A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES: DR. MENSAH OTABIL – SPECIAL REBROADCAST, SUNDAY SERVICE, AUGUST 8TH, 2021
DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA, GHANA): .
TOPIC: A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
TEXT: PSALMS 23:4-6
Today I have titled my Message: A TABLE IN THE PRESENCE OF MY ENEMIES.
Have you ever been in the Presence of Someone who hates you? An enemy, Somebody who hates you and has the power to do you harm?
Have you ever been in the presence of danger? How did you feel? Just imagine yourself being in the Presence of a very hungry wild lion in an open field, with a sense of helplessness that you may feel.
Today all of us all over the world feel like we are in the presence of an enemy. And that enemy has so much power to hurt us.
COVID-19 is a huge enemy that is facing all of us today. It has touched every continent of our world. It has touched almost every Nations of our world. It has touched Princes, it has touched Presidents, it has touched Prime Ministers, it has touched Pilots, it has touched Priests, it has touched Painters. And It is no respecter of Persons.
And it has confined all of us indoors.
So we are all stuck at home at this time; because there is an enemy roaming our streets and roaming our neighborhood, and roaming our world that is destroying us.
And What Can We Do In The Presence Of Such An Enemy?
How do we conduct ourselves? How do we live our lives?
And so, I will go to Psalms 23:4-6 (NKJV):
4 Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death, I will 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 runs over.
6 Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me All the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
… You Prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
This is David the Psalmist, seeing himself as a Sheep before God and affirming his Confidence and his Faith in God.
And he says that, in the presence of his enemies, God Prepares a table before him.
That word “PREPARE” is a very interesting word – It means to get something ready or to set something in order.
To get something ready or to set something in order, requires foresight and Planning.
So, when the Bible says that God prepares a table before me, it is an intentional work of God. It is something that takes time to do. It doesn’t just happen.
“You Prepare a table before me” – God is intentional about what He is doing for you in this Season.
The word “TABLE” in this Passage is also very interesting. Because the word ‘Table’ here is not describing a Piece of furniture.
The word ‘Table’ here is talking about a Meal that has been spread widely out or we can say a banquet.
So, God has gotten it ready; set in order a Meal that had been spread before you – A Banquet is what He is setting before us.
A BANQUET is defined as a formal and elaborate Meal that has been Prepared for many.
A Banquet is usually rich, it is diverse, it is beautiful, it is abundant.
And that is what David had in mind, when he said: “You have Prepared a table before me.”
The table doesn’t just appeared; neither do we just chance upon it; God Prepares the table!
In other words, whilst the enemy is Present – Not whilst the enemy is in Shadow. God is also at work.
So, it is not only the Presence of the enemy; it is also a work of God in the midst of what the enemy is doing – The enemy is Present, but God is also Present and God is at work.
And so David said: ‘You Prepare a table before me in the Presence of my enemies.’
In the days of David, a table that was set before sheep was a flat land. Because, you know Judah is a very Hilly Country. But sheep like flat land because they can graze for a long time.
So when the Bible says, a table set before the sheep; it is flat land – Unhindered, Unobstructed, no obstacle! Just flat land with spacious graze.
And that is the image David has in Mind, when he says: ‘You Prepare a table before me.’
May God Prepare a table before you, before your family, before your Nation, before this Continent, before the world.
Because in the midst of the enemies Present, there is a table being Prepared!
So, where did God Prepare this Table?
David says: He Prepares a table before me in the Presence of my enemies.
An Enemy is one who is against you; one who harasses you; one who oppresses you.
So, in the Presence of our Present enemy, which for the entire world is now unified; there is one enemy – A Virus; God is Preparing a table.
And He doesn’t Prepare the table after the enemy has been destroyed. He doesn’t move away the enemy and then Prepares a table.
But whilst the enemy is at work, whilst there is a threat, whilst there is Insecurity, whilst there is fear; God is Preparing a table before you.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
- It means that, in the midst of danger, God still Provides Nourishment for His People.
… In the midst of danger, God still Provides nourishment for His People.
But my assurance is that, in the midst of danger, God is able to Provide nourishment for His People.
And I Pray for you that: God will give you Nourishment wherever you are. He will sustain you, He will sustain your children, He will sustain your family.
In the Presence of your enemy, He Prepares a Table before us!
And it is very interesting when you get a sense of what David is talking about here. Because sometimes, in the Presence of your enemies, you may have a Meal to eat.
