Ps. 23: 1, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
If we think for a moment about the context of Ps. 23, it is about the warrior taking rest. David is the warrior king, called to defeat God’s enemies. The valley of the shadow of death that David speaks of here is the battlefield, a place of death and carnage. He knows that God protects him and that is what gives him confidence in the battlefield. In some ways that can make the song less relatable because few of those who will read this post are warriors. Yet let us remind ourselves that if God is with the warrior who is constantly confronted with death, he certainly can and will protect me.
At the very center of the Psalm are the words, “you are with me.” The Hebrew structure is fascinating because there are 26 words before these words and 26 words after these words. 26 is a way of numerically symbolizing the name Yahweh, the name of God. This Psalm is all about God’s closeness to the Christian. Particularly, as the Christian enters dangerous and hard situations.
God is our shepherd. That is another way of saying that God is our king. Kings and shepherds are closely linked in the scriptures. God is with the Christian as he rests and God is with the Christian as he approaches his field of battle, whether it is with his own sin or the various conflicts and trials that God brings into our lives. We may always say, “God is with me.”
This is why the Psalmist can say “I shall not want.” It’s not that he or any other Christian never wants anything. Christians go hungry. Christians get sick and die. We die on battlefields. The reason we shall not want is that God is with us. And in having God with me I have everything.
Even though most Christians no longer fight on a literal battlefield, the words of this Psalm remain very real for the Christian. Every Christian knows the fight of internal sin. The Psalm talks about the valley of the shadow of death, for David the battlefield, for the Christian depression, fear, and anxiety, which the devil uses to turn the Christian against his God. For the Christian we can add to the attacks of the world, whether it be mockery or lies. These two can tempt the Christian. But then he remembers who his shepherd is.
But the Christian knows, “my God is for me.” And that’s the beauty of this Psalm. It’s a picture of promised rest. David the warrior may take rest in green pastures. The Christian may take rest from his sin in coming to worship God. David the warrior received a table in front of his enemies. The Christian eats at the Lord’s Table where he announces God’s triumph over sin death and hell. The Christians announces the ultimate triumph over his enemies before that has actually happened.
Remember God is my shepherd. That means that there will come a day where I will find satisfaction in him. My cross will become a crown.