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In Psalm 23:1 (NKJV), David made a bold declaration. He said: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. David knew God. And what David knew about God allowed him to have confidence in God.
From Scripture we know that David knew the responsibility of a shepherd. Samuel 17:34-35 (NIV) states: But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.” From these two verses we see the extent that David – a good shepherd – went to take care of the flock under his care.
Psalm 100:5 (AMPC) states: For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.
God’s mercy and love not only endure forever, but His faithfulness and truth far surpass the here and now. For this reason, we all can confidently trust that out of God’s love and God’s faithfulness we will always have what we need. Unfortunately, this level of trust and faith in God does not come without our effort or intention.
Trust and faith in God grow and flow out of our relationship with God. When we spend time with God and in His Word, we learn more about God. The more we know about God, for example His trustworthiness, God becomes more real to us. And the more real God is to us, where we sense His closeness, the more we can trust and depend on God.
Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) states: But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Like sheep who graze – eat grass – in the pasture, we too must graze – we must feast – on God’s Word daily. After Jesus had fasted for 40 days, Satan tempted him in the wilderness. Knowing that Jesus was hungry, Satan tried to get Jesus to satisfy his need for food by turning stones into bread. Jesus did not fall to the enemy’s trap of making it seem like His Father would not provide for Him. Or that His Father did not know His need. Jesus did not fall to the temptation of taking matters into His own hands. As followers of Jesus Christ, we must do just as Jesus did. We must depend on God. In God is all we need to survive and thrive.
God knows everything. Within this, God knows the dangers seen and unseen. Just as the shepherd knows what can happen to the sheep that wander off or are lost, God knows what lies ahead for us. God is a loving and caring Father and goes after those that wander off or are lost. As John 10:11 (NKJV) states: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Do not fall into the temptation of taking matters in your own hands, living as if you do not have a Heavenly Father who loves and cares for you. Come into, or back to, the sheepfold. And look to God – the Good Shepherd – for love, protection, and provision, among other things, that God so freely offers.
Romans 5:8 (NKJV) tells us: But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Except where indicated, scripture references are from the American Standard Version (ASV), Darby Translation (DARBY), or King James Version (KJV) – all public domains.
