Psalm 23 - I Shall Not Want
Tom Shrader continues his series on Psalm 23, focusing on the promise 'I shall not want.' He explains that this doesn't mean Christians won't face hardship or have desires, but rather that God provides everything His sheep truly need according to His wisdom. Shrader emphasizes that this comfort is only for genuine followers of Christ, not a universal promise, and that even in difficulties like walking through the valley of the shadow of death, the Lord remains our faithful Shepherd.
“Because the Lord is my shepherd, I'm going to give you everything that the shepherd thinks I need.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: Psalm 23
Recorded: September 24, 2015
Duration: 38 min
Themes: shepherding, provision, trust, contentment, uncertainty, hardship, comfort, faithfulness, facing uncertainty, struggling financially, going through hardship, new believer, feeling anxious, experiencing loss, young adult, seeking comfort
Scripture: Psalm 23:1, Psalm 23:4, John 15:18-19, John 16:33, John 14:1, 2 Corinthians 4:7-9, 1 Corinthians 1, Hebrews 11:33-36, Psalm 84:11, Philippians 4:19
Theological Themes: divine providence, god's provision, pastoral care, shepherding, covenant relationship, spiritual guidance, biblical meditation, scripture memory
Full Transcript
If you have Bibles, open them to Psalm 23. I passed out a sheet this week that looks like the one last week, but has some answers with it. Your life will be richer if you take this sheet, fold it in half, tuck it in your Bible, and take these words at the end. Take it and tuck it in your Bible.
I just got immersed in this 23rd Psalm. It was cool for me. It's a perfect example, and I think a great place to do this. When God says meditate on the Word day and night, this is a perfect Psalm for it. Perfect passage. So we're taking our time to work our way through the 23rd Psalm, a lot of review, a lot of reinforcement, a lot of challenging you to spend time thinking about this.
The Lord Is My Shepherd
The Lord is my shepherd. That's what we spent the time on the very first week. The Lord, Yahweh, God, is my shepherd. David uses imagery that would be fresh from his background. We're told that he tended sheep as a young man for many years. We also saw last week that David's not the only one to use the imagery of a shepherd. Jacob did, Ezekiel did, Isaiah did, but the Lord is my shepherd.
I found a wonderful book this week. I had breakfast with Jamie yesterday and we were just talking and I said, I've been listening to Howard Hendricks and Chuck Swindoll and he said, you've really gone retro. And I said, I really have, Jamie, but at least one of them's alive anyway. I found a little book that Chuck Swindoll wrote on the Psalms and I found it just like Monday. Swindoll writes this: "I've observed that few inner battles are more fierce than the daily grind of uncertainty. No doubt, you too have encountered one or more of its many faces." And then he lists the battles that you and I have in life.
It's for the dark hours of uncertainty that David penned a song we know as the 23rd Psalm. Another author writes, it is so simple yet sublime, so simple and yet profound. God understands people.
Everything Has Come Loose
The world's changing. I was listening to a tape of a Howard Hendricks talk from probably about 1990. And I thought the imagery was great. He said, everything that we thought in life was nailed down has come loose and we're trying to find the glue to put it back together again. And if that was true 30 years ago, that's really true now.
In our world, that's just the ebb and flow of it. Whether you're the little kid, as Brayden the other day, throwing the interception at the goal line and they lose the game. Or you're in school and things are tough. You're working for that scholarship and you didn't get it, so you have to go to the U of A. I mean, my life is functionally over at that point.
It could be any of these things and they just come. They just come to you and they come in waves. Some of them are these huge things and some are just the little aggravations of life and the way it feels and the frustration that comes to it. During the debate last week, my brother and I, my brother Dan, we text a lot. He's a political guy, I like to think I am. I'm texting him and finally the phone rang. He said, buddy, you have to let it go. Your head's going to explode. You're going to go nuts. This doesn't matter. This is like a joke. This is going to get serious another time. Let it go.
And I said, all right, all right, I'm fine. You get worked up on that and then it's the health thing you're going to have and it takes all your energy. Then you realize and you know it. It's just life.
Because the Lord Is My Shepherd
And the Lord is my shepherd. We camped on this last week. We said, if we wanted to, we could write in our Bible the word "because" at the beginning of that. Because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Because the Lord is my shepherd, He makes me lie down in green pastures. And I have rest and refreshment and healing and all of these things.
