Anointed and Overflowing

Anointed & Overflowing

Dear friend, allow me to refresh you on the context of these words of David…

Here is David, in the presence of his enemies, yet he’s not running from, fighting with, or hiding from them. No, he’s dining with his beloved God and Host.

It now gets even better. David says, ‘You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.’

I can picture it in my mind, just as I’m sure David imagined it… There he is with his enemies all around him. He enters God’s presence and before him is a huge table laid out. Then, God the Host approaches him with anointing oil in His hand. A beautiful, refreshing fragrance wafts through the air as the Lord approaches him. Then God pours this oil onto David’s head. What beauty! What an honour!

Dear friend, what David was implying by this was that he himself was God’s special guest. It was customary for hosts to anoint their special, honoured guest for whom the banquet was for. In this case, this was David.

This oil was not just a symbol of honour, but also of abundance - lavish abundance was poured out over David! And what’s more, this oil was a symbol of David’s joy and gladness. In Isaiah 61:3, oil is associated with gladness.

What does this show us?It is in God’s presence that we are truly treasured and honoured; it is there that we receive lavish abundance; and that’s where we get to experience inexpressible joy!

It was from this place of God’s presence that David felt his cup was overflowing.David was so blessed by God’s gracious abundance that his cup of joy brimmed and spilled over!

In God’s presence, David found the refreshing he needed, especially in the presence of his enemies. God gave him strength to face the challenges around and ahead of him.

And all David had to do was to be with God.

When we read the psalms, it’s important to take note of the verbs used and who does the action.

‘YOU anoint my head with oil; MY cup overflows.’

Do you see who does the action here? It isn’t David… It is God. God is the one who does the anointing, and David simply received from the Lord. It was as a result of that receiving that David’s cup overflowed!

What a beautiful reminder for us too. God wants to give to us, to pour out His anointing over us, to refresh us, and to fill our cup to overflowing. All we have to do is to receive.

As we acknowledge God day to day, spending time in His presence, may we recognise just how special we are to Him - just as David did. May we know deep down that we too are His special and honoured guest, and that when we spend time with Him, He will surely refresh us to overflowing!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, You are the Good Shepherd.

There is nowhere else that I can find joy and gladness but in You. Thank You for Your gracious abundance which You pour into my life. I pray that as I spend time with You today, that I would know how precious I am to You and that I would experience immense gladness and joy.

In Jesus’ name, amen.