He supplies them with abundant life — “He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake” (vv. 2-3). He also supplies them with secure life — “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me” (v. 4). Still He supplies them with blessed life — “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (v. 5). Abundance, security, and blessing. This is what God supplies. Our need is met as He leads.

Advertisement

And it is Jesus Christ Who leads because in Him we discover the Lord Who is much more than a shepherd. We discover that He is the One Who is “the good shepherd” and, according to John 10, He lays down His life, indicating His selflessness; He knows us, indicating His intimacy; and He has other sheep in His fold, thus indicating His inclusiveness of all who will follow Him. This selfless, intimate, and inclusive Savior is the One Who provides that abundance, security, and blessing to everyone who will allow Him to lead. And letting Him lead is crucial, because none of us can know what may happen to us.

I am aware of at least three persons in our church family who lost their jobs last week. I’ve never been unemployed. I’ve never lost a job — never been laid off, never been fired. That’s not to say it could never happen to me. I have no idea what that is like. So for me to offer advice to anyone who has become unemployed is sort of like spitting in the wind. I do remember shortly after my daddy died when I was 12 that my mother lost her job because she refused to work 10 hours a day, seven days a week as a waitress in one of the restaurants in my hometown. She was unemployed for about a month because her reputation as a waitress preceded her. That’s the closest I’ve ever come, I suppose, to the fiend of unemployment. So I don’t offer any advice.

What I do offer is this. I offer to the employed and unemployed alike, as well as retirees and children and everybody in here, hope — the hope that God will supply our need. I honestly can’t explain how He does it. He just does. Our need is met as He leads each of us. And the greatest need any of us has is the need to permit the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, to include us in His selfless intimacy. By doing so, we are enabled to be selfless and intimate and inclusive with each other in the trouble-free moments of life as well as the difficult ones. And we’ll all discover that He will supply.

But first we are to rid ourselves of the demands we place upon Him and ourselves. And like reading the 23rd Psalm as if we’ve never read it previously, that is no small task. It is a process that takes time.

So what will it be for you? Supply or demand? Thank God our shepherd will supply our need. Our need will be met as He leads us. May each of us allow Him to lead.

__________________

Jimmy Gentry is Pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Carrollton, GA.

__________________

NOTES
1. William L. Holladay, The Psalms Through Three Thousand Years: Prayerbook of a Cloud of Witnesses (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1993), p. 359.