Three Times at The Lord’s Table – Part One

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows. Psalm 23:5 NKJV

Even though sixty years have passed, I can still hear my mother loudly calling, “It’s almost time for supper Peter! Get a move on and set the table!” But in this verse, no one told the Lord to set the table. He chose to do so on HIs own, and now His call goes out us. “You who have walked with me through the valley of the shadow of death. Come sit down, it’s almost time for dinner!” On a side note, I learned from my years serving in a Brazilian church that this passage in Portuguese renders the first section of the verse, “You prepare a table before me while my enemies watch,” Reading that, helped me picture a banquet table set up in a green meadow lying just beyond the valley of the shadow of death. In the distance, hungry wolves watch as we are invited to sit down at our Shepherds table. They howl, remembering that even their most wicked attempts to destroy us have failed and that now they must watch the Lord feasting with us and then filling our cups to overflowing at His table! Are you in a dark valley right now? Take heart, our Shepherd will walk by our side in the darkness, and He has prepared a banqueting table for us to share in the sunshine at its very end.

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The Good Shepherd’s Staff

My Lord leads as a shepherd to deep meadows green
Then down gentle pathways to a still quiet stream
And when sin beckons, He tells me to walk
On the straight narrow way through the cleft in the rock

Then on through the valley of shadows and tears
His rod and His staff comfort all of my fears
No matter what dangers we find ahead
We'll feast at His table where a banquet is spread

Though I'm reminded of all I’ve done wrong
His goodness and mercy still follow along
For the Cross that He bore is the Good Shepherd’s staff
And the key to His home at the end of the path!


The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want
Psalm 23:1 KJV


Peter Caligiuri
Copyright © 2022
All rights reserved

Photo by Sebastian Palomino on Pexels.com

Earth and Sky Are Bigger

I've heard our earth is just a speck
In this universe so grand
And we are just a candle's flame
On this tiny grain of sand

But then I hear a chorus
Ringing deep down in my heart
Saying earth and sky are bigger
Than what folks think they are

And my hope rests on God's promise
That He who shepherds lambs
And formed mighty the Milky Way
Holds us safely in His hands

I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.
John 10:14

Earth and Sky Are Bigger by
Peter Caligiuri
Copyright 2022 all rights reserved

Photo by Marco Milanesi on Pexels.com