This guest post is written by Summer Culver. Check out her Christian devotional blog, Sweet Summertime, here. You can also see my guest post published on her blog last week by clicking here!
"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1)
Psalm 23 has been a beloved passage to me for years and increasingly is a comfort and blessing to me, especially in the face of hard trials and scary valleys.
It begins with two incredible statements by David.
1. The Lord is my Shepherd
2. I shall not want
He is Your Shepherd
The first one is incredible enough in itself. Jesus is not just a Shepherd, He is your Shepherd, your protector, your provider!
As Dane Ortlund writes in his book The Lord of Psalm 23, “Psalm 23 is about abundant life. It is more about the happiness of living, than the sadness of dying, and all of the happiness is bound up with being able to say that this Lord who is a shepherd is also my Shepherd.”
How amazing that the King of all the earth, draws near and watches over us like a shepherd watches his sheep, though they wander and are often lost. So great is His love towards us!
Yet Psalm 23 is about suffering too and the second statement David makes is a bit more difficult to grasp.
I Shall Not Want
I shall not want?
How could David claim such a thing?
He needed nothing because Christ was His everything. If the Lord, the King of the Universe was with him, guiding him, leading him, what more could he possibly require to be joyful even amid terrifying circumstances?
When we are in Christ, we shall not want for spiritual or eternal satisfaction for He has promised to give us everything we need.
In the long nights and days of waiting,
I shall not want.
When handed a dreaded diagnosis,
I shall not want.
When I see no light, feel no hope, have no smile,
I shall not want.
In the face of paralyzing decisions,
I shall not want.
When a healthy body suddenly wreaks havoc on itself,
I shall not want.
When I taste your goodness,
I shall not want.
You can add your own words in place of mine.
When I’m afraid of what others think of me,
I shall not want.
When cancer takes my mom,
I shall not want.
When my heart is broken,
I shall not want.
Christ the Solid Rock
I know sometimes it feels like He is a million miles away, especially in the deepest valleys of suffering. There have been times I have cried out for healing and answers yet it seems my prayers fall on empty ears.
Samuel Rutherford wrote, “Believe God's love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea.”
He does not change like the rising and setting of the tide but rather is the Rock to which He calls us to cling every day, especially in our moments of great darkness.
“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.” (Psalm 23:4).
Call upon the Kind Shepherd today; He is all You need.
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