Real Hope: PsalmsSample

Contentment Comes From God’s Guidance

How would you answer the question, ‘What do you want?’ Are your first thoughts about food? A holiday? A better job? Or to feel truly loved?

Psalm 23 makes no stipulations about what our answer to that might be, only that the very feeling of us ‘wanting’ is satisfied by the shepherding of God. That word ‘shepherding’ could have negative connotations in our day and age: we see it as childish to have someone ‘shuffle us along’ from place to place, manoeuvring us as if we need their help. It might read as overbearing or belittling. I doubt that’s the biblical intention, though.

The kind of shepherding God offers us is about allowing Him to guide us in a way that meets our core needs. Instead of being ‘sheep’ aimlessly plodding along in the ‘green hills’ of our lives, when we let Him lead, we’re taken into ‘paths of righteousness’ (v3), we ‘fear no evil’ in the presence of our enemies (v4) and He ‘refreshes and restores [our] soul’ (v3).

If you’ve ever seen a shepherd at work, they’re not controlling the individual steps of the sheep but making sure that where they roam is safe, plentiful, and protected from the elements. When we allow God to lead, we can rest easy knowing that He’s got our best interests in mind.

Our ‘wanting’ or desire for something finds contentment in knowing God understands our deepest needs. Beyond what culture tells us we need or the ‘lack’ we’re told we have, God knows what satisfies, and that’s where His guidance leads.

Written by LAURA BENNETT