Part 11 – Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord is my Shepherd
In the compound names of God we have looked at so far:
Elohim, the trinity who is creator.
Jehovah, the relationship seeking redeemer.
El shaddai, the God who nurtures and nourishes me.
Adonai, my Lord and Master.
Jehovah-jireh, the Provider of redemption.
Jehovah-rophe, the God who heals the wounds.
Jehovah-nissi, the God who is the banner over our battles
Jehovah M’Kaddesh, The God who sanctifies.
Jehovah Tsidkenu- God is My Righteousness
Today we come to a name that none of the others have fully expressed, yet it is a summary of the names to date. It is Jehovah-Rohi, the Lord is my Shepherd!
As with all these names we have launched the message from the scriptures in which the compound name first occurred, not the first use of the word, but the first time it is used.
After Ps 23 this name appears regularly to Jehovah (Ps 80:1; Isaiah 40:10-11; Ezekiel 34:11-16). Rohi appears in Gen 48:15 – Jacob likens God to a shepherd, not using compound name.
Psalm 23
This name describes a powerful relationship between Jehovah and His people, but the wonderful thing is this name is not one spoken over Israel, but one that is attributed to God by David.
We’re going to go through this Psalm, which is impossible for me to do justice to in the message, but we hopefully will expand a few thoughts as we go through gleaned from the meaning of Rohi. To help us, all the points have an ‘R’ in them!
He is in a Relationship with Me
V1: The Lord is My Shepherd
This is the most intimate of phrases yet in our industrialised culture it’s significance cane be lost.
It speaks of incredible intimacy and relationship that the rest of the Psalm then tries to explain. It’s like David makes this statement, “The Lord’s my Shepherd,” and then spends the next six verse given examples of how Jehovah is Rohi!
You see the shepherd in those times would not just check on them in the morning. They would live with the sheep!
Illustration: recently I was listening to the news on the
radio and there was a report about lambs being stolen due to the high price and demand for the meat! The farmer said. “It’s hard to keep track of them when you come in the morning and evening, and if one or two go missing you don’t notice!”
In biblical times the shepherd lived with the sheep. Not sure you’re getting the significance of this, either because we have become familiar with the idea or because we’re thinking, ‘so what?”
The point is when David says, “The Lord is my Shepherd,” he is saying, you live with me! To say Jehovah-Rohi is to say, “He lives with me!” It is the promise of His presence!
God has always been the God of relationship! He desires to be with us – daily, each hour, minute, and second.
Exodus 29:45: I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God
Relationship: I will dwell among the Israelites, dwell = in Hebrew, shekinah, his glorious presence. As shepherd He offers is glorious presence! Come Lord!
Intimacy with the shepherd is the most precious privilege and possession of the sheep.
He is my shepherd. As the God of the individual He is intensely personal.
Ps 139:2: You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts…
Jesus is the Good Shepherd!
John 10:11: I am the Good Shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (see also Hebrews 13:20;
1 Peter 2:25).
Jesus qualifies himself as the great shepherd by first becoming the Lamb! (Hebrews 2:14-18; Hebrews 10:12
Rev 7: 17: For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water.
Where does this personal relationship take me?
He Gives Me Rest
V2: He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me besides quiet waters.
He helps me to rest – lie down in Green pastures. There is a sense of provision here. Sheep will not lie down easily!
It’s almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless four requirements are met:
Free of FEAR - They must feel safe
Free of FRICTION - They must feel accepted
Free of FLIES - They must be free of pestilence
Free of FAMINE - They must be filled with food
Note: Only a shepherd can meet these requirements providing peace, acceptance, deliverance, and pasture.
The green pastures speak of our physical needs.
Often Rohi is translated as feed or food in the OT as this is one of its meanings!
To feed or lead to pasture – frequently used (Gen 37:2; 47:3-4; 1 Sam. 17:15); Feed: Gen 37:12,13,16; Ps 28:9; Jer 23:2)
The Shepherd literally becomes our source of nourishment – think this is odd, but remember the El Shaddai, the many-breasted God!
He Restores My Soul
V3: He restores my soul.
Sometimes in the stillness of our relationship with the Shepherd we discover that renewing and restoring of our soul, our mind!
The word soul in the Hebrew is nephesh, which is breathing creature. It’s root is nâphash which means to be breathed into. What David is communicating here is what we would term mouth to mouth resuscitation, the kiss of Life!
Illustration: We had a retriever puppy years ago and one day
it got something stuck in its through and stopped breathing! Barbie leapt to action and because she could not get rid of the obstruction she literally gave Captain the kiss of life!
