July 22, 2021

Thursday

Providing for the Sheep

Ezekiel 34: 1-6

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Psalm 23:1

We’ve all been in situations, perhaps as a parent, where we say, “I don’t have time to explain the details but trust me—I’ve got it covered. Everything will work out.” And sure enough, it does. It’s nice to know the details, but even if we don’t we can have faith that things will work out.

Psalm 23 is like that. It could consist of one verse if that’s all David had chosen to write: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want” (verse 1). That’s really all we need to know about God as our divine Shepherd: We shall not want. Or, as the New Living Translation puts it, “The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need.” Sheep are entirely dependent on their shepherd for guidance, protection, food, and rest—which happen to be the things we need as well. In the rest of Psalm 23, David enumerates how God provides for him and, by extension, for us. If we have a need, we should go to God our Shepherd who has promised to provide all we need.

It’s a challenge to separate our wants from our needs. The longer we live with God our Shepherd, the more we will understand our needs from His divine perspective. And the more we will commit our needs to Him.

A point to ponder…

He who has the Holy Spirit in his heart and the Scripture in his hands has all he needs. 
Alexander MacLaren

Read the Bible through in a year

Proverbs 27-29

I love you!!!

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