Archived Devotionals

My Dear Friend,

     His heart stirred with profound gratitude, David wrote, "The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want," or "I shall never, ever lack! Anything! Anytime! Anywhere!" (Psalm 23:1)! Where did this soaring God-confidence come from?

     David gained it by watching God's hand provide for him and his 600 men in the worst of times! By seeing repeated answers to prayer, again and again - provisions coming from Barzillai, Shobi, Machir, and Abigail and many others (1 Samuel 25:18-19, 27; 2 Samuel 17:27-29) - while enduring long, hard years in the wilderness on the run from King Saul and his pursuing warriors, David came to a place of complete confidence in God.

     Specifically, he believed that if he (a) stayed near the heavenly Shepherd, and (b) stayed in His will and flock, the Shepherd would never fail to provide for him. Not just in that season of special testing but the rest of his life! No matter what adversities may come, he had already experienced the worst possible situation and seen how completely sufficient God was in it.

     So, David came to a position of complete repose, deep rest, and unshakable confidence in the unfailing faithfulness of his heavenly Shepherd. Whatever the conditions!

     Though a defenseless sheep, David had the confidence of a powerful, roaring lion. And his "roar" - "I shall never, ever lack anything I need" - should make us roar in our "wilderness." Not with self-confidence, or false-confidence in our nation's leaders or economy, but with the same utter confidence in the same utterly faithful heavenly Shepherd that David had: "Like David, I too shall never, ever lack! Anything! Anytime! Anywhere!"

     As our economy shakes today and in the coming days, you and I need not shake with it. Our Shepherd is David's Shepherd and His name is Jesus: "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:11, 14). It's time not to cave but to roar! Instead of caving when Goliath loomed before him, David, though only a boy, roared his confidence in God: "This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand" (1 Samuel 17:46).

     Now, years later, in the wilderness, with his job (as captain of Israel's host) and income gone, and his wife and home and reputation lost, David, though a small, weak sheep in the eyes of many, let out a roar that rang throughout Israel, and Philistia, and the nations, and has continued reverberating throughout the world for thirty centuries! "The LORD is my personal, covenant Shepherd and because of Him I will never, everr lack the necessities of life [or of soul]!

     Has the sudden upset to our economy suddenly thrust you or a loved one into the wilderness of want? David was there … for years. And he had 600 dependents! Yet the Lord never failed to provide for them all - though sometimes help came week by week or even day by day. Why not follow David's faith steps as he followed the Shepherd's footsteps? Stay close to the Shepherd and stay in His will and in His flock.

     Then roar your faith! "No matter how long these economic hardships impact my job or income, one way or another, at one time or another, through one source or another, and if necessary by supernatural means, my Shepherd will never fail to provide my life-necessities and those who depend upon me. Not once. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever! "I shall never lack!" (See 2 Corinthians 9:8; Philippians 4:19.)

     That will make you, like David, one more confident sheep!

One more confident sheep,

Greg Hinnant Greg Hinnant Ministries