“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” (Psalm 23:5)

When David wrote these words, he was not sitting in peace and comfort. He was surrounded by enemies, walking through valleys of darkness, yet he confessed that the Lord Himself was still his Shepherd. In the very place of fear and danger, God set before him a table of life and mercy.

I was reminded of this truth this week when my strength failed me. My enemies were not soldiers with swords, but the sudden and unexpected frailty of my flesh and blood. Yet even there—right in the presence of my enemies—the Lord was with me. He did not leave me. He was working in my nurse, whose careful attentiveness and quick decision making preserved my life. He was there in the steady hands of my doctor who worked healing in my body, and whose confidence in his vocation prevented me from much worse suffering and recovery. The Lord sustained me in my time of need.

St. Paul reminds us: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9). Those words are true for every Christian. Even when pressed down by suffering or struck down by fear, we are not destroyed, for Christ is carrying us.
Christ prepares a table for us, not merely with food, but with His own Body and Blood. In Holy Communion, He gives us forgiveness, life, and salvation. The devil, the world, our sinful flesh—even death itself—stand nearby, mocking and threatening. But they cannot have us, for our Shepherd has already conquered them. At His table we are fed with the victory feast of the Lamb who was slain and yet lives.

In my moment of weakness, I was helpless, but I was not abandoned. Christ was certainly my Shepherd even then. He was preparing a table for me—life instead of death, peace instead of fear, and salvation instead of despair.

So now, in days of quiet recovery and beyond, I remember: The Shepherd’s Table is always there, and it’s been set for me. Whether in the valley of the shadow of death or on the mountaintops of life, He feeds me with Himself. And one day, when every enemy is silenced, I will sit at His table forever, where fear and death are no more. Alleluia!