392 Andrew E. Arterbury - William H. Bellinger, Jr. of whether Ps 23 is a psalm of trust or thanksgiving, any ancient Israelite who could either anticipate or recall the traveler’s vulnerable position could have claimed these words as his or her own. Anyone who had heard the stories about the vulnerable positions of Yahweh’s messengers in Gen 19, the Israelite spies in Josh 2, Sisera in Judg 4, or the Levite and his concubine in Judg 19 would have had a strong warrant for needing to express either trust in or thankfulness for the Lord’s protection. The words in Ps 23,5-6 are the type of words that a hopeful or thankful guest would use when reflecting upon the upright hospitality of God, who either will feed or has fed the guest and will protect or has protected the guest from danger (33). b) Ps 23,5b – “you anoint my head with oil” While this phrase does not have a direct parallel to the hospitality scenes that we cited in the Hebrew Scriptures, we can easily envision ancient Israelite hosts providing their guests with olive oil for the refreshing of sun baked skin (34). We did, however, observe the Egyptian Amen-em-ope referring to the giving of olive oil to the stranger. Moreover, within a context of Jewish hospitality, Jesus criticizes his Pharisaic host for not anointing his head with oil (Luke 7,46). Hence, it is logical to conclude that in Ps 23,5b we see a picture of God as host anointing and refreshing the well-traveled psalmist (35). c) Ps 23,5c – “my cup overflows”. The overflowing cup or the abundant cup appears to be a commentary on the extravagance of God’s provisions for guests. As noted above, the host often provides more extravagant provisions than either the host promised (Gen 18,5-8) or the guest requested (Gen 24,17-20 and Judg 4,19). In addition, the host often provides the best provisions for the guest (1 Sam 9,23) (36). In Ps 23,5b, just like Abraham’s feast or the widow of Zarephath’s miraculous supply of food for Elijah, the Lord is described as providing the psalmist with more provisions and superior provisions than the psalmist actually needs. The Lord, as a host, has vast resources upon which to draw. d) Ps 23,6a – “Surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life”; Here, the psalmist’s words certainly provide an ironic contrast. Rather than enemies pursuing the traveler, goodness and mercy will now do so (37). Yet, perhaps there is also a vivid comparison in this phrase. We have repeatedly seen good and faithful hosts pursuing their potential guests in the hospitality encounters we have examined. Many of the model hosts in the Hebrew Scriptures do not simply wait to offer hospitality to the traveler once the traveler has requested assistance. Instead, these role models run out to stop (33) F.L. HOSSFELD – E. ZENGER, Die Psalmen (Würzburg 1993) 155. (34) CRENSHAW, Psalms, 62. (35) DEISSLER, Die Psalmen, 98. Deissler describes v. 5b as a temple meal in which God acts as host and anoints one’s head with oil. (36) V.H. MATTHEWS, “Hospitality and Hostility in Judges 4”, BTB 21 (1991) 15. (37) CRENSHAW, Psalms, 62.