"I shall not want." Psalm 23:1
Familiar words most can quote without thinking about them. I know I can, but quoting mindlessly does nothing for me and cheapens God's words. God wrote those words through King David, so essentially, God is the one speaking. Allow me to rephrase.
I, God, am your shepherd. You shall not want.
The word want is not what we think of today. We say, "I want..." and we mean "I desire to have..." But in this Psalm "not want" means "to not need". Like the sheep in the picture, God meets our needs. Shade. Food. Attention. Comfort. Discipline. Correction.
Those last two words don't seem very nice, but a life without either discipline or correction is stunted, empty, and useless. A life without discipline has no purpose or direction. Without correction, we are left to our own foolish, sinful devices. God sends trial, tragedy, and toil our way to make us better, to teach us to be more like Him.
What do I need?
So what do I need? Warm fuzzy feelings. All the money I can get. Children. Happiness. A husband. A house. A car. A job. Maybe. Maybe not. God withholds things because He sees the entire pasture, if you will. He sees what is best for us, even if that means doing without. We may never know why we are without or why God took so long to give us what we asked for, but the Good Shepherd never lies. We can trust Him completely. We must. Faith in God is the only way to salvation and genuine, lasting peace.
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