For example: If you are a Soldier, you are on a battlefield – You are hearing bullets flying all around you. You still have to eat.
But soldiers Meal are rationed – it is very small.
And not only that, you have to eat it hastily in the Presence of your enemies in the battlefield.
But what David is talking about here, is not like a Soldier eating rationed food hastily; but it is like a very confident, assured sheep; who looks around and only sees his Shepherd.
He does that, because the Shepherd is there: “I can take my time and enjoy my life. And I can eat in the Presence of my enemy.”
That is what God wants you to know! – You don’t have to be in a haste. You don’t have to put yourself under too much Pressure.
… He is able to give you Nourishment.
- And that Phrase also means that: When everything is against me, God Provides Opportunity for you.
“He Prepares a table before me, in the Presence of my enemies.”
That table is not only Nourishment; that table is also Opportunity.
In the midst of danger, there is opportunity. In the midst of crises, in the midst of confusion; there is something that God is doing in the midst of all that is happening, that will give us the opportunity to do better with our lives.
1 Corinthians 10:13 assures us that with every temptation, with every crises, God has a way of escape.
… God always Provides a way out for us!
And God will Provide a way out for you, He will Provide a way out for your family, God will Provide a way out for our Nation – There is a way out (Amen)!
Yes, we know Part of the way out is Social Distancing (that is why I am Preaching to an empty auditorium); and we need to clean our hands. And you will be suspicious of People coughing (even if they are Pastors) and you keep your distance away from them.
It is all Part of the opportunity – A way of escape from the danger. It is all Part of the opportunity. But that is not not all of it.
There is something more than just avoiding danger. There is something about seeing an opportunity, than the danger that is Presented.
So, I believed that in the Presence of this enemy, God is Preparing a table before us – Opportunities, Ideas. New things are going to happen.
Obviously, we know our world is not going to be the same again after this. There is going to be an explosion of Science and Technology.
Because we have been threatened so much. Mankind is going to explode with New Inventions and New ideas. And things are going to be dramatically better than they were before.
That is the Table that God is Preparing for us in the Presence of our enemies.
And you have to Pick your Portion of that!
Don’t go through this and suffer all these, and go on and live your life as it was. There is a table being Prepared before you. And you must banquet at that table of the Lord!
And I believed this Message is for us (Ghanaians and Nigerians).
For the first time, our enemy is not a Witch, is not a Wizard, it is not an old lady sitting in the Village – It is a Virus that has to be defeated with Calculated Action.
And I Pray that we keep that as our focus – That our enemy is bigger than that old woman in the Village.
As a matter of fact; your enemy is greater than your Political opponent; your enemy is greater than your Cousin or your Boss at the office.
There are greater issues that are big enemies and we must confront all those enemies.
In the midst of all of these, I believed that God wants us to see the table that He has Prepared before us in the Presence of our enemies.
Sometimes in a crisis like this, you know,, we only see the enemy. We don’t always see the opportunities before us.
It is amazing that, though many are dying, and many are being infected; many are also recovering.
And what surprises me in the Stories of recoveries all over the world, in a nutshell is that, more People are recovering than are dying.
Of course, for any one Person that dies,we must be sad; for any one human being to be lost.
But we must not let the sadness cripple our Joy. As there are those who are being Redeemed, Saved and Recovering.
So, whilst we are talking about the enemy and his danger; we must also look at the table that is being Prepared before us, in the Presence of our enemies.
It is not all doom and gloom; it is not all about destruction – In the midst of all the doom, in the midst of the gloom, God’s light is still Shining. The presence of God is still with us! right before this horrific enemy that we are all dealing with.
So, today I ask you: Do you see the table that God is Preparing before you in the Presence of your enemies?
Do you see the big opportunity that God is opening before you?
There are going to be New levels of Business; New Businesses. There are going to be New Things to be done. These are the enemies we must be ready to deal with.
And in the midst of this crises, we are going to find Opportunities to resolve some of these Problems.
And there is a courage to solve them – It is called: “I will Prepare a table before you in the Presence of your enemies.”
I was listening to a News item, and somebody was saying that, based on the New Protocols we are developing, the hygiene and so on.
They will not be surprised if we are able to eliminate the common flu and cold.
… Because they are all transmitted through the same Process.
So, in the Presence of our enemies, God is Preparing a table before us.
Can you see the Opportunities He is giving us as Humanity? – To improve our lives, to make our lives better? Yes, it took an enemy to rally us. And yet, it may take an enemy to deliver us.
