The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need, of anything.

Psalm 23 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible 

The Lord is my shepherd,
I will not be in need.
² He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For the sake of His name.

⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You have anointed my head with oil;
My cup overflows.
⁶ Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.

David is both one of the greatest warriors and worshippers in all of scripture. Acts 13:22 says:  He (God) raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’ Much of David’s training as a warrior, a worshipper and for leadership, was a result of the time he spent as a lowly and humble shepherd. It was there in the long and lonely days and nights that David developed his closeness to and communion with God. It was as a shepherd that David learned the depth of his responsibility to watch over and defend his flock, whether sheep or God’s people. It was there, as a shepherd that he learned to fight, not in his own strength, but by relying on God. In 1 Samuel 17:34-36, when he prepared to face Goliath, David said: “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, I went out after it and attacked it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”  

The psalmist says: The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. It would be appropriate to add the words of anything to the end of that verse. In another psalm. 37:4 David says: Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Philippians 4:19 says: My God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. David learned as a shepherd that he was responsible for every aspect of his flock’s lives, for their protection, their provision, their guidance, their discipline, their healing and their restoration if they wondered away. David says: He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  There is a confidence that comes when we know that the Lord is watching over us. We can lie down and rest even though there may be dangers around us. In John 16:33 Jesus says: “These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”  If there seem to be no quiet waters, even if there are storms and raging waters around us, Jesus calms the storm. In Mark 4:37-39 it says:  A fierce gale of wind developed, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling with water. And yet Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. In the same way, Jesus calms the storms in our lives. In John 14:27 Jesus, our Lord and shepherd says: “Peace I leave you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives, do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, nor fearful.” 

David says of his shepherd: He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For the sake of His name.  Restoration is what Jesus came to do for us. Through the cross, He restores our souls so that we can be reconciled to God for eternity. He also restores our bodies. In Isaiah 53:5 it says: He was pierced for our offenses, He was crushed for our wrongdoings;
The punishment for our well-being was laid upon Him, And by His wounds we are healed.   In John 10:14 Jesus says: “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me.”  As a shepherd guides his flock, Jesus guides us. He will never lead us to unrighteousness. If unrighteousness is our path, we have wondered away from our shepherd.  David says: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  Sin itself can take us to the valley of the shadow of death. James 1:14-15 says: Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. Romans 6:23 says: The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Even if we have wondered from His path of righteousness, if we will turn and call to Him, He will be there with us and for us. He will discipline us and guide us back to safety. If we remain in Him, death itself is merely a shadow. It has no real power over us, because we have eternal life through the cross. 

David says: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.  The table that He prepares in the presence of our enemies is not so that we can gloat in their presence. Proverbs 25:21-22 says: If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; For you will heap burning coals on his head, And the Lord will reward you.  In John 10:10 Jesus says: “I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.” We are to share the abundance and the bounty of our Lord, even with our enemies. We cannot possibly contain within ourselves all that He provides. His goodness should overflow from us. The table that He prepares is also an altar of His sacrifice. The burning coals that we heap on the head of our enemies as we share from the table of the Lord are not for their destruction or suffering. Rather, they are like the coal in Isaiah 6:6-7: One of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. He touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your guilt is taken away and atonement is made for your sin.”  Romans 2:4 says: Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?  The kindness of God, overflowing from us, may lead them to repentance. 

David says: Certainly goodness and faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life, And my dwelling will be in the house of the Lord forever.  I say, Amen. Thank You Lord Jesus Christ my shepherd. Amen.