The Lord is my Raah

This is actually the opening of Psalms 23.  Raah means shepherd, to tend a flock, to pasture, to keep, pastor, herdsman… Get the picture. Psalms 23 is the best and most well-known passage of God being our Shepherd. David beautifully explains all that He does as a Shepherd, and who better than David to know how to be a shepherd.

Let’s look at some of the other verses that talk about God as our Shepherd.

When he was on his deathbed, Jacob/Israel, blessed his sons. When he came to Joseph in Genesis 48:15, Jacob said;

The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked,
    the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day,

Even though he had wrestled with God at one point in his life, Jacob is looking back over his life and can see how God was his Shepherd throughout his whole life; leading, guiding and protecting him.

In Psalms 80:1, we see the Shepherd will listen to us. Think about it, what shepherd that hears the cry of his sheep is not going to come and respond to them? The shepherd will always check on his sheep to make sure they are safe and out of danger.

Another great picture of God as our Shepherd is in Ezekiel 34:11-16;

For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.  And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

As our Shepherd, He seeks us when we wander away. He will bring us to good pastures, which means He will bring us through our trials to a place that we can rest comfortably. He will make sure that we take time to rest. If we are hurting our Shepherd will tend to our wounds.

In this world today we need to stay close to our Raah and follow His leading.