I Shall Not Want

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." How many times have we heard or read these words? They have been woven into the very fabric of our spiritual lives over the years. If you went to Sunday School as a child, Psalm 23, was most likely the first Psalm that you learned. You probably even memorized it! You have carried it with you your whole life. You've heard it at almost every funeral that you've attended. You've stuck that little card, with the words written on it, in your Bible or on your refrigerator. How many devotionals have you read on this Psalm or books in which it is expounded upon? A zillion times, I'm sure. And even if you didn't attend a Sunday School or grow up religious, I'm sure that you are familiar with this Psalm as well. The problem with an all so familiar passage is that we become almost numb to it. We fly right past it when reading the scriptures or kind of tune it out during a message we are listening to, waiting for the next point. Can anyone relate to what I am saying?

Last week I was just going about my day, doing the usual things which needed doing. I wasn't really thinking about anything spiritual, just focusing on the task at hand. Suddenly, out of the blue, the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." popped into my head. I just kind of pushed it out of my mind and continued on." Again I heard, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." This time it got my attention. It pierced my soul and went deep into my spirit. The Lord is my Shepherd for sure, but not wanting? Well, my life has been full of wants lately and lots of needs. I had been thinking a lot about these very things. The Holy Spirit was just poured out in me at that moment. The peace of the Lord flooded the very depths of my being. Yes, despite all the needs and wants in our lives....We shall not want, for the Lord is our Shepherd. He is everything we need. He leads us, He restores us, He is with us in the tough times, He removes fear, He comforts us, He prepares for us, He fills us with His Holy Spirit until we are overflowing with His presence. His mercy and goodness follow us all the days of our lives, always there and ready to catch us. Best of all...We will dwell with Him forever. I dwell in His presence day by day. Don't you just love how His words are always fresh and new, no matter how often you have heard them before? In Him all things are made new and His mercies are new every morning!



The scriptures are never outdated and are forever new in our hearts. The Holy Spirit quickens them to our hearts, which means, takes a verse or section of scripture and makes it alive for us personally. How are the scriptures made new? Through Jesus, who is the the very Word of God, dwelling in those of us who believe. The gospel of John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God." also "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." Just take a moment to think about how truly awesome this is.

I have shared in a past post about my beginnings in this faith in Jesus and about my life-long health struggles and weaknesses, which have kept me near to Him. It was while in my early twenties that the Lord led me to spend some summers in Ocean Grove. I was young in my new found life in Jesus, desiring to learn of Him and  to grow in Him and to share what I had discovered. What better place than in this Camp Meeting ground, dating back to the 1800's, where great preachers and teachers of the past have spoken, where many of the great hymns of the faith were penned. I was invited to spend some summers in Tent City. It was here under a canvas on summer evenings, in the shadow of the Great Auditorium, that I penned many of my early lessons in Him. The other day I was strolling through the deserted Tent City on a mild winter day. The sidewalks were  empty except for the occasional dog walker passing by, the tents stored away until summer. I was remembering all the Lord had taught me there and that which He is still speaking and teaching. I have been through a lot since those days long gone....yet His Word abides forever. Seasons come and seasons go, as do the seasons of our lives, but some things never change. Our God is faithful and His grace is sufficient.

Through these most recent years of hardship and trial, I have learned a very valuable lesson concerning, "for My strength is made perfect in weakness." He has taught me that our strength is in Him. Our weaknesses cause us to draw upon His strength. It is in our infirmities that the power of Christ rests upon us. We can say with the Apostle Paul, "Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." It is when we are weak in and of ourselves that we are strong in Jesus. He is our sufficiency...our strength. Let us boast in Him alone!

I just looked down and there on a bookmark stuck in my Bible are the words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."