“I shall be anointed with fresh oil.” Psalm 92:10
Dear Ones:
When David wrote Psalm 23, he spoke of the present and future experience of the relationship between the Great Shepherd, the Lord, and himself, a sheep. Just the picture of the Shepherd next to the sheep is an overwhelming illustration of the Eternal Sufficiency, and compassion, of Christ, His commitment to care and to keep His sheep. It is also a demonstration of the helplessness of a sheep, and his absolute dependence upon the Shepherd for his present existence, provision, and eternal security. One of the aspects of this relationship which is so very important to grasp is revealed when David writes: “…Thou anointest my head with oil.” (Ps. 23:5) David is addressing the Shepherd here. He is looking upward in expectant faith for the Lord’s anointing, that fresh “pouring forth” of His Spirit to meet the needs of the soul and spirit of the believer. The sheep lives BY the Shepherd, and also, it is BY the Shepherd that he or she daily receives life and power. How shall God’s kingdom come, and His will be done on earth, “…as it is in heaven,” except that God in Christ by the Spirit gives life and blessing from heaven. If the soul, in the context of a sinful and suffering world, would know the comfort and strength of Christ, and thus be able with refreshed, and renewed faith, rise up and serve God, then he or she must know the daily, fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit.
In Psalm 92, the Psalmist speaks of “fresh oil.” This fresh oil speaks of the unchanging, “fresh” and “new” nature of the Spirit of God. He never changes, never is diminished by sin and its influences. He is ALWAYS fresh. The imparting of the Spirit, and the receiving of the Spirit by faith, are the essential elements of knowing the reality of the fresh anointing with fresh oil. As a matter of doctrine, it must be said that the true believer has, “…an unction from the Holy One.” John also writes, “…but the anointing which you have received of Him abideth in you.” (1 John 2:20,27) The believer HAS the anointing, the Holy Spirit. However, does the believer LIVE in the expectation of the daily, fresh anointing with fresh oil, and all that that anointing means, and for which it has been given? The issue of the “anointing” can only be known by a KNOWLEDGE of the anointing and the APPROPRIATION of the Holy Spirit by faith.
What makes the anointing so very important to consider? The answer takes us back to Calvary, and the Lord’s words: “It is finished.” In those words is revealed a perfect work “settled in heaven,” by which sins are completely dealt with, delivering us from the guilt and consequences of them. Also, in that work is revealed the work of God whereby a new creation is “born,” where the very life of Christ by the Spirit comes to dwell in the heart. This union with Christ is a permanent, unchangeable reality. Just as the Father was one with Son, and the the Son with the Father, so the Christian is ONE with Christ, in whom “…all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily.” ( Col. 2:9) By being IN Christ, all has become available to us OF Christ. The anointing of God is that act, commitment, and work whereby God has made the believer one with Christ, one with His Spirit…the Spirit of the anointing. Practically speaking, because of union with Christ, as one author put it: “…there is NO difficulty inward or outward which Thou art not willing to meet in me this day.”
Dear Father, anoint us with fresh oil this day, even as we partake of fresh bread. Give us to grasp the reality of this union with the Lord Jesus, and appropriate His new, fresh, and powerful LIFE by the Spirit, so that we may live for Thy glory and honor. We thank Thee, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad