“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” – Psalm 23:1

THESE WORDS APPEAR strange until you come to understand – through experience – what David meant exactly. Naturally, it seems absurd to exist in this life without wanting; we all have our daily needs; our hearts perpetually yearn and long; we continually bring our requests before God – so how can we come to that place of saying, “I shall not want”? It can be none other than absolute confidence in the care and wisdom of God to provide all that we really need, both in the spiritual and material sense.

David, who penned the 139^th Psalm, said, “You are acquainted with all my ways” and “…before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it altogether” is echoed in Matthew 6:32, “…your Father knows that you need them all.” God knows us inside out and beyond. Nothing is going to stop all that God has prepared for us, even in the midst of the worst scenario this world could throw at us; we will remain under the constant watch and care of our Shepherd. He will delight our soul with such assurance that all things, orchestrated by His fatherly love, are working together perfectly for our best – “Surely [His] goodness and mercy shall follow me all the day of my life.

It is soul-revelation, that the Shepherd who David speaks of, is also our Shepherd. We will never fathom what those words – “I shall not want” – really entail until we confidently know that God is our Shepherd.  Can we say, with the joy of a child’s excitement: The Lord is my Shepherd? It is in such a state of mind and heart that enables us to be content in whatever situation, because no matter what our circumstances, nothing will prevent our cup running over with the overwhelming reality of His personal care, that indeed we are the ‘apple of His eye’.

As simple as the above truth may sound to some, a personal knowledge and experience opens up its profundity to a height, depth and breadth immeasurable.