“The Feast in the Battlefield”

By: Rachel Strange

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

At the end of Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat, as the sun goes down, the 24 hours of rest ends, the final sabbath meal is eaten, and Psalm 23 is read aloud as a prayer.  It’s sort of like the closing ceremony of that time of rest. We’ve rested. God is providing. Our table is set. Our cup overflows.

It sounds nice, but if we are our honest, in our always going, never stopping, always connected to a smartphone culture, we may not properly understand how incredibly beautiful and different a sabbath is. We tend to think of it as a day off. We fill it with Netflix or shopping or mindless scrolling.

I’ll let you do the research on your own, but I think the way I can best explain what the sabbath actually is as a radical stopping in order to enable us to rest in the goodness of God. Jewish people today turn off their electronics. They try not to walk too far. They eat three meals together. They thank God for what they have and trust that His provision is enough. Ancient Jewish warriors even refused to do anything but defensive fighting on the sabbath. They would defend themselves.

But they had faith enough to know God could still show up on Sunday if they took a break on Saturday.

With that in mind, imagine this from a Christ-centered perspective. You probably, like me, have some battles you are currently fighting. But now we know, “We wrestle not with flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6:12). So our truest enemies aren’t men and women. The devil’s attacks on us might sometimes look like things people do but truthfully the Accuser is the author of anxiety, depression, sickness, lack and strife.

So what if one day a week, no matter what, you trusted God enough to fight for you? And imagine then, on that day, pulling out Psalm 23 and reading of a Shepherd Who gives us all we need, Who promises that in Him, we do not lack. One who sets a table, a feast in the presence of our enemies, and then anoints us to the point of overflowing.

The Message Translation says it like this: “You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.” (Psalm 23:5)

One of my current favorite worship songs says it like this: “You set a table in the middle of my war. You know the outcome from the start.”  Lately I have been completely changed by the idea that the Sabbath, rather than just a day to chill, is a day where we exercise faith that God knows the outcome. That He is more than enough.

That He can do more in one day, where I’m resting in Him, than I can do in six.

Which doesn’t mean there isn’t a time for exercising our faith and fighting the good fight. But what if that rest will actually enable us to fight better? What if in a world of constant working and striving and noise, saying “I’m going to rest this one day” actually is an act of faith. Faith that He will provide what you need, even if you don’t work so many hours. Faith that the world won’t crumble if you don’t answer those emails. Faith that He knew what He was doing when He rested on the seventh day.

I don’t know what spiritual battles you’re facing. I want to encourage you to keep standing. Keep interceding in prayer and declaring in faith that God will do it. But I also want to encourage you to take one day and stop gathering manna, metaphorically speaking (Exodus 16). Stop fighting offensively, and let God prepare a feast for you, refresh you, and restore you. He’s more than enough, after all.

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