Psalm 23

This week my plan is to blog my daily Bible reading reflections. Here is a previous blog post on our reading plan, as well as a link to our website where you can download the plan. Today we are reading Psalm 23-24. Before I begin to read, I ask God to reveal one thing to me. This morning the verse that seemed to be highlighted was Psalm 23:1.

Scripture
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Observation
If the Lord is my shepherd, what does that make me?
A sheep?
What would it be like to not be in want?
Is that God's desire for us?

Application
I typically don't think of myself as a sheep. I guess I prefer to think of myself a little more highly than that. But maybe that's the problem. In order to have all of my needs met by the Shepherd, I must be completely dependent upon Him. That means quite simply that I cannot be dependent on myself. This is another one of those "Upside-down Kingdom" issues. The world teaches me to be self-reliant. It doesn't teach me to be a dependent sheep. But in the Kingdom of God, this is the plan. If I'm being honest, sometimes I get it, but many times I rebel. But when I do "get it", it's good. It's right.

Prayer
God, thank you for being my shepherd. I know that Your desire is that I would place my trust completely in you. I ask that You would help me to do that today. Amen.