“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (KJV). Those are the familiar words of Psalm
23:1. For years, I would read that
phrase “I shall not want” and wonder what exactly it meant. The Lord is my shepherd; therefore I have no
dreams, plans, desires, or ambitions whatsoever? How could that be what the verse was saying? I didn’t understand it.
I’ve come to understand that this phrase has more to do
with the fact that God will supply the basic provisions of life. Got questions.org wrote an article on this
that was helpful to me. Here’s a quote
from it, and I would encourage you to check out the link. “Psalm 23:1-3 tells us that the shepherd
meets the sheep’s every need: food, water, rest, safety, and direction. When we as believers follow our Shepherd, we,
too, know that we will have all that we need.
We will not lack the necessities of life, for He knows exactly what we
need.”
Let me re-write that last sentence again: “We will not
lack the necessities of life, for He knows exactly what we need.” This jibes with the way other translations
render Psalm 23:1. For instance, the NCV
translates it this way, “The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need.” The World English Bible offers, “The Lord is
my shepherd; I shall lack nothing.” The
CEV says, “The Lord is my shepherd; I will never be in need.”
In Matthew 6, Jesus says, “Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father
feeds them. Are you not much more
valuable than they? Who of you by
worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all
his splendor was dressed like one of these.
If that is how God clothes the grass of the field…will he not much more
clothe you?” I can trust my Heavenly Father,
My Heavenly Shepherd. He will provide
for me.
Kevin
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