Hidden Message Part 1 · The Disciple Machine

Hidden Message Part 1

Slowing Down Enough to Truly See

When I open my Bible to Psalm 23, I have to intentionally slow myself down, because this is one of those passages that is so familiar it can easily become something I skim instead of something I truly absorb. Six verses—it doesn’t take long to read—but what I’ve come to realize is that it takes time to understand. There is more here than what sits on the surface. There is a remez—a hint beneath the words—that reveals something deeper about God’s nature, His character, and His promises toward me. And the more I sit with it, the more I begin to see that every line is pointing back to who He is for me, not just in theory, but in my everyday life.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Right there, before anything else, I am introduced to Jehovah-Raah—the Lord my Shepherd. And I have to stop and ask myself, do I really understand what that means? A shepherd doesn’t just stand at a distance. A shepherd is involved. He feeds the flock, he watches over them, he protects them, he guards them, and when one goes astray, he goes after it. That means I am not left alone to figure things out. Even when I wander, even when I lose my way, He doesn’t abandon me—He pursues me. That alone should settle something deep inside of me. It means I am cared for in ways I don’t always see, and protected in ways I don’t always recognize.

And then it continues—“I shall not want.” That’s where Jehovah-Jireh comes in—the Lord my Provider. And this is where I have to shift my thinking, because provision is not just about what I can see right now. It’s about what God has already prepared ahead of me. He is not reacting to my needs; He is already ahead of them. He knows what I will face before I ever get there, and He has already made provision for it—spiritually, physically, emotionally. When I truly take that in, it changes the way I approach uncertainty. I don’t have to live in fear of what’s coming next, because my Shepherd is also my Provider, and He is already there before I arrive. That realization alone can carry me, but the psalm continues to unfold even more of who He is.

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