The Shepherd wants to give us the kiss of life!
John 20:22: He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Jesus breathed on His disciples!
Genesis 2:7: The LORD formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
He Leads Me in Righteousness
V3b: He guides me in paths of righteousness for his names sake.
This speaks of our moral walk with Him! We looked last week at Jehovah-Tsidkenu and how we are declared righteous and we mentioned a little about living righteously.
If sheep are left to themselves, they will continue to graze the same hills until they turn to a desert waste. They will gnaw the grass to the very ground until even the roots are damaged. They need a shepherd who will lead them to good grazing area.
We are a lot like sheep. As humans, we prefer to follow our own desires and turn to our own ways. "All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way." (Isaiah 53:6).
And so we need a shepherd who can lead us in paths of righteousness, and our Lord does just that.
Rohi can also mean companion or friend – expressing the idea of sharing food or life (Judges 11:38; Proverbs 11:24;
Proverbs 28:7). The idea is to take pleasure in someone who is cherished.
Exodus 33:11: The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend….”
He Reassures Me
V4: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; you rod and your staff, they comfort me.
This section marks a new tone in the psalm. It turns to address the shepherd directly.
The idea that we are walking through tough times with the Shepherd is wonderful. He does not wave us goodbye with a cheery goodbye, but because the Shepherd lives with the sheep, He comes through the tough times with us!
When a shepherd is out in the fields with his flock, he carries very little with him. In the Middle East the shepherd carried only a rod and a staff.
The rod is kind of like a club. The shepherd learns from childhood how to throw it with amazing speed and accuracy. It becomes his main weapon of defence for himself and his sheep. He uses it to drive off predators.
But it is also used for discipline. If a sheep wanders away or approaches poisonous weeds, or gets too close to some danger, the rod is thrown to send it back to the flock.
The staff, on the other hand, is a long, slender stick, often with a crook or hook on one end. The shepherd will use the staff to guide sheep along a new path or through a gate. He doesn’t beat the sheep. He just nudges them along. At times, the staff may be used to get a sheep out of trouble, to pull it from the water or to free it from thorns.
To those of us who are God’s sheep, the authority, power, might and guidance of the Lord are indeed a comfort.
He Rebukes Others for Me
V5: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
This is an odd verse! We could understand it that the Shepherd feeds the sheep in the middle of a pack of wolves!
What is being said here is that those who want to do us wrong will be rebuked, but by the Lord. And how does He do this? By having them wait on our tables in this analogy!
People are always going to have bad intentions toward you, say things about you or seek to condemn you! But, providing we have not harboured bitterness against them, we discover the truth that the Lord vindicates us!
There is nothing worse than a Christians who spends their time trying to prove that they are right Jesus was a lamb even to death – we too lay down our rights and let Him take care of it.
We forgive, we leave it behind and press on forwards.
He Refreshes me
V5b:You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
To anoint someone when they entered you home was a big deal – the more oil, the more they were valued.
They would use scented olive oil. It was often rubbed into the skin and would protect against the wind and elements outside later one.
The more important the guest and the wealthier the host, the more oil was lavished upon the one being anointed. It would run down the beard (on men) and clothes. It was a refreshing experience but one that was not just a token gesture.
The cup running over is another picture of the refreshing that the Shepherd brings to His sheep.
We’re so polite in this country; we sometimes pour our drinks like there has been a drought or leave a respectable collar around the top.
David is saying that in this wonderful banquet the refreshments never dry up – they are poured out continuously!
Illustration: My friend, Dave Redbond, is a chocaholic and
when he visited recently we took him to Cosmos where they have a chocolate fountain. He was trying to get more and more chocolate into his bowel, so I went and showed him how to fill up his bowel without getting chocolate everywhere. He had so much chocolate he got it all down his shirt. His wife was dismayed! But he thoroughly enjoyed himself! Why? His cup overflowed,
My friends the refreshing of the Shepherd does not stop!
He Protects My Reputation
V6: Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life…
He Protects my Reputation – good ness and mercy will follow me all my days!
Sometimes people are so worried about their past catching up that they cannot fully accept the new life that Jesus has given!
When we look back we discover goodness and mercy have followed us all our days! How? Because the Shepherd was walking with us!
He Receives me
V6b: I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever!
The Shepherd dwells with us, we too can enter His presence and dwell with Him!!
Ephesians 3:12: In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence
In him we have boldness and access with confidence through him in faith! NKJV
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