Verse: Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Devotional Thoughts:
Some years ago, I accompanied my dad on a mission trip to Honduras. We landed in one of the major cities, San Pedro Sula, and proceeded to drive about 150 miles through the countryside to reach our destination. We were working in the small village of San Francisco, Honduras. The poverty there was extensive. The roads were exclusively made of dirt. The huts that the locals called home had dirt floors. I remember seeing a lady sweep the dirt floor of her hut, using a homemade broom. No running water. No electricity. No modern medicine. For our group to talk to family back home, we had to drive to a nearby city to use a phone, and, even then, there was a 15 second lag both ways.
But even with the obvious financial and economic differences between our group and the local Hondurans, one area that didn’t seem entirely different was in the church.
Sure, the sound system wasn’t compatible, they weren’t able to keep their church at a cool 70 degrees, and they spoke an entirely different language. However, I didn’t need any of that to know that, when the guitarist started up a familiar tune, and the congregation began singing the verse “Sublime gracia cuán dulce el sonido,” we were singing a song I could join in on. We were singing Amazing Grace, our group in English, and their congregation in Spanish.
It struck me then. The same God that we trusted and worshiped back in the States was the same God these Hondurans were trusting here in their village. The same God that had promised to be with us in America is the same God that has promised to be with them in Honduras too.
Points to Ponder:
Many times we filter this verse through the things we think we want. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want – there are countless ways we could understand what it means to not want. I shall not want for…the finances to afford what I want or what I think I need. I shall not want for…the vehicle I need to get from point A to point B. I shall not want for…an excellent doctor’s report.
But the reality is that God is much more concerned with our spiritual needs. The paralyzed man was lowered through the roof by his friends and Jesus responded, not by telling him to walk or proclaiming him healed, but rather by saying, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.” The man wasn’t looking for forgiveness – he was looking for healing.
What David is getting at in this verse is not that he won’t lack for anything because the Lord is his shepherd, but that he already doesn’t lack for anything because the Lord is his shepherd.
Even when he’s dodging Saul’s spears, hiding in caves, or running from Saul’s army, he shall not want. Why? Because the Lord is caring for him. In other words, he shall not want because he already has all he wants.
And, whether we know it or not, that’s what we all truly want. St. Augustine once remarked, “Our hearts are restless until they’ve found their rest in Him.” Regardless of if we’re living in a cave in the wilderness, a dirt-floor hut in Honduras, or a two-bedroom house in Bells, what we all really want is to find our rest in our Shepherd.
Read Psalm 37:4
Blessings,
Zac
