The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Ps. 23:1
Although many can verbally interpret what this verse is saying correctly, but the way we live it out gives a different interpretation. We live out this verse daily as if we employed or hired God to watch over us and ensure that we are protected and well cared for. The reality is that the Lord is the Master who owns us the sheep and we are to do His bidding so that we will not lack anything.
The sheep does not own itself. It is foolish, stubborn, weak, easy target for many predators and indispensably need the Shepherd, its owner, to survive and thrive. The Shepherd on the other hand is none other than God the Creator who made the sheep along with all other created things.
He is all powerful, knows everything, present everywhere, full of wisdom, holy, righteous, loving, kind, good, merciful, etc., etc.
He does not need the sheep to be fulfilled. The sheep cannot add or take away anything from God. He is self-contented and fulfilled – sheep or no sheep. But that is not true with the sheep. The sheep need God, the Shepherd, to be fulfilled. Any sheep that does not have God as its Shepherd will not survive and will be eternally destroyed. May we submit to the Lord, our Shepherd, as the Lamb of God submitted to the Father. Amen!
