My Cup Runneth Over

Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted...
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine!
~ Psalms 80:14-15,18-19 (NKJV)

Thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
~ Psalms 23:5 (KJV)

"Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink ...?"
~ Matthew 20:22 (NKJV)

Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.
~ Luke 22:20 (NKJV)

"Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me." ... And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
~ Luke 22:42,44 (NKJV)

The significance of the grapevine cannot be understated. Grain represented survival. The olive and its oil represented light and health and anointing. The grapevine's fruitfulness and wine represented covenant and joy—but its cup was also associated with the most bitter sorrow and suffering.

Our inclination is to avoid sorrow. But in plumbing the depths of sorrow we also discover the heights of joy. "My cup runneth over" can refer to either place.

It is said, "God in His goodness has sent the grape / to cheer both great and small; / little fools will drink too much / and great fools not at all." When my cup runneth over—whether with faith's joy or sorrow—prayer and praise are lifted before God.

Oh God, You are my God, and I will ever praise You. I gladly share my Lord's cup of rejoicing and suffering now. We anxiously wait, Lord, to again share Your cup, with You, in the Father's kingdom.

"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
~ John 15:5 (NKJV)

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