Amy and God and Lack

God and Lack

Are you missing something? Is something lacking in your life?

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. (Psalm 23 NRSV)

Today in our Summer Bible Reading Challenge we read Psalm 23 together.

The Psalm opens with the Divine Name – Yahweh. Yahweh is often translated in English as the LORD (note the capitalization of each letter) to distinguish that it is Yahweh, the name of God, and not just a generic lord who is the Psalmist’s shepherd.

The verb often translated as want is the Hebrew word for lack.

So powerfully simple, so powerfully straightforward this first verse is: GOD is my shepherd; I lack nothing. Because of my relationship with God, I have everything I need. God provides me with everything because of his loving care for me.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, God provides for God’s people. God’s people lack nothing.

When God rains down manna on the Israelites in Exodus 16:  whoever gathered much had none left over and whoever gathered little had no lack. (Ex 16:18) In Deuteronomy 2, summarizing the wandering in the wilderness: these forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. (Dt 2:7) And later, in Chapter 8, God promises to bring the Israelites to a land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing… (Dt 8:9) And on and on and on throughout the Hebrew Bible.

God is a shepherd; God provides comfort and care for God’s people always.

God is my shepherd; I lack nothing. God’s people all over the world, for millennia, in situations of war, famine, natural disaster, disease, as well as situations of harvest, abundance, health, and plenty – sang out and do sing out this verse like the Psalmist.  

God is my shepherd; I lack nothing. Can you sing out this verse today? Do you lack nothing?