Daily Manna · Day 240 · August 28
A Table in the Presence of Enemies
“Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”
The pressure has not lifted in months, and you have begun to notice that you are waiting for it to.
So take the psalm's own furniture and pray it back, because this verse is a set table and it is set at the wrong time.
Lord, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I would rather you cleared the room first. The person who dislikes me still has their job. The date on the letter has not moved. And you have not asked me to wait until they have gone; you set the food down while they are still watching.
You anoint my head with oil, which is what a host did for a guest at the door, the ordinary courtesy of being welcomed rather than merely tolerated. I have been living as though I were tolerated.
My cup runneth over. Not filled to a sensible level. Over the rim and onto the table, in front of people who would like to watch me break.
So teach me to eat. I have been postponing the meal, the hour with my children, the sleep, until the situation resolves, as though receiving anything from you before then would be premature.
And bring me back to where this started, because the pressure will very likely still be here tomorrow. The enemies never leave this psalm. They are at the edge of the picture in verse five, and they are still somewhere behind me in verse six, with goodness and mercy following me all the days of my life. You did not promise the room would empty. You promised the table. Amen.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year two reading for day 240 is Crying for Milk (1 Peter 2:2).