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I Shall Not Want


          The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23:1 KJV)

          There’s something about this verse, and maybe about the whole Psalm that demands to be shared in the King James Version. The explanation is probably simple. Because I learned it that way as a kid, it’s comfort food for the soul in a way that the more modern translations can’t quite touch. Another bit of housekeeping: there is an excellent book on shepherds, sheep, and their relationship called A Shepherd Looks At The Twenty-Third Psalm, by W. Phillip Keller. It looks like it’s available in PDF format online. I don’t plan to plagiarize it by telling you what he says. If you don’t have it, you might find it useful to get and read.
           The Wuhan virus has us all on edge. Some are on the precipice of fear, some of frustration, others of anger, and still others of grief. This means we feel in want of, or in need of something. We might say we need health, safety, freedom, control, comfort, faith, joy, hope, strength, something to do, a job… Feel free to add to the list.
            One of the things about sheep that Mr. Keller mentions is that they can be sheep-headed. They want what they want, and the grass over there looks better than the grass where they are. We also tend to be sheep-headed. In fact, we tend to be bull-headed about being sheep-headed.
          Sometimes, our sheep-headedness leads us to believe that this verse promises us riches beyond the wildest dreams of avarice and absolute protection from everything we consider harmful. But that’s not how this works. A good part of the time, we exclaim, “I need that!” and God’s answer is, “The Lord is your Shepherd.” We cry, “I need!” and He answers, “No, you don’t. You have Me.”
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want,” may not always be only a promise of provision. It can also be a challenge to ourselves. It is “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” but it is also, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”  How often do we permit ourselves to want what we do not need? This is not to say that wanting something is wrong. It may be a desire God has placed on our hearts, but wanting something (lacking something) is not the same as wanting something (desiring something), and that is not the same as wanting something (making it the focus of our lives.) How often do our wants become the focus of our attention? The Lord is my shepherd. He guides, directs, provides, and cares for. That thing we want won’t fulfill us as He can.
Say it aloud, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Change the emphasis. See which focus feels the hardest to declare to yourself. That’s the focus of your prayer today.

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