There are so many nuggets of truth in these Psalms that I couldn’t touch on here. Today, when I sat down to open my Bible and try to sift through it all to find what I wanted to write about, I happened upon a very familiar scripture. Psalms 23 is a Psalm that many people know, even those who aren’t Christians. Even through this Psalm, which contemplates death, shadow, and sorrow, the hope that it communicates draws people to it and to God. As I read through this Psalm in the context of those that surround it I was struck.
In Psalm 21 and 22, we see David crying out in praise and pain to God for his provision. In both emotional states, David knew that God was his provider, his savior. God was the person who could save him from his enemies. In Psalm 22, even when David could not see God acting in that moment, he prayed and praised God from the faith that didn’t come from the physical evidence around him.
What does provision mean? When we talk about provision, a word which literally means ‘something, like food or drink, that is supplied, especially for a journey,’ we think about the material thing that we are eating or drinking. But, David says that the LORD is his provision. I recently got a new puppy (and if you are my friend on Facebook you’ve probably seen plenty of pictures of him). This dog lives inside and does not have access to food or water, unless I provide those things for him. So, even though the food or drink is the literal provision, I am his provider. I am the one that sustains him. God is the same. He does grant us the things that we need, but most importantly, God is the one sustaining us. Without him, we have nothing, just like without me, my puppy would not have what it needed. When we rely on God to be our provider, we can say with assurance, as David does, “The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack.”
As we think through these psalms, let’s remember to look to the LORD, our shepherd, in both the difficult times and the good, because he is our provision.
– Cayce Ballard
Seek Grow Love 
