The more we know who God is at His core, the more we trust Him. While our understanding of Him deepens through numerous encounters, from sensing His presence with us in painful seasons to glimpsing His beauty through each sunrise, He proclaims His unchanging nature most clearly through Scripture. Woven throughout its pages, He declares Himself Creator, Redeemer, Savior, Father, Comforter, and Friend. One way we can deepen our faith is by studying His various names. Some names stem from God’s self-revelation, others from people’s declarations after powerful divine encounters. Each one reveals important truths about God.
This means that whenever we read one of the numerous names of God preserved in Scripture, we know He’s proclaiming something regarding who He is, how He acts, and what He desires.
Elohim
This is how Scripture first introduces the Lord. In Genesis 1:1-2, we read, “In the beginning God” (Elohim) “created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God” (again, Elohim) “was hovering over the waters.” (NIV, parenthetical inserts mine).
This evokes a beautiful image of God’s creative brilliance. He formed the sea, air, plants, and stars from a mere command. He spoke light into darkness, made barren ground fertile, and filled the land and seas with abundant life. He is the source of all that exists. As the second most used name for God in the Old Testament, Elohim denotes His supremacy and limitless power. Yet, while He is big enough to fill the entire universe, He chooses to remain close to His people.
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Yahweh (Jehovah in Latin; the Great I Am)
In Genesis, a book of origins, we see the beginning of our world, humanity, and the roots of the Jewish nation. The chapter ends with the Patriarch’s grandson and his large family multiplying in Egypt. By the time we reach Exodus, their population increased to the extent that the Pharaoh felt so threatened that he enslaved the adults and attempted to kill the male babies. From a human perspective, the Hebrews’ circumstances seemed hopeless and Elohim callous or inept.
During this dark season of ancient Israel’s history, God revealed His personal name, Yahweh, and spoke to Moses, the man chosen to liberate His people from 400 years of ruthless oppression. Not surprisingly, Moses initially responded to his assignment with fear. In Exodus 3:11, he asked, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (NIV). The Lord responded by lifting his gaze off the overwhelming task ahead and placing it on the One calling him, declaring His first “I Am” statement in Scripture.
In full, He said, “I Am Who I Am.” This name, known as Yahweh, highlights God’s eternal, unchanging, self-sustaining nature. He who existed before time itself doesn’t depend on anyone or anything. According to scholars, the Bible only uses this name, Yahweh, or I Am when discussing God’s relationship with His people. To quote my friend Jodie Bailey, “He is literally, at all times, whatever we need. Whoever we need. He is enough.”
-He is our defender in times of crisis (Exodus 15:3).
-He’s the faithful covenant keeper who fulfills His every promise (Exodus 3:13).
-He is our Comforter, ever-present help, and source of strength. (2 Corinthians 1:4; Psalm 46:1; 2 Corinthians 12:9)
-He is the One who will never leave us or forsake us and remains as close to us as our next breath (Deuteronomy 31:6; 13:5; Acts 17:28).
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Yahweh Ra’ah (The Lord Our Shepherd)
This name for God is best defined by the words in Psalm 23, the chapter in which we first find it. In this poetic passage, David, ancient Israel’s second king, declared, “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing” (NIV). In the verses that follow, he described all the ways Yahweh Ra’ah tended to his every need. He wrote how the Lord made him to lie down in green pastures and led him beside quiet waters (v. 2). This speaks of rest, relaxation, inner tranquility, and safety. Our Good Shepherd, a term Jesus used in the New Testament for Himself, is our attentive Provider who promised to meet our every need (Philippians 4:19).
He is our perfect and ever-available guide who teaches us to recognize His voice (John 10:27-28) and leads us toward His very best. As He promised in Isaiah 30:21, “Whether [we] turn to the right or to the left, [our] ears will hear a voice behind [us], saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ (NIV). Ten chapters later, we find a verse able to comfort those who feel uncertain, overburdened, and confused. It reads:
"He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isaiah 40:11, NIV
Pause to reflect on the imagery this presents. Yahweh Ra’ah doesn’t manipulate or intimidate us into following Him, nor is He disengaged from our journey. Instead, He draws us into His loving embrace, carrying us when fatigue, grief, or fear cause our knees to give way. Expanding on this, the late Bible scholar Albert Barnes wrote:
“This is a most beautiful expression, denoting the care of God the Saviour for the feeblest and weakest of his people and for the young and feeble in years and piety. A similar thing is often done by a shepherd. The tender lamb, unable to keep up with the flock, becomes weary and exhausted, and the shepherd naturally takes it in his arms and carries it.”
