The Names of God: Jehovah Raah
Meg Chaney
Jehovah Raah: The Lord is my SHEPHERD
“The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life; He leads me along the right paths for His name’s sake. Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff—they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.”
When I read these verses a few months back, it was the image of the shepherd that really struck me. He leads His flock of sheep, and truly knows them individually. He calls them each by name.
I know if I was looking at a field of sheep, they would honestly all look the same. But this isn’t true for a good shepherd. A good shepherd sees each one individually.
These verses say that “there is nothing I lack” and that “only goodness and faithful love will pursue me.”
Yet there are many days in which I feel like I lack a whole lot. There are many days when the world seems out to get me, when the odds are great, when life seems anything but good and filled with love. This world can be a hard place to live. Sickness, fighting, anger, death, they’re not pretty things to go through.
And yet our Shepherd pursues us, even then. And yet, He calls us by name. At times, He picks us up like a lamb, drapes us around His shoulders, and carries us. We’re not promised that goodness will always be our lot in life, we’re promised, in these verses above, that “goodness and faithful love” will pursue us. There’s a difference there. This life is a hard place. We’re not promised it will always be happy and rosy. But we are promised a Shepherd who will lead us through the valleys. A Shepherd who isn’t afraid to reach out with His rod and lead us back in the right direction.
Know, dear friends, that He sees you, even in the hardest of days. He pursues you. He cherishes you and knows you by name.
Lord, We thank You that You are our SHEPHERD. We pray for Your direction, that You would lead us wherever You want us to go. We thank You that, like a shepherd, You search for every lost sheep. You know every one of us by our name.