At Jesus' final Passover service, He poured wine into His cup, blessed it, and passed it around to His disciples, inviting them to drink from it. Drinking of the cup of the Lord signifies participating in whatever that cup contains, accepting the blessings and consequences it represents. The cup of the Lord is a cup of blessing, symbolizing fellowship and sharing in the blood of Christ, as well as betrothal to Him through the new covenant for the remission of sins. Christ commands us to drink of His cup, emphasizing the acceptance of His shed blood and the deeper meaning of sharing in His experiences. We must consciously reject the cup of this world, of Babylon, in favor of the cup of the Lord, as God will not mix the contents of these incompatible cups. Paul warns that we cannot drink of the Lord's cup and of the cup of demons, urging a total rejection of the world's abominations for the new cup of blessing from God.

Concluding our exploration of Psalm 23, we see in verses 5 and 6 the destination and rewards as we finally achieve the rest at the end of our walk. People of the world who looked down upon the followers of God and His commandments will watch as the keepers of His word will be raised up and rewarded for their service and obedience. The shepherd goes ahead and examines the pastures so the sheep do not feast on the wrong things that would make them sick, keeping them from gorging on false rewards and harmful food. They are defended against harmful ideas, symbolized as parasites, while the shepherd anoints their head with oil, providing protection. The end shows that the pasture for the sheep is the "House of the Lord" where God's called out ones will dwell forever. By accepting the guidance of the Shepherd, we are taught to avoid the cup of wrath and have the cup of blessings overflow in that pasture.