In my last post we looked at the Shepherd, the person. This time we are going to look more at the provision of the Shepherd. Who is the Shepherd? He is Yahweh / Jehovah the Great I Am. He is the self-existent, self-sufficient, creator God of the universe! He is our Shepherd!
Now if He is our Shepherd then that makes us His sheep. How are we like sheep? (Psalm 44:22; Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16; Isaiah 40:10-11 etc.) We are like sheep in at least three ways.
(1) We tend to go astray
“All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isa. 53:6). “What man having a hundred sheep, if he lost one . . . will go after that which was lost” (Luke 15:4).
Sheep are stubborn, sheep can get easily lost because they tend to go their own way. Like sheep, believers have a tendency to go their own direction rather than follow the divine Shepherds plan.
Psalm 119:176
“I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.”
(2) We are helpless and defenseless
We are easy targets of the enemy. “Grievous wolves shall enter, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29). We have no sense of danger. Sheep have no instinct to warn them of snakes, wolves, bears, parasites, etc. We are defenseless. Sheep have no weapons to defend themselves, no claws, teeth, fangs, etc. “The wolf catcheth them” (John 10:12).
(3) We are not too brightI
n fact we are dumb. “As a sheep before a shearer is dumb” (Isa. 53:7). Sheep need the guidance of the shepherd for food and protection from harmful and poisonous weeds. They will eat anything. Similarly, believers have a propensity for eating up the latest trends and Christian “cures.”
Did you know that if a sheep rolls over on his back he is done for, unless someone intervenes? Once on their back sheep have no way of turning themselves upright, they will just lay there with their feet up in the air to be eaten by a predator or die from starvation and the elements.
Here is the deal! The condition of any sheep is totally dependent on the care of the shepherd. If the shepherd is slack, the sheep will be sickly and in constant danger. Conversely, if the shepherd is diligent, the sheep will be healthy and safe.
Thankfully, the LORD (Yahweh / Jehovah) is our shepherd. Last time we said that we know that Jehovah the Shepherd loves us and cares for us because,
(1) He Created Us
(2) He Redeems Us
(3) He Provides for Us
Having discussed the Shepherd's role in creation and redemption in the last post, I want to discuss his role in provision. What do we mean when we say that He provides for us? Mainly, we mean that I Shall Not Want – Lit. I shall not be in want
Warren Wiersbe says that God’s people in this Psalm are pictured as lowly sheep so that we can learn about the shepherd and see how tenderly He cares and provides for us.
“In this Psalm, David explains that if we follow the Lord and trust in Him, He will meet our every need, no matter what the circumstances may be” (Be Worshipful, pp. 94).
Now, when David wrote the phrase, “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want, I think that he had two distinct meanings in mind.
“I shall not be in want, that is, I shall lack nothing I need”
“I shall not be in want, that is, the Shepherd is all I need”
Let’s look at these two meanings a little closer.
Meaning #1 – I shall lack nothing I need
Left to themselves sheep lack everything! But if we belong to the one who is self-sufficient, inexhaustible, and utterly unchanged by time, we will lack nothing. He is sufficient for all things and will provide for us all that we need, whether they are physical things or spiritual things.
I shall not be in want for physical things
Psalms 37:25 (cf. Matthew 6:19-34)
25 I have been young, and now I am old;Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,Or his descendants begging bread.
The problem with our perspective about this principle is that we tend to focus on what we want and not what we need. It is an issue of contentment.
1 Timothy 6:6-10
6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang.
Most people in our society are consumed with the idea of getting more and bigger stuff. People today strap themselves with huge mortgages, heavy car payments, high credit card bills, and still we are constantly looking for more. Sadly, we will never find true satisfaction until we learn to accept what God wants us to have and we become content with Him!
Hebrews 13:5
“Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”
THEREFORE, WE MUST FIND OUR SATISFACTION IN THE LORD
The real problem with those who are not satisfied is that they have not come to the place where they completely trust or are not willing to give their lives to the Lord and let Him have complete control. It is an issue of surrender.
Philippians 4:11-13, 19
11 Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12 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. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.19 And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
I shall not be in want for spiritual things
2 Peter 1:3-4 (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9; Colossians 2:10)
3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.
Someone has said, “I have all things and abound; not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because I have skill and wit with which to win my bread, but because ‘The LORD is my Shepherd.”
In John 10 Jesus is talking primarily about spiritual things as he reveals Himself as the Good Shepherd. What has the Good Shepherd provided for us?
(1) Eternal Life
John 10:27-29
27 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; 28 and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. 29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
By the way, the eternal security of the believer is just one of the many reasons that we can implicitly trust Him. Not only has he provided the way to heaven, but once we know Christ we can never ever lose Him.
How do we recognize His sheep?
· They know Him (His voice)
· They love Him
· They trust Him
· They follow Him
(2) Abundant Life
John 10:10
10 "The thief comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.
The happiest people you will ever know are those who have a strong trust in the Lord’s provision. They understand that the Christ-life is full of true joy, unfathomable peace, spiritual strength, and everlasting satisfaction. We can never be truly satisfied apart from complete trust in Christ’s Person!Remember:
· He is the “great Shepherd” (Heb. 13:20)
· He is the “Shepherd and Bishop of our souls” (1 Peter 2:25)
· He is the “Chief Shepherd” (1 Peter 5:4)
As the Great Shepherd of the sheep, as the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, as the Chief Shepherd, He cares for us as though we were His sole concern in the entire universe. My friends, we lack nothing with the Lord as our shepherd.
o We shall not want rest… “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.”
o We shall not want refreshment… “He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
o We shall not want restoration… “He restoreth my soul.”
o We shall not want guidance… “He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
o We shall not want companionship in the hours of trial… “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,o We will fear no evil: for thou art with me.”
o We shall not want comfort… “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
o We shall not want provision… “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.”
o We shall not want power… “Thou anointest my head with oil.”
o We shall not want satisfaction… “My cup runneth over.”
o We shall not want joy… “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.”
o We shall not want a home… “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Meaning #2 – The Shepherd is all I need
“The Lord is my Shepherd, He is all I want.”
Only when you fully understand that you belong to the Shepherd will you find true satisfaction and peace. The things of this world will never satisfy us. Rather, they have a tendency to produce in us an insatiable desire for more. This desire can never be quenched. True satisfaction in life comes only through our trusting in the care of our Shepherd.
Phillip Keller, in his book “A Shepherd Looks at the 23rd Psalm,” describes what it was like when he bought his first thirty sheep. He wrote,
“Each sheep-man has his own distinctive earmark which he cuts into one or other of the ears of his sheep. In this way, even at a distance, it is easy to determine to whom the sheep belong. It was not the most pleasant procedure to catch each ewe in turn and lay her ear on a wooden block, then notch it deeply with the razor-sharp edge of the knife. There was pain for both of us. But from our mutual suffering an indelible lifelong mark of ownership was made that could never be erased. And from then on every sheep that came into my possession would bear my mark” (pp. 23-24).
The same is true with us. God has forever connected us to Himself through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and the wounds that he suffered for us. However, the Lord also put His mark or seal upon us.
Ephesians 1:13-14
“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
You see, a shepherd may be the owner of the sheep, but more than this he is always the manager of the sheep! He guides them everywhere they go and literally makes their decisions for them! The greatest decision that you will ever make as a believer is that you are no longer in charge of your life and decisions. Rather, you completely surrender to Him and put your trust in His position as your shepherd!
Only when we can truly say that, “the Lord is my shepherd,” will we ever be able to say, “I shall not want.”
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