Psalm 23 is the most famous of all the psalms and the first verse of the psalm is probably one of the most famous verses in the Bible. What David says in the verse is very simple and yet, at the same time, very profound. First, he makes a statement and then he draws a conclusion from that statement. The statement is that the LORD, that is the true God who created the world and who rules over his people and who would in due time send the Messiah, is his shepherd. David was a shepherd and he knew all about the work involved. Like Jacob before him (in Genesis 48:15 he speaks of the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day) he saw that God was like a shepherd - one who leads and feeds and guards his sheep all the way. This Shepherd God, David says, is my shepherd. God is his Lord and he belongs to him and is committed to him. This leads to the obvious and encouraging conclusion - I shall not be in want. How could he be in want with such a shepherd as this? David's sheep were not in want and so why would he be in want with the LORD as his shepherd? We too must take the LORD for our Shepherd and take comfort in the assurance that such a fact gives. Whatever it is that we need (need not want) we can be sure that the LORD will provide it. We will not be in want.
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