Jehovah-Raah

Jehovah-Raah (or Rohi) Lord Is My Shepherd

Why are there so many names for God? Why is it important that we know what they are and, what they mean? Our finite, human brains cannot fully comprehend the majesty and glory of who God is. Yet through the various names of God, He chooses to reveal Himself to us so we can come to understand the many personal characteristics of God. His names reveal His power, authority, and holiness. The better we understand and know the names of God the more personal He becomes to us and as we pray, we can call on His name that corresponds with our need. Finally, because the Bible instructs us to honor, fear, and respect God and to not use His name in vain, we need to know exactly what His names are and what they mean. Today, we look at the name ‘Jehovah Rohi’

Prov 18:10 “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.”

Jehovah is translated as “The Existing One” or “Lord”, and also often read or seen as Jehovah, the chief meaning of Jehovah is derived from the Hebrew word Havah meaning “to be” or “to exist.

Rô’eh from which Raah derived, means “shepherd” in Hebrew.

The Lord is my Shepherd – Which literally means — the Lord protects, provides, leads, guides and watches over his people. God takes care of us tenderly as a powerful and patient shepherd to his people.

When you think about a shepherd, how do you picture him? “In Israel, as in other ancient societies, a shepherd’s work was considered the lowest of all works. Shepherds need to live with the sheep twenty-four hours a day, and the task of caring for them is unending. Day and night, summer and winter, in fair weather and foul, they labor to nourish, guide, and protect the sheep. Who in his right mind would choose to be a shepherd?”

Yet, God chose to reveal himself to his people as their shepherd.  God is Yahweh Rohi.  God is my shepherd.

This word, Raah, can, by extension, be translated as friend. “The Lord is my friend” presents a beautiful picture of the intimacy that we can have with our Lord. He is our faithful, never failing, Friend, the friend that sticks closer than a brother.

Let us look for the Psalm of David – Psalm 23

A psalm of David.

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

2     He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

3     he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, [a] I will 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 anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

David knew the life of a shepherd from his experience of keeping the sheep of his father, Jesse.  It would have been a natural inclination for him to see his relationship with God as that of a sheep to a shepherd.  Thus, he penned the long loved 23rd Psalm, apparently after he became an old man; he can now speak from experience to tell of Jehovah-rohi.

Before we say / acknowledge that the Lord is my Shepherd , we must realize that we are like Sheep.

• We / the Sheep are Dumb.
• We / the Sheep are defenceless.
• We / the Sheep are dirty.
• We / the Sheep are dependent.
• We /the Sheep have gone astray.

Psalm 23 is so obvious to us, but this morning I believe God wants to challenge us. Many times we don’t acknowledge Jehovah-rohi, That the Lord is my Shepherd.

We put all our efforts to Contradict with what God offers.

We say to ourselves, I am intelligent, I am not dumb, I know how to make decisions in Life, and we become our own shepherds.

We fight our own battles, with all we have, we use our money , our experiences, savings our influence we become our own Shepherd.

The worldly perception challenges the Psalm 23. It says you are not dumb , you are not defenceless, you are not dirty, you are independent , you have not gone astray , enjoy life.

Indirectly we say we Don’t need a Shepherd and we don’t want to be a sheep.

This Psalm 23 is assumed by Scholars that it was written in very old age. Now David has achieved everything . He was a King , he had palace , he himself was a warrior.

For example, in verse 5, he was old enough to have enemies. In verse 4 he was facing the danger of death. In verse 3 he was experiencing rest, and in verse 5 he was experiencing prosperity. These things all point to an older person, or at least one who had reached maturity or adulthood.

With all this David acknowledges Jehovah-rohi. The Lord is my shepherd. He has not forgotten Who is his Shepherd.

Let us acknowledge that Lord is my shepherd and we are just like a sheep.

