Hi Everyone,
Happy day after Summer Solstice. Ain’t summertime grand?
Even grander is the Lord our God. Ha! As beautiful as the sunshine may be, with the birds chirping in the trees and the flowers blooming and strawberries getting fatter, God is infinitely more beautiful in all His attributes and lovingkindness.
Today we see another name of God in a well known Psalm… Let’s look at the first verse in the 23rd Psalm.
Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
JEHOVAH-ROHI = THE LORD (OUR) MY SHEPHERD
Now I would venture to guess that very very few (if any) of us know what it is like to be a shepherd or a sheep. King David, who wrote this Psalm, was a shepherd as a boy. He tended his flock, fought off the Wile E. Coyote, etc. And he had firsthand experience with sheep, which lent to his using these kinds of metaphors.
A shepherd takes care of his sheep. In fact the shepherd takes care of all the sheep’s needs. Some of the basic things a shepherd does for his flock includes: Raising them, Feeding them, Inspecting them, Cleaning them, Training them, Protecting them, Shaving them, etc… everything for the good of the sheep. Wow!
Now knowing this… think of this…
Do you think the Shepherd’s feelings get hurt when a sheep doesn’t “Baaa” a “Thank you”? Do you think the Shepherd doesn’t care about a sheep as he’s shearing off its matted wool, which may be ouchie at times? Do you think as the Shepherd is leading his sheep along a long and wandering path he hasn’t already figured out where the next rest stop will be? Do you think the Shepherd will declare a particular sheep unworthy of being guided and prodded by his Shepherd’s staff so that the poor wandering sheep won’t fall into a sinkhole?
Well David tells us that Jehovah-Rohi will supply all our needs so that we “shall not want.” God will not let His sheep to be found wanting. Wanting here means lacking anything we need. Jesus, who is the same God who is Jehovah-Rohi makes mention of His “Shepherdship”…
John 10:14-15
I am the good shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
Amazing! God/ Jesus is a Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. Such sacrifice is truly loving.
John 15:13
Greater love has no man than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. How silly of us to think our Shepherd doesn’t care!
- Would you read the rest of Psalm 23? Could you? Will you?
- How can a Shepherd’s rod and staff be comforting?
- Is there such a thing as a black sheep in God’s flock?
Peace,
Jim
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