Meditation
SATISFIED Dr. Joseph Stowell
I shall not want. Psalm 23:1 NASB
When David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), he was celebrating the reality that if we have the Lord we have all that we need. He knew what he was talking about. Having spent much of his life as a shepherd, he knew that a good shepherd supplied every need of the sheep. If the shepherd was there, the sheep had all they needed and nothing to fear.
When David wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1), he was celebrating the reality that if we have the Lord we have all that we need. He knew what he was talking about. Having spent much of his life as a shepherd, he knew that a good shepherd supplied every need of the sheep. If the shepherd was there, the sheep had all they needed and nothing to fear.
Contentment is a tough virtue to cultivate in a world that offers so much more than we can ever hope to have. But the peace of true contentment is the companion of those who have become fully satisfied with God. Nowhere is the complete care of our Lord more exquisitely described than in this Psalm.
The picture of God’s securing work is particularly profound. It is reflected in the psalmist’s response to facing his enemies in “the valley of the shadow of death.” He testifies that God has made him so secure that he can dine in the presence of his enemies and fearlessly walk through the valley of death if that would be necessary.
Why? Because God is with him.
The presence of God brings with it all that God is. He blesses us with the fullness of His partnership in our lives. His presence guarantees His protecting power, His sovereign direction, His unsurpassed wisdom, His tender-loving care, and His just involvement in our lives. Embracing by faith the reality of His presence convinces us that He will fully secure us, regardless.
The psalmist concluded with God’s sustaining work. The reality of His rod (protecting work) and His staff (providing work) sustained the psalmist. The psalmist spoke of God’s sustaining work in his life as an overflowing cup, and he marveled that the goodness and loving-kindness of God would follow him every day of his life. The psalmist concluded with a celebration of ultimate provision as he anticipated the day that he would “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”