I Shall Not Want

The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. (Psalm 23:1)

In light of the holiday season, I'd like to share a song that I've been listening to a while now, but whose lyrics did not hit me until today You know what I'm talking about: when you "saw the light" and wondered how you could have NOT heard it or seen it before.

[ From now on, personal goal is to have all pictures on my blog taken by me.. to force more practice. ]

From someone who's opted out of Christmas gifting this year (for family), I thought these lyrics to be insanely appropriate! This is "I Shall Not Want" by Audrey Assad. I could probably go through each line and write commentary on it… (you can play the video below - perhaps play it while reading?)

From the love of my own comfort
From the fear of having nothing
From a life of worldly passions
Deliver me O God

From the need to be understood
From the need to be accepted
From the fear of being lonely
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God

And I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want

From the fear of serving others
From the fear of death or trial
From the fear of humility
Deliver me O God
Deliver me O God

And I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want

No, I shall not want, I shall not want
When I taste Your goodness I shall not want

When I taste Your goodness I shall not want

This resonates because it is so transparent and mirrors my experience. "From the love of my own comfort" describes exactly what I've been feeling these last few days, freaking out and wondering if I'm insane to be packing a 5-month trip in a carry on and backpack. Wondering if I think I'm braver than I am because I don't speak Italian at all. I need to be delivered from all this. And who doesn't "fear of having nothing"? 

What is the "life of worldly passions"? I see it as things that occupy our heart, things that take away our time from ourselves and from God. I read this very short article yesterday and it is a perfect example: Collect Moments, Not Things - "The things you own end up owing you."

There's some powerful words in this short song, everybody. The ones that stand out the most include the line about being understood (just give it up already, no one's going to fully understand you ever except the Lord. He understands you better than you understand yourself). But the key, the epiphany, the finale is that we will NOT want for anything else as a result of being delivered from all these different fears. Why is that? 

Because when we're delivered from this, we have experienced His goodness - even tasted it. [By the way, the verb taste, I believe, implies the verse:

O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

How do we come to not wanting anything else?

Because when we've tasted His goodness in delivering us, it can't compare. We come to realize that nothing in this world can compare to the Lord being our refuge. 

What a wonderful, truest-of-the-true conclusion.