In Psalm 23, God presents Himself as our Great Shepherd. A shepherd cares for, leads, and guides the flock he oversees. That is what God does for us as His sheep. Jehovah Raah is the Hebrew name for Shepherd. When you look carefully within the description of the Jehovah Raah, you find seven main covenant names: Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Shammah, Jehovah Shalom, Jehovah Nissi, Jehovah Maooz, Jehovah Tsidkenu. All seven of these covenant promises are included in the description of the Shepherd. Only God could have put all that together. My hope is that Psalm 23 is going to mean a lot more to you after this study.

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Verse 1 tells us the Lord is our Shepherd, and we shall not want; that's Jehovah Jireh. He's describing Himself as the Lord who will provide for us so that there are no more wants. It is not a request but a declaration—the Lord is my Shepherd; therefore, I will not be in want for any good thing. We don't have to beg God for a thing.

Psalm 46:10 tells us to quit striving. God says, "I am your God, you don't have to strive for any good thing. I am your Shepherd. I provide all your needs." This first statement is the theme of the entire Psalm 23.

Think about sheep. They lie down at night, knowing their shepherd will take care of every need they have. That's a type and shadow because we're sheep, and we need to be able to lie down in peace and trust our Jehovah Jireh.

Do you know what the greatest source of human worry is? It's tomorrow! Let's stop worrying and striving. Verse 1 describes the Lord who supplies all of our needs.

Have you been worried if you will have your needs met "tomorrow"? Take a moment. What is God saying to you about any area you've been striving in?