Now let's make sure we get this. That's not a universal promise. During the debate last week, Carly was unpacking personal tragedies that she's had in her life. She was talking, I think it was the next day, because now we're into the faith phase. Every presidential election goes through the faith phase and that's where everybody looks stupid. She said, my faith, whether you're a Christian or a Buddhist or a Muslim, whatever your faith provides you this comfort. Well I guess, I guess. But it's not the comfort that's the issue. Really important now. It's the truth.
Right now, the Pope's speaking to Congress. If he and I could trade places, how great would this be? I'm listening to Shepherd Smith and he's saying, you know, whether you're religious or not, this is an amazing moment. It's an amazing moment for people of faith. After all, it's about what Jesus said. I'm not saved by what Jesus said. That tells me how to live. I'm saved by the fact that Jesus died. These little words really matter.
The Difference Truth Makes
It's because you know Christ. My assumption is, it's not everybody in the room. Don't know all of you, don't know. Just statistically, it seems improbable that we're all followers of Christ. If you're a follower of Christ, the Lord is your shepherd. If He isn't, you can get some false comfort from this.
Three weeks ago, I had a kidney stone. I went in, they gave me a shot of Demerol and some Percocet, and I was great. Now, the stone was still there, but I felt good. I mean, I was trying to put on Jefferson Airplane and I was having flashbacks. It was awesome. I mean, it was great. Here you go, I got Demerol and Percocet and I'm watching the Cubs. How good can it be? It was awesome. Cubbies are right there too. You can feel it this year.
So in the middle of all of that, this stuff matters. Here's what I want you to get. I don't want you to draw false comfort.
From this, if you're not a follower of Christ, maybe religious, maybe sincere, sincerity doesn't matter. It's the object of your faith. If you know Christ, this is true.
Now, as a follower of Christ, here's the comfort: Because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Let me read you three other paraphrased translations. The NIV: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want." The New Living: "The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need." The Message: "God, my shepherd, I don't need a thing."
Now, here's where honesty is probably a little valuable here. That doesn't line up with my experience. I still want. I still have desires. I still get hungry. I still want certain things.
Understanding "I Shall Not Want"
So here's what He's saying. He's not saying those desires are going to go away. He said, "Here's the deal. Because the Lord is my shepherd, I'm going to give you everything that the shepherd thinks I need." The devil's in the detail here. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack anything. No uncertainty should frighten me.
So if we take it through the balance of the psalm, I shall not lack rest or provision. Why? He makes me lie down in green pastures. So in my life, everything I truly need is supplied by the shepherd Himself. That's not to say that I don't work and all the stuff that goes with it, it's to say that God is in charge.
Again, from Swindoll: God is my own personal shepherd. We spent probably 15 minutes on that last week. It doesn't say the Lord is a shepherd or the shepherd, but He's my shepherd. It's not this God that's distant and removed and "what a God He is," but He's my personal shepherd.
The Shepherd's Voice
"My sheep will hear my voice," Jesus says. In the old days, and I'm sure we didn't talk about it last week, they would take and they would commingle flocks at night for safety. So there might be five or six shepherds and flocks and they just put them in like a little pen area. Here's what they would do in the morning. They would go to separate places and the shepherd would merely call out. I mean, he could be Peyton calling out "Omaha, Omaha." You know, he could be calling out anything, but the sheep knew the voice. The sheep would hear and the flocks would go to their shepherd. "My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." That's the relationship that we have.
And because the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack anything. Again, I wrote in my notes, huge point: David means that God's sheep never lack anything that the shepherd thinks is good for them.
Life Isn't Always Easy
Now here's what that does not mean. That does not mean life is smooth and easy, right? If you drop down to verse four, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death," well, that seems to tell me things are pretty dark. I mean, the human condition is... I mean, Yogi dying. I don't know why that had an impact. I have three images of Yogi Berra. One is Jackie Robinson stealing home. The other's the perfect game. And the other's one you might not think of: 1960 World Series, when Mazeroski hits this home run to beat the Yankees in game seven, Yogi was actually playing left field. I just remember Yogi running up to the wall and turning around and running away.
