The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 23

Dear Veritas,

Within the past year, our family has memorized Psalm 23 together. We often recite it together (sometimes as a bedtime stall tactic, but more often with pure motives) and pray through specific practical applications found in this psalm. Psalm 23, along with other verses and passages we have memorized, continue to leak into our conversations and drive our thought life. The more scripture we memorize, the more opportunities God gives us to talk about him and put into practice what he is teaching us—huh, who would have thought?! Of course, scripture memorization is helpful in the context of personal holiness and relational discipleship; not only is it helpful, it is foundational. Now having said that, I’m not necessarily wanting to focus on the importance of scripture memorization—you can read about that in this article. Instead, in the rest of my letter to you, I want to share a conviction God has put on my heart through Psalm 23:1.

Recently I found myself standing on the banks of the Wapsipinicon River on an abnormally warm, 50-degree November day. I was awestruck by the calm of the water, the warmth of the sun, and the peacefulness I was experiencing as I recited Psalm 23 over and over. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks—“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” All of a sudden I couldn’t get past verse one anymore. It was not a new concept to me that God is the shepherd of his flock, or that sinful fallen human beings need to be reminded to be content with what they have. This is what I couldn’t get past: Because God is my shepherd, the first thing I need to be reminded of, as one of his sheep, is that I shall not want. And let me tell you, I am prone to wanting. But Psalm 23:1 makes it clear that I shall not want—not just because it is wrong to want anything other than God at an ultimate level—but specifically because, as my good shepherd, Jesus Christ frees me from wanting. He not only graciously provides for me, he also knows what I need and there is nothing I need that I don’t have in him; therefore, I shall not want. It is helpful to note that the wanting that David is referring to here is more than the idea of seeking after something—at a deeper level, it means to not be lacking, or positively, to be completely satisfied.

I don’t believe it is a coincidence that King David begins this psalm with a reminder to himself who God is—his shepherd—and then immediately follows that positional claim (if the Lord is his shepherd, that makes David one of his sheep) with a reminder to himself that, with his needs taken care of, he does not need to want anything else. It’s possible David does this because, if David acknowledges himself as a sheep of the good shepherd yet he wants something else that is not provided for him, then that negates the very essence—the shepherd-ness—of his shepherd. It seems that David is quick to acknowledge this. Even more than a simple acknowledgment, he confesses and commits himself to not wanting anything because he belongs to God and can trust the Lord to care for him through the exact provision according to his will.

So, in light of Psalm 23:1, David is communicating that if you want anything at an ultimate level apart from God, you are saying: God is not sovereign, and God is not good. Now, I get it if you think that comes across as a pretty strong rebuke, but I believe this is clear all throughout scripture (Isaiah 46:9-10, Daniel 4:35, Proverbs 16:9, Romans 8:28, Colossians 1:16-17, Psalm 100:5, Lamentations 3:22-23, Nahum 1:7, Romans 5:8, James 1:17—just to name a few). The Lord is my shepherd; not only shall I not want, I don’t need to want anything else other than him.

My prayer is that our church is full of people found not wanting—not just because we are content with our station in life and present circumstances, but because the Lord is our shepherd, we shall not want. May we grow in our complete trust in the Lord’s will and provision. Below are a few reflection questions I invite you to spend some time thinking and praying about. Be honest and confess to our shepherd your wanting of things other than the one true God, and then run into his arms with calmness, joy, and rest for your soul.

In Christ Jesus our Lord,
Sam

Questions for reflection:

• When I think of God, what about him do I think of?
• Is there something I continually find myself wanting or wanting to run to more than Jesus?
• When is the last time that I have meditated on God’s intimate care and provision for me?
• Do I find myself overflowing with thankfulness for the way that God provides for me?
• When did I last have intentional quiet time alone with God?