In the Presence of my Enemies - Mid Week Lenten Worship
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
March 18, 2026
I often wonder
what any preacher or theologian could possibly say about Psalm 23 that hasn’t
already been said a million times. Those
six brief verses are so familiar to us, and they’ve been so analyzed and scrutinized
for so many thousands of years that I question whether I or any other pastor
could possibly offer you anything here that you haven’t already heard from
someone else or thought about yourself.
But of course
whether the preacher has faithfully done his work in the pulpit is not
determined by the preacher’s ability to always have a novel, unique, fresh take
on the Biblical word. Not every new idea
we dream up in our head is worthy of being spoken, let alone preached. And likewise, the preacher’s job isn’t merely
to entertain the congregation. If all
you desire is entertainment, then you’d be better served getting a ticket to
the movie theater or a subscription to Netflix.
No, the
preacher’s job is to point you to Christ, who is the Word of God. And oftentimes the best way to do that is to
point you to God’s Word in Holy Scripture. You see, the real risk with a text like Psalm 23, which is so familiar
to us, is not that we will misunderstand it. The real risk is that we stop engaging it. We stop listening to it. Like a song you’ve heard on the radio your
whole life, a psalm this well known can easily become background noise, or
words we read without even having to think, sort of like that feeling of going
on autopilot when we pray the Lord’s Prayer. Too often we don’t really pray it; we just reflexively and unconsciously
speed through the words and then wake back up again when we hit “amen.”
So today, it’s
enough that I encourage you to not race through Psalm 23. When you leave worship, please take your
bulletin with you and, on your own, read Psalm 23 slowly, one word, one line at
a time. Take a breath between lines and
let the simple words and vivid images fill your heart and your
imagination. Better yet, PRAY Psalm
23. Think of each clause of it as a
prayer petition. In a quiet place,
undisturbed by the TV or your cell phone, in silence and stillness, dwell with
these ancient yet timeless words of beauty, truth, and goodness. Offer them to God as your prayer. Receive them back from God as God’s
promise. If you will do that, then the
preacher will have succeeded in his work, at least this one time.
To help you in this process, I’ll share just
a few thoughts on 12 little words of this beloved psalm. That’s more than enough for us to chew on. They’re in the fifth verse: “You prepare a table before me in the presence
of my enemies.” Now consider a few
questions. Who is your enemy? What are you going to do about that
enemy? And most important of all: What
is God calling you to do about that enemy?
Please
don’t tell me you have no enemies. Someone
along your life’s journey has hurt you, slighted you, disappointed you, or offended
you. Or maybe your enemy did something
that put a loved one of yours at risk. It’s
possible your enemy is a group, like a country or people with whom our nation
is quarreling. Maybe you view parts of our government as an enemy, or maybe it’s a political party, corporations, or some
other group which has adversely impacted your life with an action or
inaction. Nobody wants to admit out loud
that they have an enemy. But everyone
does, even if we struggle to acknowledge it aloud or even to ourselves.
Take
heart; you aren’t the only one with enemies. The entire Book of Psalms depends on enemies. I’ll never forget the day in seminary when I learned
that. Our professor said, “No enemy, no
psalter!” It hit me so hard that in my
notes it’s in bold, red font. What he
meant is that the psalms are prayers, and those prayers all relate to an
enemy. Sometimes the psalmist explicitly
prays for delivery from an enemy. Sometimes the psalmist boldly asks God to destroy that
enemy. Sometimes the psalmist praises God,
because the enemy has indeed been vanquished. And sometimes the psalmist is praying for
God’s intervention against an enemy who isn’t a separate person but the enemy
inside all of us, in the sins we commit, the sins which overtake us, the sins
that have imprisoned us, or that taunting voice which says, “You’re too far
gone for God to forgive you.”
Let’s
return to our 12 words. “You prepare a
table before me in the presence of my enemies.” I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but my first really meaningful encounter
with Psalm 23 came through a comic book. As a little boy I loved comic books, especially ones set in WW2, where
the “good guys” and “bad guys” were so easily identified. One of those comic books from back in the
1970s cleverly and creatively set the words of Psalm 23 to an imagined story of
an American soldier in WW2 fighting behind enemy lines. And in one memorable illustration, the
soldier, who has been crawling through the jungle and evading the enemy troops,
comes upon a table filled with food, there in the presence of his enemies, and
quietly eats his fill so he has the strength and energy to evade, fight, and
eventually destroy those enemies who surround him.
The
fact that I can remember that comic book so clearly, half a century later,
tells you what an impact it made on me. And maybe deep down, that’s how we all view and understand these 12 words. “Lord, I am surrounded by enemies. Give me the sustenance I need so I can
outlast them, outflank them, and crush them.” Vanquish my enemy!
But
let’s move beyond comic books for our theology. And let’s move beyond the dehumanizing way the media, our politicians,
and this broken world of ours encourages us to view our perceived enemies. Instead, let’s think of these 12 words in the
context of the one who matters most, Jesus Christ. Because by any reasonable definition, he had enemies. One betrayed him and then
personally identified him to the authorities. As a result, Jesus was arrested, interrogated, tortured, and eventually executed
in the most publicly humiliating and painful way possible.
Yet
hours before that unfolded, and even though Jesus knew what Judas was going to
do, there was a meal. Jesus ate in the
presence of his enemy. In fact, he ate
with more than one enemy, because most of those men around the table
would abandon him and deny him just to save their own skins. And in the presence of those enemies, what
did Jesus do? We don’t have to
speculate. It’s all there in chapters 13
through 17 of John’s Gospel. Jesus
lovingly and humbly washed their feet. He gave them a promise that even though they’d abandon him, he
would never abandon them. He
taught them, encouraged them, and loved them. And then he prayed for them, that they might be one with God and with
one another. In a meal eaten in the
presence of his enemies, Jesus didn’t seek revenge, justice, or victory. He offered love, forgiveness, and
reconciliation.
In
just a few minutes, dear ones, we will be invited to a meal with Jesus. And at that meal, he will feed and fill us
with his own body in a banquet of forgiveness and mercy. As you receive him, think about him at
the Last Supper and pray for strength to follow his example. And think about your enemies– the real
people, past and present, as well as the things within you, like your sins, that
are enemies. In this meal, experience
Christ’s forgiveness, healing, and reconciliation. Let go of your enemies and cling instead to
Jesus. Place your trust in Jesus. Be freed in Jesus.
“You
prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” We pray that Jesus will be present at all our tables, and that they will be meals of reconciliation and peace. Amen.
© 2026 Scott E. Schul, all rights reserved
Lesson: Psalm 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He makes me lie down in green
pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
3 he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk through the darkest
valley,
I fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow
me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
my
whole life long.
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