1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Have you ever come to the end of the day hoping and praying for a better tomorrow? The single parent trying to keep the family afloat while at the same time trying to have some “me” time to recharge. At the end of the day, however, the tomorrow’s hamster wheel is in full view waiting for you to jump back in tomorrow morning. The person trying to get ahead financially in this transitory inflationary economy that’s been anything but transitory. The spouse caring for his or her elderly husband or wife. Dementia, Alzheimer’s, cancer, you name it. The end of the day seems so dark and the prospects for a new beginning seem way out of reach and out of sight.
Then Psalm 23 comes along with the opening verse. I shall not want means that I shall lack no good thing. At the end of the day this verse hits the Christian who lacks energy to go on, finances to get to the next month, the strength to endure the heartbreak of a beloved spouse who’s not going to get any better. So, what’s this verse really all about? Is there a new beginning at the end of the day?
This Psalm is not about living the idyllic life as it’s often understood. In fact, this Psalm is just the opposite.[1] Psalm 23 is not for those who died, but for those who are still living in desolate, dark places.
King David penned this prayer believing that Yhwh was his Good Shepherd. That means King David himself is one of His sheep. Sheep are totally dependent on the shepherd for everything—food, drink, and protection. Being a sheep is a way of life 24/7/365. There’s never a time when sheep are independent because independence from the shepherd puts the sheep in danger, or worse, death. St. Augustine wrote: “When you say, ‘The Lord is my shepherd,’ no proper grounds are left for you to trust in yourself.”[2]
The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall lack no good thing. This seems to be an extravagant statement, especially at the end of the day when we’re looking for a new beginning. Rev. Dr. Saleska writes about this in his commentary on Psalm 23:
How can these extravagant claims be true? Is the psalmist making a prediction, “I may be lacking now, but in the future, I will not lack anything,” or is he describing his present reality, “it may look like I am suffering lack, but actually I lack nothing”? Is he reminding and encouraging himself because he is experiencing doubt? Or is he doing something else? Should the speaker’s claim be taken literally, or is it hyperbole? All are possible ways to understand the speaker’s utterance.
Regardless of the force behind the speaker’s words, God’s people tend to take his utterance not as hyperbole but—strange as it may seem to others—as literal truth. We see it as one version of a familiar profession central to our faith. A core belief is that our God is all we really need and that he is the only one able to take care of all our (other) needs. Because God promises to hold us in the hand of Christ, the Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11, 27–30), we can trust him and let go of other needs and desires. (Admittedly, though, this belief is often accompanied by doubts. We are sheep, after all.)[3]
The Good Shepherd Jesus is Yhwh God in the flesh. This is the kind of God He is. He entered the human condition of His creation in order to bring hope and new breath into peoples’ lives. The Good Shepherd experienced everything that you do and more. He laid down His life for you on the cross. That’s how important you are to Him. And three days later He took up His life being raised from death and the grave that will eventually claim each one of us. However, death and the grave do not have the final word. Exhaustion and frustration do not have the final word. Worries and doubts do not have the final word. The Good Shepherd has the final word and that word in resurrection. In His death and resurrection Jesus has transformed the future, and He brings you that hope and certainty in your life today.
Is there a new beginning at the end of the day? There absolutely is. Put your trust in the Good Shepherd.
[1] Hans-Joachim Kraus, A Continental Commentary: Psalms 1–59 (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 1993), 306–307.
[2] Blaising, Craig A. and Carmen S. Hardin, eds., Psalms 1–50. ACCS 7. ICCS/Accordance electronic edition, version 2.6. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008. 178.
[3] Timothy E. Saleska, Psalms 1–50, ed. Christopher W. Mitchell, Concordia Commentary (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2020), 409–410.
A Redeker Respite 