"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want".

When you read this beginning verse, what does it say to you? For years, I read the verse and didn't get anything out of it because I didn't look for anything in the verse. But recently, it came alive!!! And now I see so much in that one verse that it will be difficult to keep it down to a few paragraphs. When you can get excited about reading scripture, then you are growing in the Lord. However, if you are not excited now, just wait until you start studying this Psalm. So, let's begin.

I noticed that this verse describes the relationship between the Lord and me. In addition, it tells me what the rest of the Psalm is all about. What do you mean, you ask. Take a look at the verse. "The Lord is my Shepherd". It let's me know who He is as well as who I am to Him. "I shall not want". This shows me that its personal and that He provides for me. But now, I did something with this verse that I don't usually do. I put the emphasis on a word in the verse and read it that way. What absolutely amazes me is that each word can stand on it's own in the verse. What am I talking about? Okay, take any one of the words in the verse and emphasize it. For instance, "The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want". What does this tell you? It tells me that this is the LORD, the creator, the Alpha and the Omega. He IS the Lord. Now let's do this with each word and see what happens.

1) The----------With this word emphasized it means that He is THE Lord. There is no One but Him. It does not say "many" or "one of". It says THE.

2) Lord---------This word means that He is Lord, the creator. He is the Ruler of all. And He is Who He says He is.

3) Is------------Here we notice that the word IS means that it is present tense. It is not something that happened in the past, but is right now.

4) My----------Ah, now this word makes it very personal. He is MY Shepherd. He is personal to me. That means that this verse is promised to ME!!! Hallelujah!!!!!

5) Shepherd---This word is power packed because it means that He is all that a shepherd would be to his sheep. A shepherd is a protector, a provider of food, shelter, and care that all stay close and are not lost. He is everything to the sheep and is usually the only individual that they see for long periods of time. A relationship forms between shepherd and sheep. They come to depend on him for everything and he provides it for them because he cares what happens to them. They are valuable to him.

6) I-------------One word can mean so much. This one means that this verse is very personal, not to be taken lightly. It belongs to ME. Praise God!!!

7) Shall--------Now here we have a word that means it is not in the past. It is not only now but also in the future. We also have a surety that it WILL happen because the word "shall" is a definite statement. It means "guaranteed".

8) Not----------This one means that NEVER will I have a need that isn't taken care of, as long as I accept the Lord's promise that is in this verse.

9) Want--------The word does not mean that I can go asking the Lord for just anything and He will provide it but it does mean that needs are met. It also means that, as with any loving Father, He will give you things that you desire. But the main thing about this word is that if you accept this promise, you will never have need of anything that the Lord doesn't provide.

When I started to see these things, it was a real eye opener for me. NOW that verse means something personally. I can see that as long as I understand and take hold of this promise, I will have Someone to guide me through everything. He will be with me during all problems but, even when there is no difficulty,the Lord is with me. He is my comfort and my Hiding Place, my Rest. With Him in my life, I have no needs that will go unanswered. Most important of all, He is there for me when He asks me to do things, to walk with me every step of the way. What an AWESOME God we serve.

Now, what do YOU see?



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