“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1)
Of all the passages of scripture, these words are among the most familiar. But although we may
know the words, we need to review them again, as they reveal many wonderful aspects of the
relationship we have with our Lord.
What comfort we have to know that in this world of chaos we have the Lord, who is close to us.
Our Lord is King over all and rules over everything, both in our lives and in the world. He is the
Lord, and at our right hand we have this majestic King who is personal and caring, watching
over us in great tenderness, and this tender King is also “my shepherd”.
Even though He controls everything, He is personally involved with my needs, my joys, my
sorrows. Not just in a general sense, but in a very personal way, He is mine, fully mine.
His watchful care is continual protecting us from anything that would harm us or cause us fear.
His provision for His sheep is absolute, for in Him, I have everything I need.
He makes sure that ”I shall not want” anything more than Him. Everything we need comes from
our Lord and there is nothing we need that He cannot provide. All we need for is found in the
abundant nature of our Saviour.
In my Shepherd, I receive His strength to keep me from falling.
His Word (the Bible), and the Holy Spirit, uphold us when we fail. His gentleness guides us to
safe places since we are fragile, gentle lambs, who need His tender care.
True security is provided by knowing that, as His sheep, we can never be lost from His fold. No
matter what the future holds, our Shepherd will guide us through, and meet all our needs.
From this simple verse written over 3000 years ago, David reminds us how much we need to
appreciate all of what our Lord does for us daily as our Shepherd.