The Shepherd - Meeting our Needs

My text today comes once again from the 23rd Psalm: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.”

Last time we tried to unpack that first clause, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and we’ve seen how Scripture describes this Shepherd as the One through whom everything that has been made was made. We know this Shepherd as holy, as merciful, and as deeply in love with you and me as individuals. Finally, Scripture wants us to know Him as our personal protector. Which brings us to that next clause, “I shall not want.”  It’s important that we inseparably link those two clauses of this first verse – The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Thus, the REASON we shall not be in want is BECAUSE of Who our Shepherd is.

First, let me say at the outset that it is most unlikely that David meant – or even thought – that the child of God would never be hungry or cold or sick or sad or lonely. We learn from reading 1 and 2 Samuel and his many Psalms that David often suffered various deprivations – not only while King Saul was forever trying to kill him, but also when his own son, Absalom, tried to kill him as well.

So, what did David mean when he wrote, “I shall not want”? Another translation renders it, “I shall not lack anything I need.” I think it’s most likely that because David knew His Shepherd passionately loved him, he could therefore have the confidence that his Shepherd would tend to his needs just as – even better than – when David, while a shepherd, tended his own sheep.

I don’t want to move any further than this point for a moment because you need to ask yourself, as I need to ask myself – since the Almighty Creator is our Shepherd – do we now, as we sit in this sanctuary – do we have the same confidence as David had?  And if not – WHY not? Do we hold in the back of our minds the thought that goes like this: Yes, I know God cares for OTHERS . . .  but sometimes I am unsure that He care in the same way for me?

If that is the case – even if you are reluctant to admit it either out loud or quietly in your own heart – if you think your heavenly Father places some of His children into different ‘Care’ and ‘Love’ categories, let me remind every Christian in this sanctuary that Jesus Himself said that the Father loves YOU with the SAME love with which the He loves Jesus. (John17:23)

That means every Christian is in the SAME category of love and care as is Jesus Himself. And it is a lie straight from the tongue of Satan when the devil whispers that our Good Shepherd has placed ANY of His sheep in separate ‘love’ or ‘care’ categories. Listen, please, when doubts arise in your heart – go back to the Bible. What does it say about God's individual love for each individual child of His through faith in Christ?

Our Good Shepherd said it quite clearly in John 16:27 ‘The Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.”

So, back to the 23rd Psalm and that clause, “I shall not want” – or, “I shall not lack anything I need” and be reminded that it is the Almighty Lord who is our Shepherd.

St Paul might have had this text in the back of his mind when he wrote to the Christians at Philippi: (Philippians 4:19) “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” And perhaps Isaiah had this psalm in mind when he wrote of the Great Shepherd who tends to EACH INDIVIDUAL sheep: (Isaiah 40:11) “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

During our Friday Bible study several weeks ago, we looked at the Lord’s parable of the Lost Sheep. Most of you know the Parable; only one sheep out of 100 sheep was lost. Only one out of 100 had wandered off. It was lost. And frightened. And in danger from predators. It was in great need of being found, of being protected, of being taken care of. The point of the Lord’s parable should be obvious: The Good Shepherd leaves the 99 safely in the fold to look for the one who is lost. And isn’t that story like the story of parents even today? When they were toddles, didn’t we rush to bend down, take our hurting or frightened child into our arms and soothe away their tears? They didn’t need a lollipop from us at that moment. They needed our snuggles, our comfort, and our protection.

Listen to Lord’s comment along this thought: “What man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew 7:9-11)

I hope you see why it is so very important that we inseparably link those two clauses in this first verse of Psalm 23. The Omnipotent Creator God is our Shepherd. Therefore, it is no wonder we shall not be in need of anything that is good for us – physical things, surely. But also – and really, more importantly – the intangible things as His great and superabundant love, care, mercy, forgiveness, and grace. Our Shepherd WILL provide His sheep with everything they NEED. But there are times – and we have all experience with this – there are those times when what WE think we need is not the same as what the Shepherd KNOWS we need.

So, how then should we proceed with Christ under those circumstances? Well, the apostle Paul can be an example. Notice what he wrote to the Christians in Philippi: (Philippians 4:11-13) “[It is not] that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

Paul did not write this from religious theory. He wrote it from hard experience. Notice also what he wrote to the Corinthians some five years earlier:” (2 Corinthians 11:24-28): “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches.”

