Safe in His Armsنموونە

Eating with the Enemy

When we trust God as our defender, even in the midst of our enemies, we can find rest and peace.

In Psalm 23:5, David says, “God has prepared a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” Don’t get me wrong, I love to eat, but I prefer to be surrounded by people I trust, not in the company of my enemies. 

Middle Eastern hospitality is of high value and importance. When someone enters the host’s house, the needs of the guest always supersede the needs of the host until the visit is over. David is picturing God as his host, who will meet his needs and protect and defend him in the midst of his enemies. 

Since we know David was running from Saul at the time of Psalm 23, it could be safe to assume David was speaking of Saul being his enemy. Over and over God protected David from being killed by the hands of Saul. However, David never convinced Saul that he was not the man Saul believed him to be. Saul thought David wanted to harm him and steal the throne, when in reality, Saul was trying to harm David, and it was God that took the throne away from Saul. 

There will be times when we will be the victims of people's gossip, be falsely accused, or maybe someone will assume wrongly about who we are. We all have enemies in some way or another. I find a lot of comfort in knowing Jesus had a lot of enemies as well. His enemies refused to accept the truth of who He was and continually questioned His intentions and motives. Nonetheless, Jesus never tried to defend His actions to anyone who refused to get to know Him. 

The key to Psalm 23:5: God, not ourselves, will defend us against the hurtful lies intended to destroy our testimony, self-worth, and reputation as a child of God. 

Not only is God a good Shepherd, but like David, He is also a great warrior. We can be confident of this one thing: God will take His place as our defender and safeguard. In due time, He will expose the lies aimed to destroy us or our relationships. Just because we can’t see God preparing a table before our enemy doesn’t mean God isn’t behind the scenes prepping the courses. There is nothing sweeter than to wait and allow God to take anything formed against us and turn it around to become our greatest victory. He does a much better job at making things right than we do! 

God is the perfect Host who satisfies His children with His presence and cares for our every need. One of the names of God is Jehovah-Nissi, which means God is my banner. Whenever we feel we are surrounded by people who would find more joy in our mistakes than in our victories, we can call upon the name of God and ask Him to fight for us.