“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” (Psalm 23:1)
A good shepherd provides for the sheep. If the Lord is my Shepherd and…He is the Good Shepherd, then I have everything that I need. What is it like to have all of your needs met? The second part of David’s opening phrase reveals to us what kind of shepherd the Lord is…One who provides. Because the Lord is my Shepherd I will never lack anything that I need. The Good Shepherd is able and willing to meet all my needs.
Sheep need to be taken care of. We need to be taken care of. Left to our own devices we would be lost and alone. Our most critical and greatest need is forgiveness and restoration to our Creator God…our Shepherd. The Scriptures tell us that “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). The Apostle Paul wrote, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
We needed a deliverer. We had strayed like sheep from the flock of the Good Shepherd. We felt that we could find our needs met elsewhere. We chose to follow other shepherds. Shepherds that would meet the temporary needs of this world. These so called shepherds feed our pride and make us feel better for a moment but they never meet our deepest need. We must beg these shepherds for attention and when they give it, we are made to feel indebted. Like Israel in the land of Egypt we were in bondage to our own sinful rebellion. But…
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:23). The Good Shepherd met our greatest need when He went to the cross for us. Why? Because He loves us. He provides our needs!
So, can we trust this Good Shepherd to meet our needs? Paul put it this way, “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all-how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).
“The Lord is my Shepherd…I shall not be in want”