“The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.”
– Psalm 23:1
Thus begins one of the most famous chapters in the bible, not just one of the most famous Psalms. Psalm 23 as God describes himself and his word in the mouth of David as a shepherd to his people.
If God is our Shepherd, what else could we want?
Psalm 23:1 Reminds Us That the Lord Guides Us
The other day I was in a setting where someone asked, “How have you seen God reveal himself particularly to you over recent months, or the last year?” And this verse is what came to my mind. The Lord is my shepherd. I think about decisions I’ve made and the process of making those. I think about some particular challenges, and I look back and that is my summary conclusion.
The Lord is my shepherd, and everything that follows from that verse in this chapter. He leads me. Ge guides me. He directs me. He satisfies me. All of these things that a shepherd does for his sheep, and I just found myself praising God in a fresh way that he’s not left me alone to make decisions.
He’s not left me alone to face challenges, and the same is true for your life. Think about it today. God is your shepherd today. He has taken responsibility for leading you. For guiding you, directing you, feeding you, and satisfying you. What an incredible truth. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
This Verse Shows Us That God has Given Us an Amazing Gift
Like, if God is our shepherd, what else could we want? This is the greatest gift possible, that God would be our shepherd knowing that God is all-sufficient. God is all satisfying. God is all God. And, God is all loving. When he is your shepherd, you lack nothing. Ultimately, you lack nothing.
So, we pray. God, I praise you for how you have been such a good shepherd in my life, in my life as a whole, and then specifically over the last year. I praise you for your loving shepherding of my life. God, I pray that everybody listening to this right now whp has put their fath in Jesus.
We praise you Jesus. In John 10, you made it clear that you are the good shepherd. So, I pray for all those who have placed their faith in you as the good shepherd that you would lead and guide their lives today. I pray that you would direct them. I pray that you would satisfy them. And, I pray that you would guide their steps for your glory, for your namesake.
Psalm 23:1 Helps Us Cling to God
You lead us in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake, and along the way we shall not want. I pray, oh, God, that you would show your sufficiency, your strength, your satisfaction to my brothers and sisters in Christ as they trust in you as their shepherd, and I praise you for your promise to do all these things that we are not asking you to do, that which you don’t want to do, which you’re not designed to do.
You call yourself our shepherd, and we love you. We worship you, and we want to follow you. God, keep us we pray from being obstinate cheap. Keep us, we pray from running off on our own. God, keep us close to you, our shepherd. Led and guided your hand. Today particularly in decisions we’re making or challenges we’re facing, we praise you the Lord our shepherd. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
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David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
