Let us turn to God's Word once
again, and turning to the 23rd Psalm, Psalm 23, and verse 5, Thou preparest a
table before me in the presence of mine enemies, Thou anointest
my head with oil, my cup runneth over. We've been considering
something of the content of this psalm, I suppose, probably the
most well-known portion of God's words, Psalm 23. And last time we were considering
what He said at the beginning of this fifth verse, Thou preparest
a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. It speaks to us, does it not,
of that divine provision that God has made, which we understand
in terms of the great feast of the Gospel. And after preaching
last Lord's Day evening, subsequently in conversation, some reference
that was made to words that we have in another of the Psalms
in Psalm 78 verses 18 and 19 concerning the Lord's dealings
with the children of Israel when he brought them out of the bondage
which was Egypt, brought them into the wilderness ultimately
of course brought them into the possession of the promised land
but there in the psalm in verses 18 and 19 we see them in their
rebellious state in the wilderness and we're told how they tempted
God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they
spake against God. They said, can God furnish a
table in the wilderness? And as I say, reference was made
in conversation to that particular question there in verse 19. Can
God furnish a table in the wilderness? The word was spoken in the mocking
of God, really. That's the context there, and
yet the point was also made concerning how we might understand it experimentally. Can God furnish a table in the
wilderness of the sinful hearts of his people? The amazing thing
is, of course, that when we look to ourselves, we see nothing
but a sad wilderness. a barren place and yet God in
his mercy does furnish a table even in those hearts of ours
which are sunk in wickedness and in sin such is the gracious
provision that God makes in the gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ
is that one who is pleased to eat with sinners. And so the Pharisees scoffed
at him, this man receiveth sinners, they said, and eateth with them. Yet such is the grace of God
that he does indeed come and minister to us. Thou preparest
a table before me, in the presence of mine enemy. Thou anointest
my head with oil. And so tonight I want us to move
on to consider this clause in the middle of verse 5 in Psalm
23. Thou anointest my head with oil,
the divine anointing, the divine anointing. And first of all to
consider how Christians, Christian believers are those who are all
of them anointed. What was true of David, David
the man after God's own heart, David a true child of God in
spite of all that we read of his sinful ways, his disobedient
ways, Yet what was true of David is true of all those who are
the Lord's children. Thou anointest my head with oil. Now what are we to understand
by the anointing? Well, as we've already intimated,
The psalm belongs to David. It is entitled the Psalm of David. And David is the man who was
anointed, anointed by the prophet Samuel, anointed to be the king
in Israel. But what do we read concerning
his experience when the prophet comes in the 16th chapter of
the first book of Samuel? Do you remember how all of Jesse's
sons are brought before the prophets? But David is not present. He's caring for the sheep. David's
overlooked. But it is none of his brothers. And the prophets inquire, here
are all thy children. And Jesse says that the youngest
is the one who is keeping the sheep, and he must be brought.
Send and fetch him. We will not sit down till he
come hither, says the prophet. And then we're told how he is
brought, and the Lord says to Samuel, arise, anoint him, for
this is he. Then Samuel took the horn of
oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren, and the Spirit
of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. Samuel takes
the horn of oil and anoints him, and from that day forward the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David. The anointing is associated
with the Spirit. The anointing is, in fact, the
Holy Spirit himself. Thou anointest my head with oil.
It's the ministry of God, the third person in the blessed Trinity,
God, the Holy Ghost. And observe, from whom the Spirit
comes. We read it there in that chapter
in the first epistle general of John chapter 2 and verse 20. We read of an unction from the
Holy One. An unction from the Holy One. From whence doth the Spirit come? He comes from God. Again, Paul
in 2 Corinthians 1 says, He which hath anointed us is God. All the Spirit comes from God.
Now, of course, when we think of the Holy Spirit in terms of
the Godhead, in terms of the doctrine of the Trinity, He does
proceed. He proceeds from the Father and
from the Son. The Father is the one who begets,
the Son is that one who is eternally begotten, and the Spirit is He
who proceeds from the Father and from the Son. When the Lord Jesus is speaking
of the spirits coming into the world in those chapters in John,
I think in particular of the words at the end of chapter 15,
the Comforter, he says, even the
spirits of truth which proceedeth from the Father. He is the Spirit. He proceeds from the Father.
