You Will Have No Want
“Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints!
There is no want to those who fear Him.”
—Psalm 34:9 (NKJV)
When I was at secondary school in the early 1960s, the Christian Union supported the organisation War on Want. Its message was clear and challenging: poverty was not accidental or inevitable. It was the result of unjust systems—unfair trade, colonial legacies, and exploitation by the powerful. Want meant real deprivation: hunger, homelessness, and lives constrained by lack.
Today, the word want has softened. We use it to describe desire rather than need: I want a new phone… I want a holiday. That shift in meaning matters, especially when we come to Scripture. When the Bible speaks of want, it is not talking about consumer preference, but about what is necessary for life and dignity.
Psalm 34:9 speaks directly into that deeper meaning. “There is no want to those who fear Him.” To fear the Lord is not to be frightened, but to live with reverence, trust, and obedience. The promise is not luxury or excess, but sufficiency. God assures His people that when they place their lives in His hands, they will not lack what they truly need.
Illustration:
Imagine a child holding tightly to a handful of coins, anxious about losing them. A parent kneels down and says, “Trust me. I will make sure you have what you need.” The child’s security does not lie in the coins, but in the relationship. In the same way, God calls us to loosen our grip on self-reliance and trust His faithful provision.
This promise also carries responsibility. If God’s people are not meant to live in want, then neither should our neighbours. To fear the Lord includes caring about the systems and structures that keep others in poverty. Trust in God’s provision should lead to generosity, justice, and compassion.
Challenge:
This week, reflect honestly on your needs and your wants. Where might God be inviting you to trust Him more deeply? And where might He be calling you to act—through generosity, advocacy, or prayer—for those who still live in real want?
Prayer
Faithful God,
You promise that those who fear You
will lack nothing they truly need.
Teach us to trust Your provision,
to loosen our grip on false security,
and to care for those who live in want.
Shape our hearts with reverence,
and our lives with generosity and justice.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
