The Lord is My Shepherd
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” -Psalm 23:1-2
The twenty-third psalm is sometimes called the Shepherd’s Psalm. The psalm was written by David: and before he was crowned as king of Israel, he served his father as a shepherd: so if anyone knew about being a shepherd, and looking after sheep, it was David.
The first verse begins: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Now, when the King James version of the Bible uses the word “want,” it’s not quite what we think of as the word “want” today: it simply means to have a lack or a need. So David is writing that He lacks nothing, that he is full and complete.
That is to say, in the same way that a shepherd looks after his sheep, and makes sure that they are healthy and full, so too God looks after us: insomuch that we ought to say along with David: “I shall have no lack…”
David continues with the psalm, and writes a bit more specifically how he isn’t lacking in anything: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” That is to say, we have food and drink: for green pastures provide food for sheep, and the still waters quench their thirst.
A Shepherd and his Flock, Julien Dupre (1851-1910)
In so describing our fullness in God, David uses the illustration of food. He was saying in effect, “the Lord takes care of me so that I lack nothing: I have food and water to keep me satisfied.” And this is not only physically, but for our souls: it’s spiritual as well. God watches over us, and leads us on our path of life to just the things we need—and at the right time—to match our hunger and thirst.
Greener pastures?
They say “the grass is always greener on the other side.” This saying was meant to illustrate everyone’s tendency toward discontentment and impatience toward whatever area of life we’re currently in. If we leave the place that God would have for us: will we truly be satisfied? Are we then allowing God to be our shepherd?
David did not write, “I go where I want, and do what I please; I shall not want.” He prefaced his statement of satisfaction by a simple truth: “The LORD is my shepherd…”
God’s fullness and satisfaction are conditional. We have to trust Him for His best blessings. While we are wandering away from God’s will, we are in no way guaranteed God’s satisfaction or provision. He will search us out and try to bring us back into the fold, but how can we expect to see the shining light of His face with our backs turned to Him?
The promise is simple: walk according to God’s ways, and trust Him for our spiritual food and water, and He will never fail us. The Lord wants to be our shepherd, and it is in our best interest to recognize that we are like sheep, and we need His help.
“For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” -Psalm 84:11-12
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