What or Who Satisfies?

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1)

What a beautiful way to start a psalm. The word for “LORD” is the O.T. word Yahweh, which is the personal name for God. It was the name Moses encountered at the burning bush (Exod 3) when God spoke and said, “I am.”

And notice too David begins by stating a picture of ownership. This may be the most intimate term ever given to God outside of “Father.” You must remember that David knew what it meant to be a shepherd, because he was one before he became king of Israel. Here he is making the simple point that the LORD, God, is “my shepherd.” God has no problem referring to Himself as ours and this is how David begins this psalm. Here David is linking a lump of clay like himself to the Rock of Ages. David a mere mortal is calling the Immortal, Invisible God His Master and Shepherd.

So yes, you read that right, the Almighty, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Majestic, Transcendent, Righteous, Fearful Creator of the universe is called the Shepherd. Taking this into consideration that the “I Am” is our personal, own shepherd, we can understand why David would say what he did next.

We lack nothing; without the Shepherd, we lack everything.

This is simply because God provides everything we need. There is no reason we should ever have to search for anything else to fill a void in our life. God satisfies.