Skip to main content

Jehovah-Rohi


The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,  he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness (Psalm 23:1-3)


JEHOVAH-ROHI “The Lord my shepherd”
          These verses are among the most well-known in Scripture. They have brought comfort to many people. There's a book called A Shepherd Looks At The Twenty-Third Psalm by W. Phillip Keller that gives insight into the truths of this song. I recommend it.
      For now, notice some of the verbs. The Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures. We aren't given an option about what we're going to eat or where we're going to lie down. Yes, it's a green pasture. There is "food" all around us, but after a while, grass gets boring. We want something else to eat. Not only that, once we've eaten, we don't want to lie down. We want to play. The Shepherd doesn't give us that option.
     Years ago, Dad and I were eating out, which isn't unusual. I noticed a youngster at a nearby table. It was hard not to notice him. He was giggling and jumping up and down in his excitement as he ate. I thought, "His parents should stop him, he's going to throw up." Before I could work up the courage to make that suggestion, he threw up. When our Shepherd makes us lie in green pastures, it's for our good, but we tend to think the weeds on the other side of the fence look greener. We want to jump and play and wander over there to see what's there. We are not in want, but we tend to want what we don't have.
        The Lord is my shepherd is comforting, but the comfort is a result of His Lordship, not His provision. His provision is only part of what a shepherd does. It is in response to our needs, not our wants. When people arrogantly say that believers are stupid sheep - they're right. The difference is that we have a Shepherd who cares enough to give the very best, and not to tolerate what isn't good for us now matter how stubborn and stupid we are.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more