Hosanna Restoration Church

Most of us have learned or heard the 23rd Psalm saying, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Many have interpreted it then to mean that there would be something wrong with wanting anything! The idea being that God has everything planned out and if we have desires it would somehow mess up His plans. In order to think this way, it is necessary to forget scripture that says God desires to give us the desires of our hearts, as well as Jesus command that we ask for anything and everything in His name. There are many other scriptures that come to mind, but we can study that out at another time.

I like to join the New Living Translation in declaring that I have everything I need. I am learning that if I don’t have it in my hand, I certainly have it in my shepherd! What is not here now is either on its way to me, or I am on my way to it! No matter what, as long as the Lord is my shepherd, things are under control. How do you respond to that idea? The more the Lord takes me through His word challenging me to evaluate my response, the more I am convinced I did not know much when we started this! It is like one of those large rooms that the Lord opens and I am simply amazed at the size and potential of all that I see. I want to respond with the faith of a child!

What if we look at Psalm 23 as a liberator rather than a limiter? What if we consider Jesus to be a great shepherd, with only great plans for every part of our lives? For instance, what if the place we are in right now is running out of green grass? What if we are feeling like we are stuck in short brown grass? We better look up! It could just be that the Lord is leading the flock to the next great green place, but we were so busy being disgruntled by our circumstances that we forgot to consider that our shepherd makes us lay down in green meadows!

What if we find ourselves wading around in murky waters? It does not matter if the mess we are in is one of our own making or someone else’s. The longer we circle around in it the worse it gets and the worse we get. But wait a minute. The Lord is my shepherd; He leads me beside clear, still waters! So what am I doing here?

If I feel weak; no problem, he strengthens me. If I am headed in wrong direction, there He is to lead me the right way. If I will allow Him to, He has the way to make me look good, so He gets the glory.

Even if I am convinced it could never get better and I am in a valley of the shadow of death, He has the solution. Everything I need is in the name of Jesus. Everything I could ever want is wrapped up in my confidence in His Word. So whose report should we believe? Let the Lord speak to you concerning the rest of this Psalm; you will be blessed! Keep your eyes on the shepherd and trust that He knows where He is going and what He is doing. We can all rest in Him!