Yes! There is Good News! 3.11.17

In our previous article we were concerning ourselves with the topic of “names.” Our God has a specific name and that name from Hebrew is “Yehovah.” We looked at what this Hebrew name might mean when translated into English. Moses asked God what His name was, and God told Moses, “I AM THAT I AM. This is what you say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.” This is not an easy concept to grasp. God is who He is. He exists because He alone has life. We, His creation, exists only because it is His will. We have life, only because He has given us life.

Okay, let’s move on. Last week we mentioned that in both David’s Psalm and that of Nehemiah we are admonished to praise the name of God. Why should we praise His name? Shouldn’t we praise His person and His works, instead?
Well, actually, when we praise His name we are indeed praising who He is and what He does! In the first chapter of Luke, after Mary finds out that she is to give birth to the Son of God, we have a prayer from her recorded scripture. Verse 46, “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior ... for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is His name.” Mary’s statement about the holiness of His name is synonymous with the great things He has done for her. In other words, we cannot separate the name of God from His works. His name describes who He is!

It is interesting that after Moses asks God to tell him what His name is in Exodus 3, we have Moses asking to see God’s glory in chapter 33:18. At this point God tells Moses that no one can see His face (His full glory) and live. But God does tell Moses that He will cover Moses’s face with His hand that He will pass by Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness rebellion and sin ...” And so God proclaimed His name to Moses as a list of His personal attributes.

When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, they were told to worship God “in the place where I have placed my name.” In the book of Isaiah 25:1, Isaiah says, “I will exalt you (O God) and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things.”

So in conclusion, let me go back to the start of last week’s article and ask, “Do you oft praise God?” When you begin in a prayer, do you start by giving thanks and praising God? Psalm 100 verse 4 comes into play here, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.” Much of the time we come before our Father with our own requests; perhaps we should come before Him and offer our thanks, praise, honor and respect to the one with such an amazing name.

Until next time ...