He won 10 World Series. It's pretty amazing. Has the World Series records for doubles and hits. He led the Yankees when DiMaggio and Mantle were there, seven times led the Yankees with RBIs. It's amazing what an incredible player he was. And now here you go, get this now, and he's gone. That's true of all of us.
All of us have these things in life that are absolutely amazing. I'm not going to win 10 World Series. I can't win this fantasy football league. But I'm going to have those, right? And the good thing about a group like this is you're all old enough that you can go "amen" to this, if not verbally, in your mind.
God's Sovereignty in Dark Times
He's not saying life is going to be smooth and easy. He's not saying there isn't going to be any trouble. He's not saying every deal closes. He's not saying every kid is the perfect kid. He's not saying any of that. He's saying, huge point, in the midst of that, the Lord is your shepherd and you shall not want. The Lord is your shepherd in the midst of the darkest circumstance. And He either allowed or caused, whatever you're experiencing, He allowed or caused it for your good and His glory.
I'm watching the Iowa game, I assume all of you did, Saturday. I mean, and it's a night game at Kinnick. I mean, it doesn't get any better than this. And out there coming and leading them onto the field is a kid by the name of Brent Greenwood. Now, he went to Bettendorf High School, which means nothing to you, but right next to Davenport, he played with Tyler Sash. Tyler died, what, last week? And Brent's leading them out.
And he's at Bettendorf High, I think he was 24 years old, and he's working out. I think he signed as a walk-on free agent for somebody. And he's working out, he's 24, has a massive stroke. I said to Shani, "I'm crying like a baby." I said, "Look at this, it's Kinnick at night, they're doing black and gold sessions. I mean, it doesn't get any better than this." I said, "Oh my gosh, and I know Greenwood's the honorary captain tonight, but we probably missed all that." No, no, no, he's leading them out in his walker.
And I mean, you have to be just oblivious to not be touched by that. Well, you may not have that dramatic experience, but you have experiences like that in your life. Maybe you emotionally needed a walker just to get in here today, because you're so beat up, so tired, so hurting.
Where Our Hope Rests
And here's what He says: listen, you're going to have those things, that's okay. You're going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil, why? Because you're with me in everything we do. Our hope is not based on Republicans or Democrats, we know this, or college football or fantasy football. Our hope is based on the sovereignty of God, the character of God, the faithfulness of God, and the promises of God. Because He's the one that's in control. You and I aren't. And we're reminded of it every...
The Reality of Christian Expectations
If you have Bibles and the Gospel of John, John chapter 15. Now in John chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, if you have a red lettered Bible, meaning the words of Jesus are colored red, those four chapters are almost solid red. You need context here. It's the night before Jesus is to be crucified, and this is His farewell address to His guys. Judas is gone, the boys are left.
He says in John 14:1, "Let not your heart be troubled." But just like we just said, that's not to say everything's going to be okay. Chapter 15, verse 18: "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own, but because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."
He says in chapter 16, verse 33: "These things I've spoken to you, that in me you might have peace. In this world you will have tribulation." That's just the way it is. To think anything other than that is to not understand the human condition and the fact that Jesus didn't say, "I'm going to take you out of this world." No, I'm going to send you into this world and you're still going to have all of the difficulties of life, plus you'll have persecution.
Realistic Expectations Matter
So important: expectations. My daughter Sarah called, and several of you asked how she's doing. She's doing great. She called and said, "Dad, I've got a business question." She's got a little business thing that she's doing and she's frustrated. Imagine this: she's frustrated with the people she's managing. She's frustrated with their lack of motivation.
I said, "You should have been your dad and you'd know what this was like." She said, "Can you help me figure these things out and help me work with these people?" I said, "Sweetie, you need to have realistic expectations."
I'm watching yesterday Kirk Ferentz's press conference and he's talking about this week. They play a team they're 24 points favored against, which means they'll probably lose by 10. He's talking about a week like this and he's saying, "We can't afford to take a week off." He kept using the phrase "and they never," especially at Iowa. I think he's saying because it's a second tier program, and I'm okay with that. But he's saying, "We can't take a week off. We have to improve every week. That's our expectation."
I said to Sarah, "You've got to have realistic expectations of the girls you're working with." Expectations are everything.
