The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 (NKJV)
PSALM 23 – DAY 1
There are two powerful words that David uses here:
Firstly, ‘IS' – David didn’t write ‘I hope’ or ‘maybe’… he wrote the word “is”. Confident, no questions, assured, God ‘IS'. David believed with all his heart and soul that the Lord IS.
Secondly, ‘MY' – David makes it personal. He didn’t use the words ‘ours', or ‘yours', but the “The Lord is MY”. God, who is almighty, all powerful, all knowing, eternal, is also personal – interested, invested, involved… David’s personal God. How revolutionised would our relationship with God be if we looked at it through those two words “is” and “my”. Confident that the God, who made heaven and earth is here, is our eternal father, is real and true… and He IS also MY personal savior, my ever present help, healer, redeemer and so much more.
Mostly we read this Psalm for comfort, but when you really dig into it, it does much more than comfort – it has grit, steel and determination weaved into every word and phrase. I can imagine David gritting his teeth, digging his heels in with a steely and unshakable confidence as he says “I shall not want”. Declaring over his life that no matter what situation or circumstance brings, he will stand in the providence and abundance of God. In plenty and in lack God is his source of hope, joy and peace… He will look no further than to God for what he needs.
And let’s not forget that David had an intimate understanding of shepherding. A shepherd both leads and protects, heals and encourages, guides and lives with his sheep. A humble connector, A strong leader, a gentle healer.
So today, make this verse personal, draw it into whatever you are going through and let it infuse determination and hope into your life.
In studying for this series, we spent a lot of time reading Spurgeon’s exposition of Psalm 23. Thank you Charles Spurgeon for breathing new life into this amazing Psalm. Much of what we have written has been inspired by his words.
Click the above image to PRE-ORDER the Limited Edition PktFuel MOD-CASE