“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23,1)
We live in a world that continually proves itself unstable. Circumstances change. Plans change. People change. We ourselves change. There are seasons of victory, seasons of failure, and seasons of testing and trial.
So where do we find stability?
Psalm 23 gives us an answer. Our stability is not finally found in stable circumstances. It is found in an unchanging God. The scenery changes, but the Shepherd remains the same.
David knew something about changing circumstances. He knew God in great victories—from his days as a shepherd defending the flock to his victory over Goliath and his battles against Israel’s enemies. He knew God in terrible failure and sin, when he needed the restoring grace of God. And he knew God in severe trials, when Saul pursued him and later when his own son rebelled against him.
Through all of those seasons, David came to know the grace and faithfulness of God. God had made him. God loved him. God kept him.
That is the foundation beneath the opening words of this psalm:
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
Before we consider all that the Shepherd does in the rest of Psalm 23, we have to begin here—with who the Shepherd is.
Click here to read: Psalm 23 — overview and structure
“The LORD Is My Shepherd”: Who Is the Shepherd?
Notice how intentionally David begins: “The LORD is my shepherd.”
He does not merely say that God sends someone to care for him. He says that God himself cares for him. The Shepherd of Psalm 23 is none other than the LORD.
The word translated LORD in our English Bibles represents the divine name often rendered Yahweh. It is the personal name by which God revealed himself to Israel and is closely associated throughout Scripture with the God who faithfully commits himself to his people.
David is therefore speaking about the covenant God: the God who is faithful to his promises, who commits himself to his people and cares for them.
That matters because we know how fragile human commitment can be. We fail in our commitments to ourselves. We fail one another. Worst of all, our commitment to God is often inconsistent.
But God is faithful.
When Moses encountered God at the burning bush and asked what he should say when Israel asked the name of the God who had sent him, God answered, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). The name directs our attention to the God who simply is—the eternal, self-existent God who depends upon no one and does not change.
He has no beginning and no end. He is not sustained by anything outside himself. He is not subject to the instability that characterizes us and our world. As James says, with him there is “no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17).
This is the God David calls his Shepherd.
When everything around us appears unstable—and when we recognize how unstable we ourselves can be—this is precisely the God we need. We need the eternal and unchanging God whose character remains faithful, gracious, compassionate, and merciful.
That is the source of David’s stability.
The LORD is my shepherd.
What Does It Mean That God Is a Shepherd?
The imagery of God as Shepherd appears throughout Scripture. Psalm 100 says,
“We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).
In Jeremiah 23:3, God promises to gather his scattered flock. In Ezekiel 34:11–12, the Lord says that he himself will search for his sheep and seek them out.
The image tells us something essential about God’s relationship with his people. He seeks his sheep. He gathers them. He cares for them. He rules them and watches over them.
Shepherding was not glamorous work. It was humble, demanding, and sometimes dangerous work. The shepherd devoted himself to the care of the flock.
And there is something remarkable here. The LORD is the sovereign ruler of all things, yet David describes him as a Shepherd who stoops to care for his people.
This is the character we see perfectly in Jesus. He did not come “to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). The sovereign Lord is not distant from his people. He serves, cares, seeks, and ultimately gives himself for his sheep.
“My Shepherd”: The God Who Is Personally Ours
But David does not merely say, “The LORD is a shepherd.”
He says, “The LORD is my shepherd.”
That little word my makes this one of the grandest statements a person can make.
David knows that God is eternal. He knows God is holy. He knows God is sovereign. He knows that God dwells in unapproachable light. Yet this high and holy God can be known personally.
He is my Shepherd. I belong to him, and he cares for me.
There is an enormous difference between knowing things about God and knowing God.
We should know that God is sovereign. We should know that he is holy, supreme, eternal, and unchanging. All of that belongs to a true knowledge of God. But Christianity does not end with knowing what God is like. We are brought into relationship with God himself.
That is why Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, “Our Father.” The transcendent God draws near to his people. Through Christ, we know him personally.
And when we know God as our Shepherd, we discover that he is not distant or indifferent. He is gracious and compassionate. Jesus describes himself as “gentle and lowly in heart” and invites the burdened to come to him for rest (Matthew 11:28–30).
