In the King James, the words are translated like this…
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…”
(Psalm 23a).
Literally, the words “I shall not want,” mean: “because the Lord is my shepherd, I am totally provided for” or “I am not IN want” or “I want for nothing.” The words don’t mean “I am telling myself over and over not to want this or that…” The words mean God provides. That’s it. The phrase means God takes care of me and gives me what I need. Beyond that, there are things I want, but what I want and what I need are two different things, and I sometimes confuse them. God sometimes gives me what I want, but God always gives me what I need. The Devil sometimes gives me what I want, too, but he never gives me what I need…at least not without an awful trick on the backend.
I shall not be in want.
It’s not that I will never want things, because of course I do. I’m not talking about sinful desire or covetousness, but just boring, ordinary, daily life seeing something and wanting it. You can change the language all you want but it’s the same thing: “I would like to have…” or “I wouldn’t mind getting…” or “wouldn’t it be nice if…” Those are wants. Certainly, we should never let those wants turn into covetousness, because the Lord is our shepherd, and so we trust He will take care of us. We will never be in want / we will never be lacking.
Also, despite wanting things, we will be content with what we have. That’s easy to say, but not always easy to do. Still, if we want something, even something good and beautiful, and if we don’t get it… the Lord is still our Shepherd, and we will still be okay. We might ask and ask, even plead and plead, and the answer might be “no.” Why? I don’t have an answer. I don’t know the mind of God. I don’t know what unforeseen futures He can perceive that might motivate Him saying no. I only know what’s right in front of me, and in my short-sighted, limited perspective, I know what I “want,” so I ask for it. Sometimes I get it, and I thank God for it. Sometimes I do not…and in that case I thank God for knowing what I need.
The Lord is my Shepherd.
~Matthew