Joy in Anticipation

So I am mulling again over the verse in Psalms where the talking sheep says, "He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (He prepares food for me, even though I can see the enemies that threaten my existence even as I receive His nourishment.) And I am envisioning the preparing part. I am envisioning God having me in mind when He chooses the color of the table cloth. I am envisioning God having me in mind when He chooses the flat ware, and I am envisioning God having me in mind when He chooses the food. As He is preparing a "table before me," He is imagining my response and He is imagining our time together and His joy rises up in the imagining. So His enjoyment of me begins long before the picnic is spread in the pasture and long before I arrive on the scene.

Just like I prepare yogurt for my granddaughter and begin to enjoy her as I prepare for her (even before she arrives), just like God prepared a world for me and began to enjoy me as He prepared for me (even before I arrived), just as the Shepard prepares food for the sheep and begins to enjoy His time with the sheep (even before the sheep arrives), so God prepares many "chance" encounters for me to catch glimpses of Him each day and as He does so, begins to enjoy me in His imaginings of our times together.