The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalms 23:1-6 -The Lord's Shepherd-like Care for His People.
The image (Psalms 23:1-2); the reality, the spritual history of even redeemed, one (Psalms 23:3-6). The 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Psalms form a Trilogy: Psalms 22:1-31, Christ on the cross; Psalms 23:1-6, God the Father's Shepherd-like care of Him, even in dying, and His anticipation of heaven; Psalms 24:1-10, His ascension there. So Christ's followers (John 10:2; John 10:14; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 2:25; 1 Peter 5:4; cf. Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24 the first use of the image). The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. The Hebrew is emphatic: 'I want nothing.' This implies a supply of every possible want of body, soul, and spirit, in the Lord. Compare Isaiah 40:11; Psalms 80:1. All that Yahweh did for His people in the Old Testament, He did through the Mediating Angel of the covenant, the Word, who subsequently was made flesh. In Zechariah 11:7-11 this Angel of the Lord is spoken of as the Shepherd of Israel.