You know, when this times come, you find you are coughing more than before. You don’t know whether it is from your Mind or whatever.
But, when an enemy is coming against you, you have to discover New Strength.
I remembered when I was a little bit (as it happens to many Ghanian boys, or Probably in Africa) we go hunting down mangoes when it was Mango Season.
And there was a gentleman in our neighborhood who had a house with walls.
Most of the houses didn’t have walls. But he was rich, so he had a walk. And he had a Mango tree. And his Mangoes were always ripe, and he did not Pluck them.
And we thought it was our responsibility to relieve him of the burden of having ripe Mangoes unplucked.
So we donated our services to his house to go and take his Mangoes.
And so, we were in his house, when he had gone to work. We were kids Plucking the Mangoes.
And all of a sudden, there was a big dog barking. And the dog started barking and started running towards us.
And we were kids – Probably 8 to 9 Years old.
People were calling their Mama’s and their Papa’s.
And I remembered so well, because I was up on the tree.i.came down and started running. But the house was walled. Not with cement walls, but with hedges.
And for some reason that I can’t explain up till now, I jumped those hedges. And one moment, there was a dog barking behind me. Next moment, a table was Prepared in the Presence of my enemies. I just jumped the hedges.
Now, what happened? Did I know I could jump that High?
… By the way, I haven’t jumped that High since then.
But did I know I could?
No! – What made me jump was danger!
The Presence of my enemy made me dig deep inside myself to discovered Strength I never thought I had.
*This moment, God will help you to discover Strength you never thought you have; Abilities you never thought you have; Opportunities that you have never seen.
As for us Ghanaians/Nigerians; we would begin to control our Destiny in a way we have never done before.
So, the impression you get from the 23rd Psalm is that: The enemies in the Valley of the Shadow of Death are necessary.
They are important!
God uses their Presence to Prepare a Banquet before you.
What is Life without enemies? What is Life without danger? What is Life without feeling threatened?
Because it is in those moments that you marshal your Strength to survive and to win.
… And I believe, this is one of such moments.
I believe for the Countries and the Nations of the so-called Third World; this is our Greatest Moment because we are about to take a leap over walls; in this Valley of the Shadow of Death, before these enemies that God is preparing a table before us, in the Presence of our enemies.
There are certain Opportunities that are only seen in a time of danger!
And I Pray that God will open your eyes to those Opportunities – Amen! That God would let you see Opportunities and not doom – Amen.
Yes, you feel your life is under threat; but your future is also opening right before your eyes.
Yes, you feel like: Maybe you may die. But Life is starring you right in front of your face.
And I Pray for you that Life will be your Portion – Amen.
And today, maximum Protection of Christ be ours. May He Preserve us. May He set us apart from choas and destruction. May His Blood be a mark on your forehead, as you go through the darkness of our time – Amen.
*May the enemy see the Blood of Jesus upon you and flee away from you – Amen! May Life become your Portion – Amen.
And the Psalmist goes on and concludes that in that same Presence of your enemy, not only does God Prepare a table before you; but He Anoints our head with Oil.
… That is a Statement of Favour.
That He will favour you. He will treat you well.
And May God favour you! May He Anoint your head with Oil. May God set you apart for outstanding Miracles: For Miracles of Deliverance, for Miracles of Breakthroughs. For favour on every side – Amen.
And then He says; “My cup will run over” – That speaks of Increase and Abundance.
Overflow! Isn’t it amazing that in the Presence of the enemy he is having an overflow? In the Presence of the enemy he is having Favour?
May that be your Portion also – That in the Presence of your enemy you will have an overflow – Amen. In the Presence of the enemy, you will have Favour – Amen.
And he concludes by saying: Truly, truly. “Surely, Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my Life.”
… Not enemies following me all the days of my life.
Yes, we feel like COVID-19 is following us – But look about you, look around you, look behind you; that is not what is following you – It is Goodness and Mercy follow me!
May Goodness and Mercy rest upon your household; May Goodness and Mercy rest upon your family; May Goodness and Mercy rest upon your children; May Goodness and Mercy rest upon your Business – Amen.
May Goodness and Mercy follow you all the days of your life – Amen!
And the Psalmist concludes: Because of all of that, I commit to Dwell in the house of the Lord for ever!
Don’t seek the Lord only to defeat your enemy and forget about Him.
After the Lord has Provided for you in the Presence of the enemy; you must seek to dwell in the house of the Lord for ever – Amen!
God Bless You!
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