And He also is that One who proceeds from the Son. As we see later
there in chapter 20 of John's Gospel. He breathed on them. This is
the Lord Jesus. He breathed on them and said
unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. He proceeds from the Son. Just as the son is begotten of
the father, this is that relationship between the persons in the Godhead. All from whence doth the Spirit
of God Kali proceeds, from the father and from the son. That's his relationship in terms
of the doctrine of the Godhead. But then we have to think also
of the ministry that he exercises in terms of the whole economy
of grace. When we think of the outworking
of that eternal covenant. We have to come to this time
and time again the doctrine of the covenant. It lies at the
very heart of the gospel. And that inter-trinitarian covenant
of redemption that was made between the Father and the Son and the
Spirit. And remember how in the outworking
of it we see how the Son is sent by the Father in the fullness
of the time was come. God sent forth His Son and as
the Son is sent by the Father so He speaks the words. the doctrine of the father. He
says my doctrine is not mine but is that sent me. He comes
to serve the father. All things that I have heard
of my father he says I have made known unto you. This is his ministry. He is sent by the Father to accomplish
that great work of redemption that he engaged to undertake
in the eternal covenant. And so, when we think of the
ministry of the Holy Spirit in terms of that economy of grace,
is not the Spirit sent by the Son? There, at the end of verse
7, in John chapter 16, Christ says, I will send him unto you. I will send him unto you. He's sent by the Son. And when
the Spirit comes, does he not speak of the Lord Jesus Christ? He shall not speak of himself,
says Christ. He shall glorify Me, He shall
take of Mine, and shall show it unto you." Well, this is that
ministry of the Holy Spirit, and this is that that is promised,
is it not, in the New Covenant. When the prophets speak of that
New Covenant, so different to the Old Covenant that God made
with the children of Israel when He brought them out of the land
of Egypt and brought them to Mount Sinai and entered into
that covenant with them. Not like onto that covenant,
the New Covenant, so different. We read a bit there in Ezekiel
36, and what is one of the promises of that New Covenant? God says,
I will put My Spirit within you. Which is a promise of the Spirit,
you see. I will put My Spirit within you. And the Lord Jesus,
remember, in the course of His ministry, speaks of that New
Covenant and the great promise of that New Covenant. We were
thinking of it only the other day on a Thursday evening. Those words of John 6.45 it is
written, in the prophets they shall be all taught of God. They
shall be all taught of God, every man therefore that hath heard
and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." But it is the
particular and peculiar ministry of the Spirit to make that sinner
willing to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Again, not only Ezekiel
36, but we see the covenant there in the 31st chapter of the prophecy
of Jeremiah. In the language there in verse
34, They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all
know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith
the Lord. for I will forgive their iniquity
and I will remember their sin no more." They're taught of God.
They're taught by the Spirit of God. And we know that those
words in Jeremiah chapter 31 have to do with the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ because Paul the Apostle takes up those
very words in Hebrews chapter 8. He quotes that whole passage
from Jeremiah 31 and makes it apparent that this has to do
with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Read that 8th chapter
in the epistle to the Hebrews. Here is that ministry then of
the Spirit. He ascends and He ascends into
this world to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ, to teach the sinner
his need of the Savior Himself. He's that one that we read of
in that second chapter of John's first general epistle. Ye have an unction from the Holy
One and ye know all things. What is an unction? It's an anointing. In fact it's the same word which
is there in verse 27 of that chapter. the anointing. Verse 20 it's
rendered the unction but the same words in verse 27 the anointing
which ye have received of him abideth in you and ye need not
that any man teach you but as the same anointing teacheth you
of all things and is truth and is no lie and even as he hath
taught you ye shall abide in him the anointing the unction
it's the Holy Spirit it's the Holy Spirit the anointing Thou
anointest my head with oil. Oh, what a blessed ministry it
is, friends. Are we those who can in any measure
enter into the language of David here in our text tonight? Do we know anything of that gracious
ministry of the Holy Ghost? What is that ministry that He
exercises in the Gospel? He is the one, of course, who
comes to convince of sin. Christ speaks of Him in those
terms, does He not? When He has come, He will reprove
the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because
you believe not on Me. Of righteousness, because I go
to the Father and you see Me no more. Of judgment, because
the Prince of this world is Judge. the ministry of the Spirit is
the one who reproves, who comes to take the Lord of God and to
bring conviction into the soul, to make us see what we are as
those who are the transgressors of God's holy, righteous and
just laws. He is the convincer, he shows
us the true nature of that Lord of God as Paul discovered. When he was Saul, the Pharisee,
he had no right understanding of the Lord of God. He thought
he did. He thought he was a keeper of it. As he says to the Philippians,
touching the righteousness which is in the law, I'm blameless. That was his boast. But then,
what does he say in Romans chapter 7? Then at verse 14, we know
that the law is spiritual. He understood nothing of that.
