You Anoint My Head With Oil

Series: The Lord is My Shepherd (Psalm 23)

Leslie Basham: Here’s Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Regardless of what your problems may be, it will always be true that you have more blessings than problems.

Leslie Basham: This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss for Thursday, June 1st.

Many people have memorized Psalm 23 as a beautiful work of poetry, but they’re probably reciting a lot of things they don’t understand. For instance, what does “You anoint my head with oil” mean? I’ve heard of one woman who can’t get the picture of greasy hair out of her mind. Let’s join Nancy and get some insight.

Nancy: In the last session we looked at the first part of Psalm 23:5, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Now we come to the second half of that verse, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

That’s all part of the same verse. We’ve seen that there’s a presence of enemies and that the shepherd (if you want to use that picture, or some would change the metaphor here to be a gracious host showing hospitality to his honored guest) prepares a table for those he cares for in the presence of their enemies.

Right in that context we read these two phrases, “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows”—in the presence of my enemies. You see what God does for us? Sometimes we work so hard to escape from pressures and problems, to manipulate and connive our way out of them, that I think we miss some of the greatest blessings God has in store for us.

Some of us never experience what our Shepherd or our gracious Host could and would do for us if we would give Him a chance. We’re too busy running from our enemies. I’m not saying go look for enemies; that’s not the point, to just stand there and take the abuse.

But I’m saying there are circumstances in our lives over which we have no control; and rather then resenting and resisting and running from them, turn your eyes on the Lord. Turn your eyes to Him and say, “Lord, what are You wanting to do in the midst of this situation?”

Sometimes God’s will and God’s ways in the presence of the problems is to prepare a feast for you and then to anoint your head with oil and to cause your cup to overflow.

You see, when we think of being anointed with oil or our cup overflowing, we think of the sun shining and extra money in the bank and a husband who’s romantic and kids who are perfectly mannered and well-behaved and they “rise up and call you blessed” even while they’re still 17 years old. (That’s probably not when they’re going to do that.)

And we say, “Everything in my life is okay if I could just get the right job, live in just the right house, have perfect health, and not have any financial problems; then my head would be anointed with oil and my cup would be overflowing.”

But do you see the context for these promises? It’s in the presence of my problems. That’s where God can anoint your head with oil and cause your cup to overflow.

I think of that verse in Psalm 92 that says, “You have poured over me fresh oil. My eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies” (verses 10-11). God is caring for you even while God is dealing with His enemies.

Now, if in this part of the psalm the Psalmist is still talking about the shepherd and the sheep picture, then this might be a reference to the shepherd rubbing some oil on the sheep’s head; that serves to protect the sheep from things like sunstroke. It acts as a repellant against flies or snakes so the sheep can continue grazing “in the presence of their enemies.”

It’s saying God meets my needs. He protects me in the presence of my enemies.

When you think about oil and anointing with oil in the Scripture, there are several pictures that come to mind. One is the concept of gladness, fullness, abundance, satisfaction, sufficiency, wealth.

Proverbs talks about oil on the head being like gladness of heart. The Psalmist is talking about a sense of satisfaction here, fullness and joy.

Also in Scripture the oil and anointing of oil is used as a picture of hospitality, where you come into someone’s home and the gracious, welcoming host says, “You’re welcome here. You’re esteemed; you’re accepted. You’re an honored guest.” It may be used in that sense, my Host anoints my head with oil. He receives and welcomes me into His presence.

Certainly the picture of oil in Scripture is a picture of the ministry of the Holy Spirit and what He does in our lives to purify and refine and fill and enable us.

Anointing in Scripture was often used for consecration of the priests or of the kings who would serve the people and serve the Lord. And don’t we need that consecration and that anointing of the Holy Spirit in order to serve Him?

We’re priests unto God. In order to serve Him, we need our heads to be anointed with the oil of the Spirit.

My staff can tell you that when people ask how they can pray for me, one of the things I often say is pray for fresh oil . . . because the psalm says You have anointed me with fresh oil.

I want a fresh filling of the Spirit in my life, working in and through me repeatedly. You see, “You anoint my head with oil” is not just a one-time thing. This is applied repeatedly. We need a fresh filling and anointing of God’s Spirit day after day for each new challenge, each new duty, each new opportunity.

Each new day you get up to deal with those children, or to go to that job, or to serve your husband or someone else that you’re responsible to care for, you need the oil of the Spirit.

And as God anoints you with His Spirit, you will find that it is an oil of gladness. It’s an oil of joy. “You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

I love this verse. I love that phrase. It speaks of God’s abundant, plenteous grace . . . an overflowing life.

A number of Scriptures come to mind from the Psalms:

“Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loads us with benefits” (Psalm 68:19 NKJV).

