I Lack Nothing

Psalm 23:1

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.”  

As I was growing up, we went to church every Sunday and most of the time on Wednesday also. I had youth group on Wednesday night with my brother while my parents went to Wednesday night church. We heard plenty of messages from a variety of people about the Bible and Christianity, none more interesting than the ones about sheep.

It would always start off with the verse comparing us to sheep and how Jesus was our shepherd. In order to drive home the point of this analogy, the preacher would always say, “Does anyone know how dumb sheep are?” Over half the congregation would raise their hands like they had a sheep-raising business, but the truth is that most of them had only heard stories. Stories like, if one sheep would jump off the cliff, then all the others would follow.

I was having a hard time comparing myself to dumb sheep. It was a little difficult because, after all, I am not that dumb, I thought. Maybe the sheep comparison is right though. Maybe it is not how dumb we are, it is just that we are incapable of leading ourselves away from harm and ultimately having provision enough to lack nothing. After all, sheep were on the earth a long time before the shepherds came along, and they survived just fine. It wasn’t until the shepherds came along that the sheep were being used for survival. The shepherds knew how to keep the sheep from harm so they grew up and provided clothing and food for families. The shepherds did not think the sheep were as dumb as a rock, they just needed to be cared for so they could survive longer.

Without the shepherd, the sheep were at the mercy of the wolf, they say, a much more advanced creature built for killing. Can I submit to you that without God in your life, survival can happen, but your survival is at the mercy of the wolf, and the wolf is Satan, and he has much more at his disposal to steal from you and to kill your drive for God than you have to keep him away. His only goal is to kill and eat.

Psalm 23 is about the Lord being our shepherd, and He is with us no matter where we go, the mountaintops or the dark valley, He is with us. The wolves had no pleasure in taking out every sheep because they would lose their food source. Satan has no pleasure in taking you out, he would rather use you to drag more of your friends away from the safety of the Lord. Today, repeat the phrase from verse one above: “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” You are not left on an open field alone and vulnerable. You have a great shepherd, His name is Jesus, and with Him you lack nothing.

Prayer: Father, I pray that I realize that You are with me, and even though I might feel alone, I am never alone because You are always with me, and I have all that I need in You, Father. I pray that I remind myself that I am a citizen of heaven and Jesus is my advocate, and that I am blessed no matter where I go because the good Lord is with me, and He takes care of me even when the wolves are near. In Jesus’ name, amen.