Focus: He Is All I Want!

Text: Ps.23:1

"The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want."

This is a psalm of David. In this psalm David sees God as his own Shepherd, and in him he finds everything he needs. He sees God as a caring Shepherd who supplies him with all he ever needs.

Jacob tells Joseph his son, "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which FED me all my life long unto this day" (Gen.48:15). Jacob, long before David, saw the God of Abraham and Isaac as his own Shepherd. The word 'fed' can be translated as 'shepherded.' Apart from God feeding him, Jacob is saying that God shepherded him all the days of his entire life. Shepherds do more for the sheep than just feed them. The shepherds lead and guide the sheep to grazing spots and take care of them at all times.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ says to the people, "I am the GOOD SHEPHERD: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (Jh.10:11). He is the good Shepherd. He is not evil or wicked. He is not hireling. He is totally and thoroughly good - in and out, up and down. The writer of Hebrews says, "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that GREAT SHEPHERD of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb.13:20). Here he is called the great Shepherd of the sheep. He is not only good; He is great. Peter tells us, "And when the CHIEF SHEPHERD shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away" (1Pet.5:4). He is the good, great, and chief Shepherd.

For those who serve as shepherds under him, the chief Shepherd is coming back, and when He does, He will put crowns upon their heads. He will gladly reward them with crowns for their labor of love.

Having God as your Shepherd, you will not want for anything. He is the Lord your Shepherd. With the Lord as your Shepherd you have nothing to be afraid of. He leads and feeds. He sees and oversees. God is everything you want in a Shepherd. Be bold to say, 'The Lord is my Shepherd. He is all I want. I lack nothing that He cannot supply. I am utterly satisfied with Him as my Shepherd. With a Shepherd like Him in my life, I need no other. God is my number one pastor. He is all I want in a pastor and all that a pastor can be.'

Amen!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter