Psalm 23

"I Shall Not Want"



Psalm 23 is the most beloved of all the Psalms; we cling to its words and meaning as the very motion of clinging to our Lord Jesus Christ!  It seems to say everything we feel toward the lover of our souls, and everything He feels toward us.  The Shepherd gives His life for His sheep  ...  Jesus Christ our Lord and Shepherd did just that for you and me  ...  As the storms swirl, rage and scream all around us; we need to make sure our Shepherd is carrying us, and if He is, "we shall not want."

The question is, "Want what?"  People "want" for all kinds of things  ...  and the first in the category IS "things."  But, what does it really mean when the Lord whispers through the Spirit, "You shall not want."

"He tends his flock like a shepherd: he gathers the

lambs in his arms and carries them close to his

heart; he gently leads those that have young."

(Isaiah 40:11)

The New Living translation of the Bible seems to make it clear: "The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need."  That's it!  That's what the Lord means when He says we shall not want!  When you have the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ living within you, you have peace, joy, love, power to overcome and repel evil, and the strength to endure anything that comes against you or attempts to overtake you.  In other words, you have all you need!  And  ...  that translates to "all you want"  ... if .... "if" we are looking through the eyes of God!

To be protected by our Shepherd ranks uppermost on our "wants" list, or rather it should.  Sheep scare easily; they can get lost in their own pasture; they tend to wander and end up on a ledge where there's a bit of lush green grass, not realizing they won't be able to climb down.  Sheep can drown in moving waters with their heavy wool coats, so the Shepherd goes upstream and dams up the waters, so that the waters are "still" for the sheep to drink.  The Shepherd puts oil in the snake holes and then oil on the sheeps heads and noses, so that the snakes won't come near when they smell the oil.  The Shepherd checks the sheep at the end of the day for burrs and foreign matter in their wool.  The Shepherd's life belongs to His sheep.  No one  ...  no one cares for the sheep, like the Shepherd!  Jesus Christ our Lord gives us direction, goes ahead of us and prepares the way, anoints our heads with oil, and touches us with the brush of angels' wings in our weariest struggles.

This actually occurred in Palestine.  A couple of shepherds ended up on the same road with all their sheep and none of the sheep had brands to distinguish whose sheep belonged to whom, so one of the Shepherds went down the road a bit and called to his sheep.  All the sheep that belonged to him came running, leaving all the rest of them with the other Shepherd.  The Lord said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."  (John 10:27)

Are you a sheep without a Shepherd?  Do you long for "peace that passes all understanding?"  The worse thing you could imagine can happen to you; maybe it already has, and you don't know where to turn or what to do.  Maybe you have even considered taking your own life  ....  STOP!  Don't do it!  The Lord Jesus Christ loves you!  The words "I shall not want" mean that your soul will be satisfied perhaps for the first time in your life.  Jesus Christ will hold you in His arms, calm your fears, and as you walk with Him and talk with Him, He will work out every situation in your life.  Call out to Him; tell Him you're sorry for every sin; ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, and you will speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God fills you.  Then, be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.  He is your Shepherd!  Underneath are His everlasting arms!

You've been walking on your own long enough.  The Lord Jesus Christ wants to carry you!  He will be all that you need; He will give you joy unspeakable and full of Glory; He will satisfy that longing you've had your entire life for real peace and real comfort.  Try it .....reach up to the arms that will never leave you, never forsake you, and experience something very unique and utterly beautiful  ... Rest in the arms of "Real Love" and for the first time in your life  ...  "you shall not want."

                                                                                                                                 By Sheryl Fowler

                                             (Visit Promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.

                                       PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)