Most of us have been around the Bible enough that certain passages become routine, like brushing our teeth morning and night. Psalm 23 is one of those passages. Plenty of people quote all six verses from memory; plenty of children’s books and stuffed animals even recite David’s words. I enjoy going back to passages like these because it’s in these famous and familiar passages that God proves his Word is living and active. No matter how many times I’ve heard or read, God can use this psalm to continually refine me. Psalm 23 is a psalm that speaks to the entire journey and the refinement that a child of God experiences through the process of this pilgrimage. There is rest and restoration amidst the reality of life’s challenging days.

You can start with verses 1-3. When you do, I challenge you, read only a single verse and study it, pick it apart before you read the next.

Verse one: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In isolation, when I read these two phrases, my journey through Psalm 23 almost came to a grinding halt. I immediately ask, is the Lord truly my shepherd? That is to say, have I laid aside my own self-reliance, my own rationale, and my own purposes to allow the Lord to lead and direct me fully? Some days the answer is “yes,” and a lot of days, the answer is “no.” God graciously reminds us that we need daily surrender to relinquish the control we perceive over our lives. Charles Spurgeon said, “We are, most of us, wise above what is written, and we are too vain to acknowledge the wisdom of God. In our self-esteem, we imagine that our reason can rule our purposes, and we never doubt our own power to accomplish our own intentions.”

The next question arose, “Is the Lord the only thing I want?” That’s especially hard during the next six weeks as we lead to Christmas. There’s a bombardment of messages telling me I want so much more than I have.

Take a minute and write down three things you want right now.
I can’t blame the consumer mindset of America here because this is the natural bend of my heart. Honest moment here, my list of wants features things that would only benefit me. It showed me that my wants had not been relinquished to Christ, the good shepherd. We are all still holding onto wants because we believe it makes life better than we have it now. All along the way, Christ, your good shepherd, is saying if you stay close to me, those wants will be met.

Let’s not mix up the order of the phrases in verse one. When the Lord is truly leading and in control of my life, when I’m fully surrendered to him, then and only then can I say I want nothing more. Because at that point of my life, He is enough.

Onto verse two…