How do we know that the law is spiritual? The spirit himself
must apply it to us and make us to feel the true nature of
it. It's a spiritual law. It doesn't
just concern our externals, our outward behavior. The law has
to do with the very attitude of our hearts. Or when the spirit
comes to reprove yourself. We know that the Lord is spiritual,
but I am carnal. Sold on the sin. No hope in the
Lord, in the hands of the Spirit of God. This is His ministry,
I say, to convince. But not only to convince of sin.
Does He not also come as that One who is truly the Comforter?
Does He not come to console with Christ? Or does he not come to
speak of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only Savior of sinners? He shall testify of me, says
Christ. That's what he does. He directs
that poor convinced sinner to Christ as the only one that can
save the sinner. When the sinner is burdened,
when he feels the awful yoke of his sins. That's a very striking
verse, is it not, that we have in Isaiah chapter 10. And verse 27 speaks of that day. That's the gospel day. That's
today. Behold, now is the accepted time.
And behold, now is the day of salvation. And here, 600 years
before the birth of Christ, and the coming of the Gospel day,
Isaiah, under the inspiration of the Spirit, says he shall
come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away
from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the
yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. or that blessed
anointing when Christ himself is revealed how we are those
friends who stand in need of that let the unction of redemption
supple every conscience well we just sang in that lovely hymn
of William Gadsby ought to know it you see that blessed unction
the anointing of the Holy Spirit Himself. Thou anointest my head
with oil. Look at what the margin says.
The Hebrew literally says, Thou makest fat. Thou makest fat my
head with oil. Here we see again something of
the fullness and the richness of the gospel of the grace of
God. And we need that ministry of
the Holy Spirit to come and to open our eyes to these things
not only to open our eyes and enlighten our understandings
but all that He might make us feel in our souls something of
this fatness of the gospel of the grace of our God we're told
no man can say that Jesus Christ is Lord but by the Holy Ghost
you can say it I can say it, we can utter those words Jesus
Christ is Lord, but also what are those words? Savingly. And
to know that He is our Lord, our God, our Saviour. To have that experimental knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what the Spirit comes
to give us, is it not? How John knew it himself. Remember
those opening words of that first general epistle, that which was
from the beginning which we have heard, he says, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled of the word of life. Oh, how real Christ was to the
beloved disciple. He knew. He knew in his souls,
experienced the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew what David is writing
of here in the psalm. Thou anointest, thou makest fats,
my heads with oil. I say, friends, this is the experience
of all who are Christian believers. And are we not to examine ourselves
and to prove ourselves and know ourselves? Do we know anything
of the Spirit? And we become fearful and we
say, well, have I ever really known the Spirit? Has He ever
come to me as the Spirit of Christ? Well, can we not ask that God
would grant Him to us? Doesn't Christ encourage us thus
to pray? How much more, He says, shall
your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask
Him? Have you ever asked for that
gift, the gift of God, the Holy Spirit? And to come to you, and
to minister to you as the Spirit of prayer, and as the Spirit
of Christ, and to make Christ such a reality in your soul. He anoints, and His anointing is a blessed
application of the great salvation that was wrought by the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the outworking of the covenant,
you see. It is the Son who has come, and by His coming He has
accomplished salvation, He has procured salvation, but now the
Spirit must also come. and he must apply what Christ
has purchased. He must make that salvation real
in the sinner's soul. But then, in the second place,
let us observe this, friends. As Sir Richard Baker, in his
commentary on Psalm 23 says, concerning our text tonight,
he says, there is a reference to Christ himself. seeing it
is all verified in Him. These words are messianic. These words belong to the Lord
Jesus Christ. As we've said previously, the
psalm is a prophetic psalm. It speaks of Him who is the Good
Shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, David
says. And Christ declares, I am the
Good Shepherd. I give my life for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd, I know
my sheep, and am known of mine, he says. Or this psalm speaks
to us of Christ. He is the head of the body, the
church, is he not? He is the head, and the church
is the body. And what does David say? Thou
anointest my head. with oil. Isn't that the Lord
Jesus Christ? The Anointed One? We read in
the 133rd Psalm of the priests of Aaron the precious ointment
upon the head that ran down upon the beard even Aaron's beard
that went down to the skirts of his garment Now those Aaronic
priests, those who were descended from Aaron, were all anointed. This is what God commands of
Moses in Exodus chapter 30 and verse 30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron
and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister
unto me in the priest's office. those priests were all anointed and isn't the Aaronic priesthood
a typical priesthood and does it not point to a greater priest
as we see there in the epistle to the Hebrews that's the whole
thrust of the epistle there is a priest And this priest is not of the
tribe of Levi, not the Aaronic priest. This is one of the tribe
of Judah and he is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. It wasn't the Lord Jesus Christ
himself that one who was anointed to be a priest. And oh what an anointing it was!