Personal Struggles with Expectations
It's silly, okay, I can't play golf. I still can't swing the club. I was listening to Peyton Manning the other day and he was talking about coming back from shoulder surgery. I never heard this before. He said, "I lost spatial perspective with my arm." Would have been this arm. "I got it out here and I couldn't feel it and I didn't know where I was." That's where I am with my golf club. I get it back, I can't feel anything.
Here's what I know. I know me. I'm going to tee it up someday and I'm going to want to shoot 76, which I couldn't shoot when I could play. But it's expectation. When you come to the Christian life, you ought not think that there isn't going to be hardship. There's going to be hardship all over the place.
God Uses Ordinary People
I love this passage, 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verses 7, 8, and 9. I want to read you from The Message, so it's a paraphrase. If you've been around PL for a while, you're probably saying, "Tom, grab a new passage, you go there all the time." Well, I go there all the time because I love the realism of it.
Paul is writing to the church at Corinth. Paul is having a very difficult time, and Paul's not one of those guys that when you say, "How are you doing?" says, "Oh great, terrific." Here's what he writes: "If only you look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this message around in unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives." Here's what he's saying: God gave us the gospel to share. "That's to prevent anyone from confusing God's incomparable power with us."
Now to put that in 1 Corinthians 1, here's what Paul says: God uses ordinary people and ordinary things. Didn't choose the mighty, didn't choose the powerful, didn't choose the ones with dough. We got some of those, but that's not what we—that's what we would do if we had a project. If you gave us a project, I'd try to find the smartest guy. I'd say, "Do you know anybody? You know the governor? You know a senator? You know a business guy?"
He didn't do that. He said that would get in the way. He's not saying God doesn't use those people, but he's saying the majority of the church is average people. I've taken the gospel and I gave it to them so that when mighty things happen, you go, "God must be incredible. Look at that person."
An Unexpected Encounter
A few years ago I was flying into John Wayne and I was going to do a conference. I think we were up at Big Bear, and this guy picked me up. We're in the car, and it's a long ride. I threw a sports question at him and he said, "I'm not really a sports guy." Okay, we got a problem. What else? "Are you married?" "I'm not married." "I have no kids." I mean, I'm running down. "What's your favorite movie?" "I don't like movies." I'm going, I'm out. I don't know.
So he shut down. I mean, he acted weird, and I'm sure he thought I was weird. I said, "Are you all right?" He said, "Well, I'm really nervous about this weekend." I said, "Why?" He said, "I'm in charge of the whole thing. I made the arrangements," and we were going up to the UCLA Conference Center at Big Bear. I don't know if you've ever been up there, but it's a great place.
I said, "I've spoken there before. It's great." He said, "Well, I know that." I said, "They have unbelievable food." He said, "That's not my real worry." I said, "Well, the sound and the tech will be good." He said, "That's not my worry." I said, "Well, what's the problem?" He goes, "Well, I'm the one who picked you, and I expected more than this." I said, "Well, I'm—"
better when I don't practice well. I'm a game time guy. And he said, I literally said, you sound better on tape. I mean, I know what he's been through. I've done it. I speak at these places, and in comes the big guy and the suave guy, and I come waddling in, and I get it. But God, Paul's point is, God uses people like that.
Now listen to verse 8. As it is, there's not much of a chance of that, meaning confusing this. Paul's talking about his ministry: "You know for yourselves that there's not much to look at at all. We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized. We're not sure what to do, but we know God knows what to do. We've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side. We've been thrown down, but we're not broken."
That's what Paul said. Don't know where you are in the whole spectrum of the top billion people that are believers, but Paul's toward the top, we think. And Paul said, this is what I'm encountering. My point is, you're going to also. But don't be overwhelmed by that. Why? Because the Lord is my shepherd.
The Hall of Fame of Faith
Hebrews chapter 11 is the hall of fame of faith. It's those that Paul said, this is your heritage. These are the guys that went before you. Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and all of these, and Rahab.
Verse 33 of Hebrews 11: "Who by faith conquered kingdoms and performed acts of righteousness and obtained promises and shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, put foreign enemies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection." That's a big deal. I want to play on that team. I love that idea.
