'The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. '
Psalm 23:1 ESV
'But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? '
Matthew 6:30 ESV
The first verse of the 23rd psalm is one that most Christians, and even most people in the Western world, know or have heard at some point in their lives. I want to focus strictly on the first verse and its importance in the Christian walk.
I shall not want.
How wonderful a promise! The Lord provides for us. So what does it mean to “shall not want”? Well, first off, it means not to worry about the future, or what you will have in the future, or what you won’t have in the future. Instead, it means to understand that what you have in Him is enough. Isn’t that wonderful? It’s not just shall not want, but that in reality, you don’t have to want. Consider the words of Jesus in our passage from Matthew’s Gospel. It is here that we see the lovely promise of God’s grace and providence. It’s true. God does take care of the grass and the lilies and the clovers and even the mushrooms that grow after a spring rain, only to wither and fade away. Man was made in the image of God. We are a special creation, close to Him and precious to Him.
When I was younger, there was an oak tree behind my house. It was a massive tree, possibly ancient. This verse from Matthew always makes me think of that tree. I always think that, for the possible hundreds of years that that massive oak sat in the forest, never once did it worry, and never once did it fear.
So, if God takes care of the silent oak, which is lost deep within the woods, how much more will he provide for man, whom he reflects.
As you go through your day, I invite you to consider that oak tree. Today, when worries or doubts enter your mind, think “God cares for that oak tree, so He will also take care of me.”