Here’s a beautiful truth to which we can cling when we feel confused and doubt our spiritual sensitivity to “hear” God. His ability to direct our steps is greater than our ability to hear Him. He’s more concerned with the condition of our hearts and our desire to follow Him than whether or not we recognize His guidance. In Psalm 37:23-24, David wrote:
"The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." (NIV)
He also remains with us when we “walk through the darkest valley,” watching over, protecting, and comforting us along the way (Psalm 23:4, NIV). And for those times when we feel as if others have risen against us, He “prepares a table before [us] in the presence of our enemies” (v. 5, NIV). The Pulpit Commentary expands on this, stating: “[David] has adversaries,’ indeed, but they are powerless to effect anything against him. They have to look on with ill-concealed annoyance at his prosperity to see his table amply spread; his condition such as men generally envy; his wealth typified by abundant oil.”
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Yahweh Sabaoth/Tsaba: (LORD of Hosts)
Sometimes translated as “Lord of Heaven’s Armies,” this is one of my favorite names for God. It reminds me that He is a mighty warrior who fights on our behalf, is more powerful than all the forces of evil, and reigns victorious over every battle.
This divine name first appears directly following what scholars refer to as the time of Judges, recorded in the Bible book bearing the same name. This was a dark period in ancient Israel’s history during which they frequently found themselves oppressed by more powerful nations. When we reach 1 Samuel, however, things start to shift as God raises up a shepherd boy, David, to one day become king.
He enters the narrative shortly after the Lord rejected the nation’s first ruler, Saul, for dishonoring the Temple and defying the priesthood. Not long after, God sent the then-most prominent prophet to anoint David to eventually assume the throne. Initially, he divided his time between tending his father’s flock in Bethlehem and serving in the palace. Meanwhile, his three older siblings joined Saul’s armed forces in a valley called Elah.
One day, David’s father sent him to check on his brothers. He found them and their fellow soldiers cowering before their enemy’s greatest warrior, Goliath. Although Scripture describes him as a human giant and David as an unarmed, untrained youth, the emerging leader challenged the tyrant unafraid. Approaching Goliath with nothing more than five stones and a sling, he declared:
“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” - 1 Samuel 17:45 NIV
Scripture again uses this name in Zechariah 4:6, spoken to ancient Israel during an overwhelming rebuilding project complicated by steadily increasing opposition: “So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD (Yahweh) Almighty (Tsaba)” (NIV, parenthetical inserts mine).
We’ll face numerous figurative giants in our lifetimes, but we don’t have to draw back in fear or concede defeat. We can approach every challenge, no matter how large, knowing victory doesn’t rely on us. We can declare, as David did to Goliath in 1 Samuel 17:47: “All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands” (NIV).
For additional names, along with how an element of God’s character is described by each, check out my friend Grace Fox’s devotional study, Names of God: Living Unafraid.
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Additional Names of God and Their Meaning
Adonay/Adonai: Lord or Master, designating God as the owner of all that exists who takes full responsibility over His creation and reigns as our world’s ultimate ruler.
El Shaddai/El Shadday: God of the Mountains or God Almighty, denoting His power and all-sufficiency.
El Roi: the God Who Sees, emphasizing His relational involvement with us and the fact that He sees and has compassion for our pain.
El Rapha: The Lord Who Heals, highlighting His ability to cure our spiritual and physical ailments.
Yahweh Jireh: The Lord Provides, calling attention not only for how He cares for our physical needs but primarily to the gift of salvation He offers through His Son.
Yeshuah (the Hebrew for Jesus): Salvation, and by implication, the Lord Saves, pointing to Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross to bring us life.
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Originally published Tuesday, 18 March 2025.