Psalm 23: Part II

We have been talking about using the Power Spheres Teaching System as a means and aid to interpret Psalm 23. Let us review our last lesson. Psalm 23 can be divided into sections that correspond with Orbits 7, 8, and 9. (please see chart in past lesson.) Orbits 7,8, and 9 orbit about the Sphere of Faith. The Sphere of Faith is a figure for being filled with the Spirit. Those filled with the Spirit are believers focused on Christ Jesus as Lord. These are those who keep short accounts when it comes to sin through action upon 1 Jn. 1:9. It is the Sphere of Faith resident who declares, "I shall not want." He is not the type that goes about "speaking positive words," "writing his own ticket," or giving money to his favorite personality in order to reap his wants and desires.

Orbit 7

As a born-again, spirit filled believer, he begins his doctrinal instruction in the quiet waters of Orbit 7. Here he feeds upon the green pastures of God's Word. When he grows strong enough upon God's Word, the time comes for testing and he enters Orbit 8.

Orbit 8

Orbit 8 deals with our wilderness training program. It is a program designed by God with you and I specifically in mind. God made us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. And in the wilderness, our strengths will be further bolstered and our weaknesses will be challenged. And through this challenge, the opportunity arises to turn weakness to strength. But despite our greatest strengths, God's power is required to survive. Here, we will have to cast our cares and burdens upon Him.

The survivors of the wilderness test will continue their walk with Christ upon the Path of Righteousness, the road to glory. For it will lead the believer out of the wilderness and into the Promised Land, represented by Orbit 9. And it is Orbit 9 we shall now study in conjunction with Psalms 23, verses 5-6.

Orbit 9

We continue with Verse 5:

• (5a)Thou dost prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
• (5b)Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
• (5c)My cup overflows.
  

Verse 5a shows once again what God does through grace in behalf of the faithful. The faithful have shown their trust and confidence in God by keeping focused on Christ as He led them through the wilderness. Such loyalty proves one's spiritual mettle. His faith is geniune and pleases God, Heb. 11:6. Such geniuness of faith shall be rewarded-not on the basis of works, mind you, but grace. For does not Christ say to His servants,

When you do all the things which are commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done.'

God is pleased to bless His children. Those who come forth from the fires of testing are knighted--their heads are anointed with oil. It is these spiritual knights that have developed the capacity of soul to handle the Glory Blessings. These are the blessings above and beyond all we could ask or think. These are the hundredfold return. One could liken the Glory Blessings unto the enormous booty taken in by Jehoshaphat and the Israelites when God struck down their enemies. The spoil was so great that it took 3 days to retrieve it all. In fact, the Psalmist David describes the Glory Blessings this way: My cup overflows

Our battles are always God's battles. We live in Satan's cosmic system and these battles will come. We are no match for him in the strength of the flesh. But God is Almighty. He never loses. The victories are always His. We merely are the recipients. And here in verse 5, we see this is so once again. It is God who prepares our victory banquet. And mind you, this banquet is not the wedding feast in heaven, but a feast right here in the face of Satan, himself. We live in his domain, his world or cosmos. He is the kosmokrator--lord of the kosmos. We live in his world, but we as spiritual believers are not of it (Jn. 17:11,14), as are the carnal believers and the non-believers. When we are spiritually knighted and awarded the Glory Blessings, no one is infuriated more than Satan. For we have glorified the God of heaven in his domain and territory.

Verses 6a and 6b

• (6a)Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
• (6b)And [at my death] I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
  

The Glory Blessings in time

In verse 6a, we see David now reflecting upon his youth, his training, and his many tests and trials. He realizes how important his personal wilderness testing was in terms of building his spiritual character. And from his ordeals he became stronger and more intimate with his God. Yes, he had failed God before and would do so again. But he learned the absolute necessary of confession of sin, Ps. 32: 1-5. He knew that intimacy with God could not be restored any other way than 1 Jn. 1:9. And having learned and executed God's Word time after time, his relationship with God the Father grew ever more intimate. This resulted to a point where David was pursued by God's goodness and lovingkindness.

The Glory Blessings in Eternity

In verse 6b, David is looking beyond time to eternity. Like all men, physical death will come to David. But there will be no sting to it, no finality, no victory over the soul. For death for him and all believers is a passage into eternal bliss and paradise. Death is a beginning of all that the believer could ever want and hope. Death opens the door to a place where there is no more tears, sorrow, pain, or sickness and death is banished forever.

And for David, he will receive the bulk of the Glory Blessings. Every moment, hour, and day he spent within the Sphere of Faith and upon the Spiritual lifeline on the Path of Righteousness, he will be fully rewarded. His time spent in the Sphere of Faith will determine his position in God's court and will determine his eternal rule and wealth. And in the City of God, David shall reign with Christ forever and ever.

It is hoped you are beginning to grasp the purpose of The Power Spheres Teaching System. Its purpose is to show the means to gain spiritual maturity and point out the dangers of false doctrines along the way which would distract and detour the believer from fulfilling God purpose for him. Spiritual maturity is the means we glorify God and fulfill our purpose. If we can keep this before us it will help guide us into the Promised Land.

Back to Ps. 23, Part I