When we acknowledge that he is our Shepherd and we are his Sheep , He offers us this:

1. The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

God is my shepherd; therefore, I have what I need.  He makes sure that our every need is taken care of in a timely manner.  Everything we need is supplied. When we say we lack nothing, we proclaim that we are satisfied, whatever we have today, we are satisfied.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want, means I shall not be in Lack.

Jehovah Rohi cares for His sheep individually and in every situation (Psalm 23:1).

• David trusted that God cared for him individually, so David called the Lord his personal Shepherd, not just the Shepherd of the flock in general.
• Jehovah Rohi meets all the needs of His sheep
• David proclaimed that because God was his shepherd, David would not be in “want” (Psalm

23:1); he wouldn’t have any unmet needs.

• To understand what it means to be in want, we must recognize what our true needs are—food,

shelter, and clothing.

This Morning God wants us to identify our true needs. We have lot of needs but what is our true need?

Yesterday, I was reminded about John the Baptist. Abisha our daughter, saw a slide and read John and she exclaimed to me and Said John. I told her this is John the Baptist who use to live in the Desert.

Matthew 3:

4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

What are the Obstacles of not acknowledging that We will not lack anything?

• Our needs are actually not our true needs , we can live without it
• When we don’t acknowledge that we have not lacked anything (Past)

2. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

He offers guidance

The good shepherd leads the sheep to their necessities, green pastures and still waters. It is said that green pastures and still water sources were a rare sight in the places where the biblical stories happened. The land was covered with rocky rolling hills, little grass and seasonal water sources. But the good shepherd will go on long migrations from one source of grazing and water to the next. When God is my guide, my physical needs are met and I am contented.

• Jehovah Rohi puts us in situations where we have no other option but to trust Him completely
• God allowed David to run for his life from King Saul for years to teach David to lie down and trust Him.
• When we lie down and trust our Shepherd, we realize we can rest in beautiful green pastures.
• Jehovah Rohi leads us in the way that will give us peace, restoration, and stability (Psalm 23:2b).
• As a shepherd, David knew to get his sheep to drink water to restore their strength, he

had to lead them to still waters.

• Sheep couldn’t drink from running water because they are not surefooted. If they fell into the river, their coat would become saturated and cause them to sink.
• Likewise, our Shepherd lea”ds us beside still waters, in situations where we have stability,

gain sure footing, and find restoration

What are the Obstacles of not acknowledging this?

Depending on our own ways and plans. We are so used to it , that we feel our ways are God’s ways.  It’s time to reflect.

3. He refreshes my soul, He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

He offers direction

Jehovah Rohi meets our need for direction in life

• Sheep regularly take the wrong route and get disoriented.
• All people are prone to wander away from God (Isaiah 53:6).
• Jehovah Rohi leads us in the right path—the path of righteousness.
• Our Shepherd will get us back on the right path when we take the wrong turn.
• Our Good Shepherd, Jesus, took our sin and gave us His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).
• God leads His sheep on paths that will bring Him glory and fame.

What are the Obstacles of not acknowledging this?

Lack of trust where we have given up hope that we will be like this for ever.

4. Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

This verse shows God’s protection over my life giving me security.Being a sheep under the hands of the  good shepherd gives the sheep great security, that helps them to rest and live peacefully. It helps them from going astray as the staff of the shepherd guides them back to the herd. God our shepherd watches over us, His sheep without sleeping. The shepherd nourishes His sheep physically and spiritually.

In the new testament, Jesus is the good shepherd, who laid His life for us, so that we may have life  in abundance. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

What makes the difference in sheep is the Shepherd!

Jesus is the Good Shepherd – John 10:15

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Virjil Selvan is Pastoring the New Hope Community. The New Hope Community is situated in the heart of the city between Old and New Panvel. We can confidently share that New Hope Community is a Church in Kamothe, Church in Khandeshwar, Church in Khanda Colony, Church in Karanjade, Church in Panvel, Church in New Panvel because we are centrally located and these places surround our church Venue.