If Satan can get you and me to doubt God then we will always doubt life! If he can get us to think negative about God then we will always think negative about life. Why is this fact so true – because if he can get you to go negative and doubting then Satan can do almost anything with you and me!
Webster’s Dictionary describes “victory” this way: “Supremacy and success over struggle.”
Listen to me very carefully – to overcome is one of the greatest characteristics in a Christian’s life. Jesus spent much of his ministry instructing his disciples how to overcome sin, self and Satan. Those are the big 3 that must be constantly dealt with in life!
If we can get these 3 principles applied to our daily lives – we will see God differently and experience grace more dynamically!
READ VERSE 5, 6
Let’s Look at Our Three Fold Victory:
1. A Prepared Table of Victory.
a. The Table of Refreshment.
“You prepare a table”
Notice how we’ve come from protected pastures to a prepared plate! There’s something about sitting at a table that has every kind of food. It is so comforting and satisfying no matter what’s going on in life!
Don’t we all have our memories of a special thanksgiving or Christmas dinner that stands out in our lives? O how our lives need seasons of refreshments!
b. The Table For Royalty.
“Before me”
Notice how personal it is for David! Who is David anyway? He’s not just a king over Israel, but he’s also property of the King with a kingly inheritance!
Not just any one has prepared this table! Do you know what David is really saying – God has put on an apron for you!
Ephesians 1:20 “God has raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 2:6, 7 “And raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. That He might show His exceeding riches of His grace in kindness towards us…”
Talk about the ultimate seating! Seated with the King! The way God sees you now is how He sees you for eternity! No other religion can boast of that fact!
c. The Table of Rebuke.
“In the presence of my enemies”
This is a picture of high drama and suspense when sheep are eating at the tableland that has been provided by the shepherd! Sheep are at their highest risk eating…it is the most stressful time for the shepherd! Sheep are easy prey grazing in a pasture. But a gee-gee sheep doesn’t’ know that…they continue to eat even with wolves; lions and bears are ready for their dinner!
Phillip Keller writes of his experience of shepherding… “This reminds me of my encounter with cougars. On several occasions these cunning creatures came in among sheep, creating great havoc in the flock. Some were killed, their blood drained and livers eaten. Others were torn open and badly clawed. In these cases the great cats seemed to chase and play with them in their panic like a house cat would chase a mouse. Some had huge patches of wool torn from it. In their frightened stampede, some had fallen and broken bones or rushed over rough ground injuring legs and bodies. The amazing thing is that in every such attack, I never saw the cougar.”
We’re in the same situation if we don’t remain at the table of victory! Never say, “May I be excused” from God’s prepared table of victory!
God has given us a table in the presence of our adversary to remind us that we are to rebuke every foul work of the enemy! And seated at that table with us is our Advocate. The demonic adversary is no match for our dynamic Advocate!
2. A Perpetual Touch of Victory.
“You anoint my head with oil”
2 major hazards to sheep at certain times of the year:
• “Fly-time”.
David knew that in certain times of the year just before the hottest season, swarms of insects would emerge to cause serious trouble for sheep. To name a few insects that cause serious damage to the health of sheep are: warble flies, bot flies, heel flies, nose flies, deer flies, and black flies.
These flies lay eggs around the moist part of the nose of sheep and in the deepest cavity of the nose. This causes intense itching over time and it gets so bad that sheep will bang their head against rocks to try to stop the itch. The saddest part of this is, if the larvae hatch in the cavity of the nose, this will cause permanent blindness and sheep will literally go insane.
At the beginning of fly season, or “fly-time”, a shepherd will prepare a homemade remedy composed of olive oil, sulfur, spices and tar, make it into a heavy paste and then gently rubs that paste on each one of his sheep. When this happens there is an incredible transformation that takes place with infected sheep!
• “Scab-time”.
This is a highly contagious disease among sheep all over the world - that are caused by microscopic parasites that infect the wounds only on head. The disease spreads rapidly between infected sheep and non-infected sheep while in the pastures as they rub their little heads together.
So a highly trained and experienced shepherd applies the same ointment to the infected wounds quickly and it will kill all parasites on contact!
You remember the time when Jesus in Mark 3 is healing and casting out demons and everyone is marveled at His power! But there was one who spoiled the party and accused Jesus of casting out the demon by the power of “Beelzebub”.
Who is this? Beelzebub was a Philistine god “Baal-zebul” who was lord of the flies or dung. Then Jesus turns this around and compares Satan to the god of flies!
Catch this – David says “You anoint my head with oil” because he knew that this was the only way to protect himself from deadly thoughts and demonic oppression! 3000 years later it’s still the only way to be free from the infectious evil and the contagious misery in this world.