He was anointed with the Spirit of God. As we read there in the
opening chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. He was anointed
as no other was anointed. And we see it there at the end
of John chapter 3, God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto
Him. How He was anointed, friend,
how we see him as that one who is sealed, how that God the Father
has sealed him for his worth, sealed him with the Holy Spirit. That is the significance of that
anointing and we've said before there is in the Gospel such a
remarkable unfolding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit in terms of
the life of the Lord Jesus. When we think of the humiliation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the eternal Son of God
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and yet he humbles himself, and
he takes upon him the form of a servant, and he is found in
the fashion of man, is he not? We read of these things, and
time and again we see his dependence upon the Spirit of God, how the
Spirit is serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It's there, of course,
at His conception. How is He conceived? Well, Mary,
the Virgin, is with child of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost
shall come upon the power of the Highest shall overshadow
them. Therefore also that Holy Thing that shall be born of the
shall be called the Son of God or the ministry of the Spirit
there at the beginning when He is conceived because now the
fullness of the time has come and God will send forth His Son
made of wool and then of course when He comes into public view
when He's baptized by John in the river Jordan as the Holy
Ghost descends upon Him in the form of a dove. How He's anointed there as He's
baptizing and then how He's led of the Spirit into the wilderness
and He's tempted of Satan and yet He resists that great adversary. Get thee behind me, Satan. And
then we're told how Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit that's
how he comes out of the wilderness he's led of the spirit into the
wilderness he returns in the power of the spirit out of the
wilderness goes to Nazareth where he was brought up as was his
custom he enters the synagogue on the Sabbath day the minister
in the synagogue passes to him the book of the prophet Isaiah
and he turns and reads those words at the beginning of chapter
61 as the Spirit of the Lord is
upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the Gospel." Oh,
he reads that whole portion of the Spirit upon him, as he's
engaging now in his ministry, and all the eyes of those in
the synagogue are fixed upon him. There is time and again,
you see, this ministry of the Holy Spirit, thou anointest my
head, With oil, says David, speaking of the great heads of the body,
the church, he's anointed with the Spirit of God. We see it
in the miracles, do we not? How does he cast out the demons? If I cast out demons by the Spirit
of God, he says, the Kingdom of God has come amongst you.
The Spirit is with him, owning all his ministry. This is his
life, you see, of dependence. This is his life as a man upon
the earth. Do believers stand in need of
the ministry of the Spirit? Well, Christ is a man. In his
state of humiliation, how he needs the Spirit. How the Spirit
ministers to him. How he is, of course, that one
who is anointed to be a great high priest. who is going to
make the great sacrifice for sinners. He's a sacrificing priest,
is he not? But how the Spirit is there when
he comes to make that sacrifice. Who through the eternal Spirit,
says Paul, offered himself without spot unto God. Through the eternal
Spirit he offers himself as a sacrifice, that great substitutionary death
that He dies when He makes the atoning sacrifice, when the Holy,
Righteous and Just One, the One who knew no sin, is made sin,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Lord, the Spirit is there at
the end. As the Spirit was there at the beginning in the incarnation
when Mary is with child of the Holy Ghost so there at the end
of his life we read of him being put to death in the flesh but
quickened by the Spirit quickened by the Spirit that's in the resurrection
from the dead in all the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ during
the days of His humiliation upon the earth. He is evidently that
One who is anointed. Thou anointest my head with oil. Ah, but then in His exaltation
also. In His exaltation. Is it not
the Spirit who is there to exalt Him? He shall glorify me, says
Christ, or when He has come. This is the ministry of the Spirit.
