Dec 8 - Psalm 23:1b

I shall not want

Psalm 23:1b

 

I am Frankenstein.

 

It’s a startling confession. But like the infamous doctor from literature and cinema, I am responsible for creating a monster. Actually … three monsters.

 

Whenever we took our three little boys shopping, we would say, “If you are good, we’ll buy you a Matchbox car at the end of the day.” And our three little monsters learned quickly how to play the game.

 

Every parent has heard the cry, “I want.” Our family inadvertently put “wanting” on steroids. We made gifts an entitlement. And we have a tub-full of toy cars to prove it.

 

“I shall not want” is an attitude that every wise parent wishes they could engrain in their children. We try, indeed, to teach our children the difference between “selfish wants” and “legitimate needs.”

 

Ironically, though, the more we have, the more we often think we “deserve.” A pastor from Africa spoke to our children at church recently. He said children in his villages often have no more than one toy – and usually it’s one they made themselves. As a result, though, they don’t spend their days expecting more toys like my three little monsters. These little African children, often with little to eat, have learned the difference between selfish wants and legitimate needs.

 

Have we?

 

When we pray Psalm 23, I urge you to pray it as a confession and a reminder. “God, I confess that I am covetous. I want what I want and expect what I don’t really need. Help me, Lord. I resolve to define myself less by selfishness and wants, and I commit myself to trusting you. Provide me with only what I truly need … in your time. Amen.”

 

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who wants his heart

to translate this Psalm like the

New International Readers’ Version:

“The Lord is my shepherd.

He gives me everything I need.”