This is the God David knows.
And this is the question Psalm 23 presses upon us: Can you say, “The LORD is my shepherd”? And if you can say it, are you living in light of it?
When you understand who God is, and then understand that this God has committed himself in love and faithfulness to his people, it changes the way you face your life.
The circumstances may change. The Shepherd does not.
“I Shall Not Want”: Confidence in the Shepherd’s Provision
That brings us naturally to the second half of the verse:
“I shall not want.”
The sense is, “I shall not lack.”
David’s confidence rests entirely upon what he has just said about the Shepherd. The LORD possesses all things. He is faithful. He cares for his people. Therefore David can trust him to provide what his sheep truly need.
“I shall not want” does not mean that God’s people will receive everything they desire, nor does it mean that Christians are promised lives free from suffering, deprivation, or hardship. Psalm 23 itself will soon take us through dark valleys. (Read More: Psalm 23:4 — the Shepherd’s presence in the valley)
David’s confidence is deeper than a promise of comfortable circumstances. He is saying that his life is in the hands of a faithful Shepherd.
Jesus teaches the same kind of confidence in Matthew 6. He points to the birds that the Father feeds and the flowers that he clothes, and then reminds his disciples that their heavenly Father knows what they need. Therefore they do not have to live as though everything finally depends upon their ability to secure tomorrow.
Israel learned this lesson in the wilderness. God led his people and provided for them day after day—water, manna, and what they needed for the journey. His provision taught them dependence.
That is the confidence behind Psalm 23:1:
The LORD is my shepherd; therefore I shall not lack what my faithful Shepherd knows I truly need.
The later verses will show us what that shepherding provision looks like: rest, restoration, guidance, presence in danger, abundant care, and continuing faithfulness. But all of it grows out of this opening confession.
The provision of Psalm 23 cannot be separated from the person of the Shepherd.
Read more: Psalm 23:2–3a — the Shepherd’s peace and restoration
From Provision to Contentment
When this truth takes hold of our hearts, it changes how we view our circumstances. It produces contentment and confidence—not because everything around us is secure, but because our Shepherd is faithful.
We naturally worry about what might happen tomorrow. We wonder what will change in our lives, our families, our church, and the world around us. Anxiety can have many causes and should not be reduced to a simple measure of someone’s faith. Yet Psalm 23 does call us, in the middle of our fears and uncertainties, to remember who our Shepherd is.
We are loved by God. We belong to him. We are held by him. We are cared for by him.
That does not mean nothing painful will happen to us. David’s own life makes that impossible to believe. It means that no changing circumstance can change the character of the God who has committed himself to his people.
So delight in God, because he is faithful.
Depend upon God, because he is faithful.
Cast your burdens upon him. Learn to hear the Shepherd’s voice. Know him more, trust him more, and follow him more faithfully.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd
And for the Christian, the Shepherd of Psalm 23 ultimately brings us to Christ.
Jesus says in John 10, “I am the good shepherd.” The Good Shepherd does not merely provide food for his sheep or protect them from danger. He gives himself for them: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
This is how far the Shepherd’s commitment goes.
He has provided himself for our sins.
And Jesus says that his sheep hear his voice, that he knows them, and that they follow him. He gives them eternal life, and no one will snatch them out of his hand (John 10:27–30).
What kind of Shepherd do we have?
A Shepherd so faithful that he gives himself for his sheep.
A Shepherd who knows them.
A Shepherd who holds them.
A Shepherd who will not cease to be faithful when their circumstances change.
So may we hear his voice more clearly. May we know him more deeply. May we trust him more fully. And may we follow him more faithfully.
Because “The LORD is my shepherd,” we can entrust ourselves to his care and say with David:
“I shall not want.”
Explore the Meaning of Psalm 23
Psalm 23:1 is the beginning of a larger journey with the Shepherd. To see how David develops this picture through green pastures, righteous paths, the valley of the shadow of death, the prepared table, and finally the house of the LORD, read: Psalm 23 explained: meaning, context, and message.
Explore the complete Psalm 23 series:
Teile dies
About the Author: Keith Fortenberry