If you watch Christian TV, you'll watch a lot of guys, and they'll read up to the middle of verse 35. They love it. But let's finish it. "Others were tortured." Verse 36: "Others experienced mocking and scourging and chains and imprisonment. They were stoned." And whenever we use that word, we always point out that over time, words' meanings changed. He's not saying they sat around like, "Wow, how about that chain?" Not that. "They were stoned, sawn in two, tempted, put to death."
I'm not saying, and He makes no delineation here. He's not saying that getting back from the dead is better than getting beaten. He's just saying, this is part of the overall deal. Don't know how it's going to shake out for you personally. But here's what we know: The Lord is my shepherd. I never lack anything that the shepherd thinks is good for me.
Why Does God Allow Hardship?
So why does He put me through the fire? Why does He allow that to happen? It's so interesting to listen to somebody interview a person who's had hardship. And they'll ask questions like this: Did that shake your faith? Did you ever get angry with God?
No. I had the boys out, and Yale is the competitive one. Yale is seven, Braden's nine, and Yale's a grinder. Right now he's 0-2 and Braden and I are 2-0 in fantasy football. And he's driving me nuts. I mean, he won't let it go. "I'll trade you CJ Anderson." I said, "Buddy, you're 0-2. You got nothing I want. You got nothing. Nothing. Zero."
And he said, "Well, you know what? I'm going to go home and you and Braden think about this. You talk it over." I mean, I'm going to own a '62 Suburban by the end of this conversation. And I said, "No, I got to go for a walk. I got to get the blood flowing." So we're out the door.
And he said, "Here you go. I'll give you Michael." I said, "Buddy, I don't want Michael Crabtree. You got nothing. I want nothing. Zero." We're walking a little further. He said, "Did you see the Cubbies game yesterday?" And I said, "Yeah." And he said, "Papa, they're going to be..." And now he's just working the Cubs thing on me. And I said, "Buddy, stop. Leave me alone. Stop."
And he said, "All right. Okay." He said, "You know, I looked at your team. You need a running back." I said, "All right." He's the one, by the way, he's in second grade. And for math, he goes up to fourth grade. So I said to him, "Is math hard?" Here's what he said: "I'm sure it is for some kids." He's incredible. I mean, if you can channel that, he is the perfect... And why he's so competitive, but losing doesn't kill him. And I imagine he loses and he somehow can recalibrate. When I lose, I'm devastated. He goes, his view is if the other eight guys played harder, we would have won. I don't know what happened. He's just unique.
A Story About Surgery
So finally I'm going, how am I going to stop this? Because we got another half mile to walk. And he said, and then Braden, who's the tender one said, "Pop, are you all right walking? How do you feel?" I thought I got him now. I said, "Well, you know, my heart, I'm working on my heart since the surgery."
And he said, "What was the surgery like?" Now I know I got him. I said, "Well, they cut it." I said, "You want to see the..." I felt like LBJ. I said, "You want to see the scar?" And he said, "Oh wow." I said, "Yeah. And they get out the saw." He said, "A saw? What do they do with a saw?" "Well, they cut this bone open." "Really?" And I'm thinking, I haven't heard of a trade deal in 30 seconds now. I got him.
"And they cranked this open. And I said, they got in there, and my lungs are hardened. So the doctor said, that presented a problem. So he had to move my heart." "Oh, he moved your heart? How did they do that?" And I said, "Well, I wasn't awake. I don't know how they did it."
And so now he said, "Were you afraid?" I said, "No." "Did you think you were going to die?" "I don't know." He said, "Could you have died?" And I said, "Yeah, I guess." He said, "Wow. Tell me about that." I don't remember what my point was, but that was a great story.
The Problem Isn't Scarcity - It's Abundance
Let me illustrate this with my own life. This last week, someone asked me about adversity and difficult times. "Did you get scared? Were you afraid? Did you think God had abandoned you?" My honest answer? No. My problem isn't that God has abandoned me. My problem is Maid-Rite burgers and Whitey's ice cream and Happy Joe's pizza. That's my problem. It's not God abandoning me.
You see, that's the normal flow of life. Why would God allow or cause difficult circumstances? Because He's got something better for you. He'll take you through the valley of the shadow of death, and there'll be no evil. Look at verse 3: "He leads me in paths of righteousness." He's in control. He's got control of all of life.
