Day 50: Not Lacking
Read: Psalm 23:1–3
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
— Psalm 23:1 (ESV)
Reflect
You may know this verse better than any other in the Bible. Try to hear it fresh.
In Hebrew it is only four words. Hebrew does not even need the little word "is." It reads something like: "The LORD — my shepherd. I will not lack." Four words. Nothing missing.
The word for "my shepherd" is ro'i. It is built from the verb "to shepherd": a shepherd is one who shepherds. And the rest of the psalm shows this Shepherd at work "all the days of my life" (v. 6). He is not a shepherd who did some shepherding once. He keeps on shepherding — today, tonight, tomorrow morning.
"I shall not want" means "I shall not lack." That is the old meaning of "want" in English: to be without.
Read carefully, the verse does not promise you will never feel want. Sheep get hungry and thirsty. They wander and get scared. The psalm does not pretend otherwise. What it says is that the shepherd is the one you belong to. Your lack is his concern, because you are his.
The rest of the psalm unpacks those four words: green pastures, still waters, right paths, a table, a cup that overflows.
Across Scripture
Near the end of his life, Jacob spoke of "the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day" (Genesis 48:15). Through Ezekiel, God promised that he himself would search for his scattered sheep and care for them (Ezekiel 34:11–16). Then Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11).
Sit With It
The psalm does not say you will never feel want. It says who you belong to. Read the verse slowly today, one word at a time, out loud.
Pray
You are my shepherd.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.