YHWH El-Ashiyb

Names of God – part 17

The LORD God my/our restorer

YHWH is God’s actual name which he revealed to Moses from the burning bush, it implies the personal nature of God and El the creator which is immeasurably beyond us. These two names are held in contrast here, a God who is both close and strange to us.

The third part of the name here is how God relates to us: Ashiyb means restorer, and is used variously in singular and plural forms. To the Psalmist God is his restorer and to the prophets God was the restorer of the nation.

Restoration means:

• give something back: to return something to its proper owner or place.
• return something to a previous condition: to bring something back to an earlier or better condition.
• energise somebody: to give somebody new strength or vigour.
• return somebody to a previous position: to restore somebody to a previous rank, office or position.
• put something back: to re-establish or put back something that is no longer there.

God can restore people or nations in a number of ways:

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and Ezekiel had a vision of dry bones coming to life.
Jesus healed many people and Jeremiah had a vision of the nation coming back to life.
The book of Daniel tells of King Nebuchadnezzar’s wealth and position being restored.

There are several in the Psalms like this from David:

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit. Psalm 51:12 ESVUK

I am still going through the process of being restored by God after a bad accident, Trust in God was restored after 8 years and now over 12 years after I am asking God for my joy to be restored. But it is not being returned to the same place, but to a faith which is somehow both deeper, and at the same time more fragile, having to be reliant on God.

Let us praise the God who restores.