Sermon Outlines

By Frederick F. Schwindt, Evangelist

ENTERTAINMENT, ENJOYMENT, ENRICHMENT

1. We all love the picture of happiness and contentment:
   1. We love to read the courtship of Isaac and Jacob - Gen. 24:45-67; 29:9-35
   2. We underscore such verses as, "Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest" - Matt. 1:28-30; "Let not your heart be troubled" - John 14:1-3; "Lo everyone that thirsteth" - John 7:37-38
2. Our opening text portrays the drama of human enjoyment in three acts:
   1. Entertainment - "Thou preparest before me a table"
   2. Enjoyment - "Thou anointest my head with oil"
   3. Enrichment - "My cup runneth over"

1. Entertainment: "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies"
   1. What a picture of peace it makes, this supper in the darkening world, when the sheep feed richly on the garden green
   2. The analogy holds true in the experience of the child of God - the chief Shepherd of our soul reserves a banquet for the soul in our later days; Examples: Jacob experienced the blessing of plenty in his later days in the house of Pharaoh and Joseph - Gen. 47:12; 50:21; the prodigal enjoyed the feast his father prepared for him - Luke 15:23-32
   3. The idea of fellowship is prominent in the Lord's Supper - 1 Cor. 11:22-28; Luke 22:15-26; Matt. 26:26-30; 1 Cor. 10:15-18
   4. But there is even a deeper meaning to the entertainment of the banquet of the Lord - in the East, if a chief entertains you at a meal, if you eat his salt, that means that you are under his protection. So it is with us when the Lord entertains us; He assures us of His protection
2. The enemies - "In the presence of mine enemies"
   1. It is the one note that senses the ever present danger; enemies - those who wish you ill, seek your hurt
   2. Jesus, the good Shepherd had plenty of them - "They are more than the hairs of mine head; therefore, mine heart faileth me" - Ps. 40:12
   3. The Psalmist knew what he meant - his enemies plagued him all the days of his life - beginning with Saul, the fallen kind of Israel
   4. Said Jesus, "Ye shall be hated of all men for my name sake" - Matt. 10:32
   5. But the real enemy is death, "the last enemy which Christ will destroy is death" - 1 Cor. 15:26; John speaks of this enemy as "a pale horse" - Rev. 6:7-8
   6. Let us note the last two of the three special blessings
3. Enjoyment - "Thou anointest my head with oil"
   1. The figure is enchanting because in the East the shepherd would stand at the door of the sheepfold with an horn of oil and cedar tar and he would watch for the bruises on the sheep and before they got into the fold, he would anoint the wounds; Examples: the story of the good Samaritan - Luke 10:33-35; the prophecy of the ministry of Jesus - Is. 61:1; Acts 10:38; Matt. 11:5-8
   2. The writers personal experience in his ministry, when mine adversaries thought that they had silenced me for sure; when the outlook seemed hopeless for me; my Jesus, prepared a feast for my soul and for an enlarged ministry - praise His Holy Name
4. Enrichment - "My cup runneth over"
   1. When seated at His table, He puts a cup into my hand - the cup of blessing, the cup of salvation; and it is not merely full, but it is full to the overflowing
   2. Said Jesus, "I have come that ye might have life, and that you might have it more abundantly" - John 10:10; 5:40
   3. Our cup of natural blessings - is found in the beauty of creation - Ps. 19:1-6 and in the abundance of creation
   4. Our cup of the spiritual blessings:
      1. the cup of the pardon of sin - Isa. 55:7;
      2. the cup of sanctification - 1 Thess. 5:23;
      3. finally the measureless provision of spiritual endowments