The Lord Is My Shepherd...And So Much More!

Check out the most popular Psalm.  Psalm 23.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; 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 runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

This is a very familiar passage to every Christian in the world.   Even most non-Christians recognize these verses.  I have always enjoyed this passage, but recently I just realized something I have never seen before.  God reveals exactly who He is in this passage.  Yeah, I can’t believe I went almost 27 years without seeing this.  It’s incredible.  Check it out with me!

1. “The Lord is my Shepherd”
- Jehovah Rohi (The Lord is my Shepherd and my Guide) – “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will GUIDE you into all truth” John 16:13.

2. “I shall not want”
- Jehovah Jireh (The Lord is my Provider, so I do not want; He supplies all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, Philippians 4:19)

3. “He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters”
- Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is my Peace — my calm in the midst of a storm)
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely” 1 Thess. 5:23.

4. “He restores my soul” 
- Jehovah Rapha (He is my Healer) – “And by His stripes we are healed” 1 Peter 2:24 (and Isaiah 53:5)

5. “He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake”
- Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord is my Righteousness; in Him I have right standing with God)
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God in Him” 1 Corinthians 5:21.

6. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me”
- Jehovah Shammah (“The Lord is There”; He is our Ever-Present God)
“For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’” Hebrews 13:5.

7. “Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies”
- Jehovah Nissi (“The Lord is my Banner,” my standard, He covers me)  
“When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will lift up a STANDARD against him” Isaiah 59:19.

WOW! I love it!  What incredible promises from God! Today I want you to take away two things from this blog:

#1 God is.  I know you have heard (or read) this 101 times from me, but it is SOOOO true.  God is everything we need.  When we need peace, He is.  When we need guidance, He is.  When we need healing, He is.  When we need protection, He is.  He is and He is so much more.  I ask you…I beg you… I plead with you… please, please, PLEASE, do not search high and low to find comfort, love, peace, peace, joy, meaning, protection, etc.  The Lord promises that He will be your Shepherd and EVERYTHING else that you need.  Please, stop looking to other things and other people and simply look to Jesus.  You teens are leading a generation that thinks they can conquer the world on their own.  Unfortunately, you can’t.  You will fail.  BUT, God promises He will always be there and He will guide and protect you.  Humble yourselves before Him and allow Him to lead you. 

#2 When you spend time in God’s Word, simply do not skim over the words because you have read the passage 101 time before.  Dig deep and see what new and incredible things God has for you.  Don’t be hardheaded and lazy like me, don’t miss things for 27 years like I did!!!

May we all rest in the fact that “The Lord is my Shepherd…” and so much more.