Psalm 23:1 “….I lack nothing.”
NLT = “I have all that I need.”
ESV = “I shall not want.”
A good shepherd will take care of all the needs of his sheep:
- Food
- Water
- Protection predators, parasites & sheep rustlers
- Health & Hygiene
- Recovering Strays
- Assisting “Cast Sheep” – one that has rolled onto their back and can’t get back up.
All the above needs will be, at some point, addressed over the coming days and weeks as we look at this beautiful Psalm together.
The bible says that:
“God will supply every need according to His riches in glory.” (Philippians 4:19)
Note, these needs may be distinguished from our own personal perceived needs or desires. The following verse also comes to mind:
“You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” James 4:3 ESV
Over the course of my life, I can look back and see just how faithful the Lord has been, I’ve never lacked or wanted for anything and sometimes He has really blessed me and gone beyond “all I can think ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).
You know, we live in a crazy world and time, don’t we? People can get really stressed out and anxious. The more you succumb to watching social media or the TV, the more you can be easy prey for the advertisers who constantly tell us that we don’t have all that we need. If we just buy their product or service, we will be satisfied. I’ve noticed, especially amongst young people, that they are fixated by having to have brand name clothing and trainers. The labels of course must be on show (yet more free advertising!). It feeds this narcissistic age that we live in.
Years ago, I spent six months travelling around Africa and it made me sad that so many people over there were striving and wanting all the things that we have here in the west, not realising that, in fact it doesn’t produce the peace that we all strive for.
Not long ago, I managed to re-connect with an uncle, who I had presumed had passed away a while ago. This assumption was also based on erroneous information given to me by others. Like me, he is considered a ‘black sheep’ of the family. He had a very promising start to life and was certainly blessed with so many wonderful physical and mental attributes. He also told me that, in his youth, he actually dated, who some think, was the very first ‘super model’, Jean Shrimpton.
Why do I mention this, well in more than one phone call I had with him, he asked me this same and strangely odd question, out of the blue, “Are you content Andrew?”. He was pleased that my answer was an emphatic “Yes”, although my reasoning being my faith in Jesus, was a pretty big stumbling block for him.
I think this conversation reveals the heart of so many of us, doesn’t it? We seek and covet contentment so much.
Well, my take on the second half of verse one of this Psalm is that the Lord will indeed supply the greatest need in our life, if and as I’ve already covered, we make Him LORD. It is a conditional promise.
The apostle Paul certainly knows what I’m talking about here. And when I say “know”, it is in the biblical sense of not just head knowledge. He knew this experientially:
“I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:11-13)
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” (1 Timothy 6:6-8)
Here is one cautionary story that I read in Phillip Keller’s book “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23”:
He had a very special and prized ewe. She was a tremendous specimen and mothered some very healthy and lovely lambs over the years. However, she was never content. She was always looking over at the next meadow or field. The grass to her was always “greener over the other side”. She would constantly escape. If this wasn’t bad enough, she also encouraged the other sheep, by way of her example, to do the same thing. Eventually, he, the shepherd, had to make a tough and difficult decision. He had to get out his “killing knife” and kill and remove this wayward ewe, for the good of the whole flock.
Immediately, what it is says in John 15:2 comes to mind about how the Lord prunes us but also has to cut off branches that don’t produce good fruit.
Let’s finish on a more positive note though. Contentment is possible and the Lord will help us gain this. This verse in the Psalm could so easily be misconstrued and leaving us thinking that life will be easy. However, we know the reality, don’t we?
Jesus said this:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