At the moment a person is born again, that person experiences a personal touched of the Spirit of God – the moment a person is delivered from the old life, that person experiences the purging touch of the Spirit of God! The moment a person is a new creature in Christ, that person experiences the perpetual touch of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 5:18 “Do not be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead let the Holy Spirit fill you and control you.” NLT
1 John 2:20, 27 “But you have an anointing from the Holy One.
But the anointing, which you have received from Him abides in you.”
A Christian has an anointing which is the presence and power of God on display for the entire world to witness!
Notice where the shepherd anoints the sheep - on the head -because the greatest damage is done to the brain of a sheep. And that’s why the daily anointing of God gracious Spirit upon the mind produces personality traits as, joy, contentment, patience and gentleness and love!
Ephesians 6:17, 18 “And take the helmet of salvation and sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always…in the Spirit.”
LifePoint: Satan’s greatest attack is unleashed over our thinking, because he doesn’t want us to “put on the mind of Christ”.
We have to daily purge our minds of deadly thoughts and diseased thinking because that’s how we can have goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives!
That’s why David said, “My cup runs over” – there is no end to the blessing of God, the anointing of God, the providing of God, the protecting of God and the gracing of God!
3. A Paradise Treasured In Victory.
“I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever”
Do you realize that God always saves the best for last! Satan does just the opposite – he gives the best first and the worst last!
Proverbs 20:17 “Bread gained by deceit is sweet to a man, But afterward his mouth will be filled with gravel.”
Beware! Satan is a master counterfeiter and false advertiser! Remember the commercial with a group of guys in the boat fishing all day long? By the end of the day one man is holding up a bottle of beer and says to his buddies, “It doesn’t get any better than this!” You know he’s right – it only gets worse!
Satan doesn’t show the carnage in the streets, the home destroyed by addiction and the liver poisoned with toxins! Folks, Satan doesn’t have any happy old people because at the end of atheism is misery for eternity! He always gives the best first and worst last!
Dr. Jess Moody once wrote with biting sarcasm, “What do aged atheists have to talk about, as they sit around waiting to die? Do they discuss the legacy of morality, decency, integrity, and spiritual sensitivity they have given to their children? Or the good atheism has done the world: the hospitals, orphanages, and the elevation of women…?…And when the sun is sinking low, and when the conversation for the wheelchair atheist begins to lull, they can joyously contemplate their future. There is so much for an aged atheist to look forward to.”
The fool says in his heart, there is now God! Don’t be deceived! There is a real heaven for the redeemed and a real hell for the rejected!
Notice that David started out this Psalm with the joyous saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd” and now closes this song with the jubilant statement, “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!”
Psalm 27:4 “One thing I desire of the Lord, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.”
Dennis the Mennis was caught causing trouble around the house and his mother had all she could take from him and said to him, “Dennis the way you’re behaving, how do you expect to get into heaven.” To that Dennis said, “Well, I’ll just keep slamming the door until God says, ‘For goodness sakes come in or stay out!’ Then I’ll just walk right in!”
Billy Graham tells of an experience when he was traveling in the Middle East with President Reagan.
They arrived on Air Force One in style and were greeted by the Israeli Prime minister waiting at the edge of the red carpet at the bottom of the stairs. With all the fan fare and 100’s of cameras flashing Billy Graham gets pushed way back behind the President and then Reagan turns and shouts out, “He’s with me”!
The next day they fly to Jordan and are guests of King Husain for dinner in the Royal Palace. Glitter is everywhere and there’s a waiter for each guest in the room. The place settings are all made of gold, the glasses are made from the finest crystal and the 3 chandeliers hanging over the dinning room table are made from chipped diamonds – they looked as big as football fields hanging with such a brilliant sparkle.
That night each are personally escorted to their rooms for the night – not just any rooms but royal rooms from a story book palace we can only read about. The king says to the Preacher, “You will not have to pay for anything while you are my guest in my palace.” Later that night Billy is getting hungry and looks at the menu and for a moment he thought to himself, “There’s no way I can afford this.” But then he remembers, “Wait, I’m a guest of the king!”
Later on he calls Ruth all the way in North Carolina and talks to her for over an hour! He explains the palace, the diamonds, and the gold and says to Ruth, “Do you think this is what heavens like?” Ruth responds, “Billy, it’s going to even better!”
Folks, when a child of God stands in front of the gates of heaven Jesus will say to Justice, “He’s with me!”
SONG: What a day that will be
When my Jesus I shall see
And I look upon His face
The One who saved me by His grace
When He takes me by the hand
And leads me through the Promised Land
What a day, glorious day that will be!
