Genesis 48:11-16

¹¹ Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too.”

¹² Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. ¹³ And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. ¹⁴ But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn.

¹⁵ Then he blessed Joseph and said,

“May the God before whom my fathers     Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd     all my life to this day, ¹⁶ the Angel who has delivered me from all harm     —may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name     and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly     on the earth.

 

 

Here we see Jacob (Israel) on his death bed. He had lived a long time thinking that his beloved son Joseph was dead (Genesis 37:18-36) and now they have been reunited.

 

Jacob asked Joseph to let his two sons be, in a manner of speaking, adopted by him (Jacob), so that he could bless them.  When he begins his prayer of blessing he used the phrase “The God who has been my Shepherd.”

 

WOW!

 

Like Jacob, we can weather all the storms in life by holding onto the Lord whom  we also know as “My Shepherd.”  He will definitely provide for us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

 

We started this journey, in Psalm 23, to find our way back to a better relationship with Jesus. I hope that meditating on this Psalm has been helpful to you.

 

Let’s remember – any time our lives feel like they aren’t going as we would like them to – that we have a Shepherd who cares deeply for us and wants to be in a personal relationship with us.