The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1)
David makes a simple and profound statement; as long as God is our Shepherd, we will never lack in anything that is necessary to live and fulfill His purpose. On one level, David was addressing material necessities — our daily bread as it were; those things that are needed to live in this physical world. Messiah addressed this as well saying that we are not even to worry about such because “Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:32).
From the beginning, God has demonstrated His attention to our needs even when we were disobedient. Adam was expelled from the Garden, and yet, God clothed him and endowed him with the necessary skills and knowledge to raise food. Moses reminded rebellious Israel that for forty years, “The Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing” (Deuteronomy 2:7).
Let’s consider another aspect of David’s declaration about lacking nothing — it also alludes to the spiritual needs we have in order to fulfill God’s purpose. As long as the LORD is our Shepherd, He will continually lead us in a way that provokes our spirit man to grow, thrive and ultimately overcome the carnal inclination that resides in our flesh. For instance, God gave Israel physical bread to teach them that man also needs the Bread from Heaven; first the physical, then the spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:46). Furthermore, He revealed to them that their trek through the wilderness being fed only with manna was to see whether or not they were committed to obeying Him (Deuteronomy 8:2). In short, God’s provision of temporal things teaches us of our need for spiritual things and that He alone is the source for all.
In the end, it comes down to this: starting from Abraham all the way to the Rich Young Ruler, we are called to be “perfect” (see Genesis 17:1, Matthew 19:21). The Hebrew word is תמים tamim which means “whole, lacking nothing.” If God has called us to such spiritual heights, we should not think that He would abandon us to do it on our own; remember we are His sheep and completely dependent upon Him. Our Shepherd will provide all we need in order that we may lack nothing — that we might fulfill His call to be tamim. He may not always give us what we want but He will always provide what we need because He is our Good Shepherd.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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