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2).

“What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12).

You don’t get a picture here of a servant of the Lord that’s just a scrimping, scraping, barely surviving, poverty-stricken child of God. Now, in a material sense they may be. But in the Spirit there’s abundance. There’s fullnes; there’s wealth; there’s consciousness that my cup overflows with God’s abundant blessings.

That’s how Paul could say from a prison cell, as he did in Philippians 4:18, I have plenty. “I am well supplied.” My cup overflows.

Jesus said that “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38).

“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

And as Paul says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).

You see this picture all through the Scripture. “My cup overflows.”

Some of us are a little more pessimistic by nature, and we tend to look at the glass as half empty. Scripture is saying how full your cup is. Count your blessings. It gives you a whole different perspective, depending on whether you focus on your problems or your blessings.

And you know what, I don’t care what your problems may be . . . I mean, I do care, but regardless of what your problems may be, it will always be true that you have more blessings than problems.

Romans 5 says where sin did abound God’s grace did much more abound (see verse 20). My cup overflows.

You say, “My cup is so full of sin; if you knew the things I’ve done, the places I’ve been, what a mess I’ve made of my life . . .” His mercy overflows, more than your sin.

Then the Apostle Paul teaches us in the book of 2 Corinthians that we have been blessed abundantly so that we can overflow into others’ lives. My cup overflows. God fills me up with His benefits and blessings so that I can be generous, so I can bless others. You have this cycle here in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 of overflowing grace and then overflowing generosity.

And then we all have overflowing gratitude to God for what He has done.

Paul talks in 2 Corinthians 12 about some seasons where we have overflowing problems. He says sometimes you pray and you ask God, and He doesn’t take those problems away; but he says, in the midst of those problems, God gives overflowing grace.

I don’t care how abundant your problems are, how abundant your sin is, there is grace and there is blessing that is more abundant than all else. So Paul could say, in 2 Corinthians 7:4, “In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” What was he saying? As our problems overflow, so the comfort that is ours in Christ overflows.

Haddon Robinson, in his devotional book written years ago on the twenty-third Psalm, said, “With the Lord, the calf is always the fatted calf; the robe is always the best robe; the joy is unspeakable; and the peace passes understanding. There is no grudging in God’s goodness. He does not measure His goodness by drops like a druggist filling a prescription. It comes to us in floods.”

“My cup overflows.” So what does that mean? Well, two things at least. There’s no room for complaining, no room for whining; and secondly, there is every reason for overflowing generosity and gratitude. God has blessed you so you can be a blessing.

O Lord, You anoint my head with oil, the oil of Your Spirit, the oil of gladness, the oil of joy. My cup overflows!

Leslie Basham: That’s Nancy Leigh DeMoss helping us understand Psalm 23 more deeply. She’s been giving us fresh insight into a familiar chapter throughout this series on Psalm 23.

If you’ve missed any of it, you can order the entire teaching on CD. It can help you fear less, trust more, and follow God more closely. To order you can visit www.ReviveOurHearts.com.

This series on Psalm 23 is the type of Bible teaching you’ve come to expect from Revive Our Hearts. It’s helping thousands of women discover freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ. And, Nancy, our listeners play a big role in making this happen.

Nancy: Yes, Leslie, and I want to remind our listeners that there are two main ways you can help support the ministry of Revive Our Hearts.

First, you can make a financial donation by calling us at 800-569-5959, or you can do it online at our website; and so many of you have done that. I want to thank you for your partnership with this ministry.

The second way you can partner with us—and even more important, as far as I’m concerned—is that you can pray for us. Let me read a portion of an e-mail that I received recently that was such a blessing. This listener said,

I’ve prayed for many years for a godly mentor and for wise counselors in my life. God has answered my prayers through your program. It’s my privilege, my joy to learn more of God’s ways each day and to steadfastly study to become a wise and godly mentor myself.

Thank you a thousand times for not just giving us pep talks without the Scripture. Your use of the precious Holy Scriptures to convict, to exhort, to admonish, to encourage are a blessing to my soul every day. And as long as the Lord gives me breath, I will keep you and the staff and this ministry in my prayers and supplications to the Lord.

Well, that’s the kind of encouragement we love to hear. Thank you so much for your financial support and your prayers. We really appreciate both, and they are making a difference in many, many lives.

Leslie Basham: Thanks, Nancy.

Have you ever gotten the idea that the car behind yours is following you? It’s an uneasy feeling, but it is wonderful to be followed by the right things. Find out what they are tomorrow on Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

Scripture marked NKJV is from the New King James Version of the Bible.

Devotionals: From Psalm 23, Moody, 1968, 52.

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