The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. – Ps. 23:1 KJV
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The scripture today is the first verse of one of the popular Psalms written by King David. In that opening verse, King David confidently asserts that he “shall not want”. To want is to desire to possess something or to wish for something. Does that mean that King David has lost the human nature to desire or does it mean that he has all that he requires and so does not wish for any other thing again. Both assumptions will most likely be wrong because just as the human desire is what sustains human beings or any living thing for that matter, no one can actually claim to have all that he or she wants so it becomes more curious as to what may be going on in the mind of King David when he wrote that statement that he “shall not want”.
His thoughts for making this assertion may be available in his reason for making such assertion. He states in the same scripture that he will want nothing because the Lord is his shepherd. That is very good to know but does that mean that he will get all he desires and so will not want anything? That definitely also cannot be true. The Apostle John says we will get all that we ask for in prayer only if we ask according to what the Almighty God Wills for us (1Jn. 5:14-15) and the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians prayed for God to provide “all their needs” – Phil. 4:19. It is possible to grant all that a man wants if all those wants are defined by what God Wills for the person or they are indeed essential things which will be classified as needs.
In making the assertion, King David described God as his Shepherd. He states that he will not “want” because the Almighty God is guiding and directing his life in the best way. In this position he becomes a sheep or lamb. The opposite of being a lamb will be for one to be a goat, an animal that is hardly associated with shepherds.
For you reading this to be in a position to assert like King David did, that you will not want anything in life, you must have accepted the leadership and the supremacy of the Will of God over every aspect of your desire. You will have made up your mind not to have any want as you have entrusted the Lord with all that your life wants or needs and your desires are only those things that he has laid in your heart as His wish for you, and even those you have left him to bring it to manifestation in His own time and season. To be a sheep or lamb shepherded by God will be to:
1. Be quiet in His presence. You are only in His presence to present your experiences to him and listen to what directives he has for you and not to dictate to him all those desires that do not originate from him.
2. Be gentle whilst waiting for him to provide what he seems as the best solution for your situation. In this position, you will have the habit of waiting for him no matter how long he seems to be taking to arrive knowing that he is never late.
3. Be separate from the earthly worries and desires. Nothing in the world is interesting to you except those things that He has allocated to you. All that He has created are beautiful but your desire is only for those things that he has given to you.
4. Be willing to subject oneself to His leadership. It means that you are only taking instructions and guidance from Him and no other no matter the prevailing situation.
5. Be ready to esteem Him at all times. You elevate Him to what He should be in your life in words and deeds and publicly acknowledging Him as who He truly is in your life – your God.
6. Be obedient by developing a reliable communication link with Him so as to be able to know his thoughts about your situation at all times and willing to carry out all the instructions without holding back on any.
It is the ability to have this kind of attitude towards the Almighty God that will make Him your Shepherd and you will then be able to say to anyone that since He is your Shepherd, you will not “want”.
What is that request that seems to be troubling your mind for so long as it seems it is not been granted, you will be better off if you can leave it for your Shepherd to resolve as with him he either will do it for you in His own time or has an alternative that will better suite your life. If indeed the Lord is your Shepherd, you will not be bothered at all about it not getting to you as you will entrust him with all the affairs of your life. With the Lord as your shepherd, all that desperation and frustration will disappear and you will be contented with what you have, believing that He is too responsible a shepherd to allow His sheep to lack. That is when you too can say that you will not want.
May God grant the ability to us, to be able to see and accept Him as our shepherd in Jesus name. Amen.