Talk about deprivation – THAT was deprivation. Yet he wrote to the Philippians that he learned from EXPERIENCE how to get along in all kinds of deprivations. He learned from experience that the Good Shepherd will always supply his NEEDS – not necessarily his ‘wants.’ So, what’s been your experience with the Good Shepherd during your life? That’s a serious and important question for your spiritual welfare and your ability to grow in faith. And please hear this:

Perhaps it is BECAUSE so many of God's sheep in the pews live Monday through Sunday on their own that they scoff at the apostle Paul’s promise to the Christians at Corinth: “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)

They scoff because they believe the Shepherd HAS given them more than they can endure. But guess what? They are correct to say such things. Why? Because the Good Shepherd never intended for His sheep to go through life on their own, with hardly any thought about their Creator. He never intended us to make important decisions without so much as a glance toward the Shepherd for guidance. Our Creator Shepherd never intended for His sheep to face on their own the trials all humanity is subject to. “My sheep hear My voice,” Jesus said, “and they follow Me.”  Listen again to the apostle, who learned the lessons that I just spoke of: “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

The Lord’s sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him. If you know your Bible, you know one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to guide His sheep into truth. (John 16:13) “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth.”  And St James wrote: (James 1:5) “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” And God urges His sheep through Jeremiah: ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ (Jeremiah 33:3)  

And finally to this point, Jesus told His disciples: (Matthew 11:28-30) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

The Lord is our Shepherd. We shall not be in need of anything He deems necessary to us for life, health, and well-being. But like wayward sheep in a flock of real sheep, so it is that you and I, God's sheep, can go astray. And it is that troubling reality that we should diligently guard against.  

Listen to the Good Shepherd speak through David in one of his other psalms: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you. Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you.” (Psalm 32:8-9)

The Lord is our Shepherd. And it is precisely because David knew of the Shepherd’s desire and intent to guide His sheep, to protect them, to nurture them, that he wrote those next lines that remain exquisitely relevant to His sheep in 2025: “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”

I draw your attention to those verbs: He Makes; He Leads; He Restores; He Leads. You see, it’s all HIM; It’s all what HE does for us. Then do we so often resist Him? Like the wayward sheep in the Lord’s parable I mentioned a little while ago, we think we know better than our Creator Shepherd. We give lip service to prayer, hardly thinking about asking God for direction in our daily decisions. I am not talking about asking Him if we should have eggs or cereal for breakfast – although there would be nothing wrong with that – but about guiding us especially about decisions that are of much greater consequence. You can fill in the blanks with that one because only you can know what decisions you face, perhaps even today, that can have far-reaching consequences.

It’s all Him and what He does for us. But then the question arises: WHY does He ‘make me’ and ‘lead me’ and ‘restore me’? Because it’s also all about us.

As many of you know, I minister each week at a Memory Care center where the residents are in varying degrees of memory loss. I meet with them each week to encourage them in God's love. A few weeks ago, I asked them a question I’ve asked them before: “Why do you think God loves us?” And immediately one of the women piped up: “He loves us because He created us in His image.”

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more succinct and truthful answer – even from those without dementia.

Why does our Good Shepherd make us and lead us and guide us? Because He loves us. He loves us with a love that can only be described as totally incomprehensible to sinners such as you and I. But while His love is incomprehensible, the Holy Spirit helps the penitent to snuggle down into His love because the faith He gives us assures us that what He says of Himself and of His relationship with us is true – because God is always true.

I need to say that again: While the Good Shepherd’s love is incomprehensible, the Holy Spirit helps us to snuggle down into His love because what God says both of Himself and of the penitent is always true. And because of the Shepherd’s love for His sheep, David continues: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

There is too much in this short sentence to properly speak of today, so we will leave it for next time. But let me close today’s message by saying this as it relates to being led in the paths of righteousness: Sheep like to wander. That’s just what they do. And one of the shepherd’s roles is to lead them along safe paths. You and I also like to wander. That’s just what our sin nature causes us to do. And that’s why the hymn makes sense to the honest Christian: “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart; O take and seal it; Seal it for thy courts above.”

The Good Shepherd leads us along paths of righteousness for the sake of His name, for the sake of His glory. But there is also another reason He leads us along those paths – and when we let Scripture interpret Scripture, we learn that reason has everything to do with our safety and protection. I know I spoke about this theme last week, but I purposely and purposefully address it again because repetition is good and necessary for sheep like you and I to finally ‘get it.’

And keep it.

The Lord Creation is our Shepherd. His sheep hear His voice, and they follow Him. So, do you routinely listen for His voice? Do you routinely listen TO His voice when He tells you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left”? (Isaiah 30:21) Those are important questions every person in this sanctuary must answer every day, day after day, throughout our lives.

We’ll spend a lot more time with ‘the paths of righteousness’ when we come back to this psalm next week.