Now that Christ has accomplished that great work of redemption,
He shall glorify me. He shall take of mine and shall
show it unto you. There was to be such a glorious
coming of the Spirit of God. After Christ had fulfilled all
His covenant engagements, So the Spirit must come then to
accomplish His engagements. As we read there in John 7,39,
the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. It doesn't mean that there was
no ministry of the Holy Spirit before Jesus was glorified. There
clearly was a ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
knew that ministry. David knew that ministry of the
Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. when his head was anointed with
oil and the Spirit came upon him, when he cries out in Psalm
51, take not thy spirit from me, he knew the Spirit. What
are we to make then of those words in John chapter 7, the
Holy Ghost was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified,
it's but another aspect, it's a more glorious aspect of his
ministry. When Christ has accomplished
all his work, then the Spirit will come. That's
what Christ is saying. As He is exalted, will He not
send the Spirit? And so we see how the Spirit
is that One who is clearly sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is what He prays for. In John chapter 14 and verse
16 He says, I will pray the Father. and He shall give you another
Comforter, that He may abide with you forever." Here is the
promise of the Lord Jesus Christ, I will pray the Father, He says. He prays the Father, and He asks that the Father will
send the Holy Spirit, this is Christ of course again in the
state of humiliation, But he prays, and he prays for the Spirit. How is the Spirit sent? He is
sent by prayer. How are we to know anything of
the ministry of the Spirit? It's by prayer. How much more
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who
ask it? Christ asks for the Spirit. Do we ask for the Spirit? He
sends the Spirit, of course, there on the day of Pentecost. Oh, what a day! What a day it
was! Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this which ye now see and
hear. He received the promise and He sheds abroad the Holy
Spirit. the ministry of the Spirit, so
necessary is it not, if there is going to be any salvation
for sinners. We've referred already to those
words in John chapter 20 and verse 22, how He breathed on
them, that is breathed on His disciples and said, Receive ye
the Holy Spirit What does he go on to say? Whosoever sins
ye shall remit, they are remitted unto them. Whosoever sins ye
shall retire, they are retired. Now what is the significance
of that? Well the reference here is to the ministry of the Word,
the preaching of the Gospel. He breathes on them and says
receive ye the Holy Spirit. And it's as they receive the
Spirit and as they preach this message of salvation in the unction
of the Spirit that sins will be remitted or sins will be retained
and the gospel will come to some the savour of life unto life,
to others the savour of death unto death. There is the remitting
or the retaining. When the word of God is preached
there's a result, is there not? There are those who believe to
the salvation of their souls. There are those who reject the
message, shut their ears to the sound of the glad tidings. How
solemn it is, friends. Oh, how do we desire to hear
the Gospel. Remember when Paul writes to
the church at Thessalonica? He can remind them of the way
in which the Gospel of the grace of God first came to them. He
says, Our Gospel came not unto you in word only. but in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. Is that what
we desire, friends? That the Gospel might come to
us, that it might come to you, that it might come to me. And
not just come once, but come time and time and time again. We want it to come, not in word
only, but in power. and in the Holy Ghost we want
to know something of that gracious ministry of the Spirit as He
opens these truths to us and not only gives us an understanding
we want an understanding we want a sound mind we want to know
the truth in all its fullness but we want it also to reach
our very heart we want to feel it and feel it in our souls look
at the words of the apostle when he writes there in the second
chapter of Hebrews Hebrews 2 and verse 3 he says
how shall we escape? if we neglect so great salvation
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him, God also bearing them witness
both with signs and wonders and with diverse miracles and gifts
of the Holy Ghost according to his own will. and the word gives
them his distributions as he's indicated in the margin distributions
of the Holy Ghost or where we want the Spirit to come and distribute
to us that grace of God. It is the Spirit you see and
He must come and He must come by the Word, He must come to
us with the Word, He must come to us in the Word He must be
the one who applies the truth of the word to us. We need constantly
to know that gracious unction. Or we need to know this blessed
anointing of which David is speaking. Thou anoint us, my head with
oil. Thou make us fat. How the Hebrew,
it's strange in some ways, but it's so rich, so full, so pregnant
in meaning, what it literally says there in the Hebrew, thou
make us fat, my heads with oil. The blessed richness of the gospel
of the grace of God, when we know it, in the hands of God
himself, God the Holy Ghost. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. Or do we have the Spirit of Christ? And you say tonight, at least
I do desire that, or that I might have the Spirit of Christ, God
the Holy Ghost, who comes to make known Christ, to reveal
Christ, Might that be my portion? Is that the language of your
hearts tonight under the word of truth? That God himself would
come and that he would anoint your heads with oil? Or might it be so? For his name's
sake. Amen.