins, or to have the principle of sin within them subdued? Are they specially conscious of their need to grow in grace, feeling that their progress is limited, or even non-existent? Let such believers come to the gospel table by way of the throne of grace so that they “may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need”. Or is their concern focused on a lack of assurance? Let them come again to the gospel table and look once more to the Good Shepherd, who has provided, through His redeeming work, a full salvation for sinners. And even if you feel sure that you have never come to Christ before, He invites you to the gospel table to receive from Himself all that you can ever need, for time and for eternity. A full salvation for needy, guilty sinners is displayed on this table. Come now, for it is indeed an abundant provision.