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Psalm 23:1

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
(NIV)
Next to the Lord's Prayer, which can be found in Matthew 6, this passage is one of the most quoted passages by the world. You can hear it all of the time being quoted in movies and on TV. It is used like it is some sort of magic charm. Usually you will hear it when someone is afraid, they tend to focus on the part that says, "..though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..." But if they knew what this verse was really saying, would they be using it as often as they do?

Consider this verse. With the Lord as your shepherd, you will not be in want. Hollywood is all about want. It is about a continual lust for more, yet when someone has the Lord as their shepherd, they won't be in want.

That word want means to be lacking or to be diminished. In Christ we do not lack. Psalm 34:10 says, "The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing."

Does this mean that if you trust in God that he gives you everything that you want? There are some who believe that. There are some who teach that when you don't get what you want, it is because of some sin in your life, or because you just don't have enough faith. This is not true. It is not because God just doesn't give us what we want, it is because God changes our wants.

We should not be entering into the throne of Grace with a list of demands, telling God what we want. Instead we should be entering in, crying out, "My Lord and My God, it is You that I want!"

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