Praise His Name

10/01/21 – 10/09/21

Yahweh Jireh: God Our Provider

By Michael Youssef, Ph D.  10/02/21

Read Genesis 22:1-14.

What would you think if God asked you to take your beloved son to a distant mountain and offer him up as a sacrifice? If you’re like Abraham, you would trust the Lord so much that you would obey, knowing that nothing is impossible for God—not even the resurrection of the dead, if it were to come to that (see Hebrews 11:19). Before ascending the mountain, Abraham told his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you” (Genesis 22:5). Did you catch that? “We will come back to you.” Abraham knew that if he simply obeyed the Lord, all would be well. He and Isaac would walk down the mountain together.

Sure enough, God saved the boy by providing a substitute—a ram caught in a thicket. It was then that Abraham called the place “The LORD Will Provide” (v. 14), or Yahweh Jireh. Yes, God provides, but Jireh is about more than just provision. It literally means the one who sees ahead.

When was the last time you thanked God for going ahead of you and rescuing you? He sees your needs before they arise. He provides the solutions to life’s impossibilities before you discover them. And He gives you victory over your temptations before you ever face them. Praise Him, because He is Yahweh Jireh, the God who sees ahead.

Prayer: Father, thank You for seeing ahead and planning my steps. I praise You for Your faithful provision. You are trustworthy, and Your love is unchanging and astounding. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, ‘On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided'” (Genesis 22:14).