Psalm 84:11 says, "No good does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly." Philippians 4:19 declares, "My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches." Because the Lord is my shepherd, I don't lack anything.
We Are the Sheep, He Is the Shepherd
Remember what we talked about sheep last week? These are six characteristics from Chuck Swindoll that describe us as sheep with Him as our shepherd. Sheep lack a sense of direction. They're virtually defenseless. They're easily frightened. They're by nature unclean. They can't hunt or find food on their own. Swindoll adds this: a sheep's wool does not belong to the sheep but to the shepherd. You belong totally to Him.
In this life—and this isn't insulting, it's just descriptive—we're kind of defenseless and helpless and can't really feed ourselves spiritually. But you shall not want.
The Prison of Want
Max Lucado writes something I wish I could write like this. It's awesome: "Come with me to one of the most populated prisons in the world. The facility has more inmates than bunks, more prisoners than plates, more residents than resources. Come with me to the world's most oppressive prison. Just ask the inmates—they'll tell you. They're overworked, underfed. Their walls are bare. Their bunks are hard. No prison's so populated. No prison's so oppressive. And what's more, no prison's so permanent. Most inmates never leave. They never escape. They never get released. They serve a life sentence in this overcrowded facility. The name of the prison—you see it over the entrance, rainbow-arched over the gates in four cast iron letters that spell out its name: W-A-N-T. The prison of want."
You've seen their prisoners. They're people who want something—something bigger, something nicer, something faster, something thinner. And what he's describing is us.
Are You in Prison?
Lucado asks the question: Are you in prison? You are if you feel that when you have more, you're better, and when you have less, you're worse. You are if joy comes through stuff. If happiness comes from something you deposit, drive, drink, or digest, then face it—you're in a prison, the prison of want.
And that's the human condition, isn't it? I watch too much college football, but I love Saturday. At Iowa, we don't have a quarterback dilemma—our dilemma is if this one gets hurt, we're in real trouble. Look at Ohio State with Cardale, JT, and Braxton. Urban Meyer is 34-3 since he got there, and they're worried they didn't win enough. There's no end to that.
If I'm going to find my identity in a person, place, or thing other than Jesus, I'm in the prison of want.
Living Free from Want
Now, this doesn't mean you don't need food. It doesn't mean I don't need provisions. It's not a call to be lackadaisical. It's not that because we love Jesus, we're not supposed to be the best at what we do. We should be the best we can be.
But here's the design—and this is really important: Everything you need, you have. And that's not meant to make you apathetic. That's meant to bring you comfort. That's meant to allow you to live life free.
Here's what I know about golf. I've read 48 billion books on golf, and everybody's got something different. But the one thing they all say is hold the club like you'd hold a bird—firmly enough to contain it but not hurt it. Hold the club just hard enough. I used to watch my dad play, and before he'd swing, you'd see his forearms just tense up. You could see the muscles. It's that last move—that big grab where he thinks, "I'm going to hit it harder." Although it's counterintuitive, the lighter I hold the club, the better I'll hit the ball because the freer my arms and shoulders are, and I can swing the thing.
He's given you all you need so you aren't holding life tight but loosely, and you can be the person He's called you to be.
Count Your Blessings
I was pulling up some old songs: "Count your blessings, name them one by one. Count your blessings, see what God has done." "Oh, what a fellowship, what a joy divine, leaning on the everlasting arm, safe and secure from all alarms."
There's a sense—not to be cocky but to be confident—that you're bulletproof. That doesn't mean arrogance and parachuting out of a plane without a parachute and driving carelessly down the freeway. It doesn't mean that. It means that all you need, because the Lord is your shepherd, you shall not want.
Next week, we'll look at "He makes me lie down in green pastures." What does that mean? We'll explore that together.
Father, thank You for this truth. In one way, it's so elementary, but because it's elementary, it's so essential for us to grasp this understanding. Personal pronoun: I am Yours. You are my shepherd. And it frees me from focusing on what I don't have, because I know that I have all I need, because You're the one who provides. God, that's easy to grasp sitting here in this room. It's kind of hard sometimes when the door kicks open and out we go and life comes at us. God, we got the classroom part. Now we go into the lab. Teach us, we pray. And we ask You, in Christ's name, amen.