The Name of The Lord (8 Minute Read)

Your name, O LORD, endures forever, your renown, O LORD, throughout all ages.

-Psalm 135:13

As service came to a close this Lord’s day, we sang Psalm 135B and it was a glorious time indeed! Before the congregation took up their Psalters to teach and admonish one another with the word of God, our pastor made a warming point from this psalm. We were told of the permanence, the ubiquity, the eternal nature of God's name. His name - and not our own - is the name that will permeate throughout time eternal and will transcend this age. It will be sung in the age to come! What an absolutely glorious thought!

His Name is Majestic

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. -Psalm 8:1

The name of the Lord is beautiful. This may seem like a strange thought, and you may ask, “How can a name be beautiful?” But such a question misses the point that the Psalmist is making. It isn’t any “name” per se, that is beautiful. My name (Nick) has no intrinsic beauty. It’s just a string of letters, that when said together make a word and this is how people acknowledge or direct me. But a name is beautiful because by that name, the person who possesses it can be known! 

God has made himself known by his name. His nature and his perfections are shown to us as he reveals to us who he is by his name. The revelation of God’s name was even a key part of Jesus' ministry (John 17:6). But in this act of Christ revealing God’s name to his people, we see that Christ is the perfect and exalted name of God, being his exact glorious imprint (Hebrews 1:3). 

The majesty of God’s name is revealed in the gospel, in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6). By Christ, light has shone in our hearts, by revealing to us who God is, his deep and abiding love, his mercy and kindness, and his grace toward elect sinners. The majesty of God’s name is nothing less than the glorious Savior of our souls, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

His Name Endures Forever

May his name endure forever, his fame continue as long as the sun! May people be blessed in him, all nations call him blessed! -Psalm 72:17

On the Earth, we see the names of many men endure for ages. We see the names of kings, princes, and rulers endure and abide within the hearts of men and on the pages of history. How much more will the name of the eternal and uncreated God be remembered throughout all the earth and the universe for all eternity? 

In our measly existence, the sun, which provides for us food and warmth, is the most permanently fixed and necessary object. We would be in utter dismay if one day the sun did not rise. Our gardens would not grow, we would not have the warmth of its rays, and our lives would end in but moments. We are given a visual, a comparison between a fixed object and the name of God, so that we may understand how immutable and enduring the name of God truly is! 

The name that endures forever, belongs to the God of Israel who is from everlasting to everlasting (Psalm 41:13). His name is forever because it points us to the God who is forever. The fact that God’s name remains, even longer than that of the greatest men of the earth, and the sun, is a truth that is of great comfort to God’s saints. We can be confident that because of his strength and perpetuity, all that he has set out to do and accomplish in and through Christ, he will infallibly do. 

Our Names Will Fade

In James’ epistle, we are told that our lives are vapid (James 1:4). We are a breath, here today and gone the next. A more humbling reality is difficult to come by. Despite our potentially momentary grandeur, it is exactly that: momentary. Therefore, we ought to think of our lives as momentary so that the name of God may be magnified in us, and we can humbly allow him to shine forth, and subsequently fall to the sidelines. In thinking about God's name being great and our name fading away, we ought to remember three things. 

The first thing to keep in our minds is the focus we should have on heaven. We are constantly being told to have a view of things to come, and not have our eyes fixed on the things of this earth. In his epistle to the Philippians, Paul explains the aim of his pursuit: his resurrection from the dead to be with Christ in glory. His ministry is motivated by pressing on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:12-14). This way of thinking is what marks mature believers. When we find ourselves thinking of Earth as permanent we will find ourselves moving farther away from the Lord. But when we think of all the things of this world as temporary, and we understand ourselves to be foreigners, then we will be able to live in a way that glorifies the Father and hold on to him tightly, rather than clinging to the things of this world (1 Corinthians 7:29-31). 

Second, we must willfully put ourselves last. This, however, is no easy task. We are at battle with our hearts and our pride bubbles to the surface many times almost imperceptibly. However, we are told by Christ that we must deny ourselves and die to our desires (Luke 9:23). Every day we must take upon ourselves the thought that we must die to our fleshly lusts, and pursue those things that would instead magnify the Lord. Daily, we must consider how to best glorify Christ in our words, thoughts, and actions (Psalm 19:14). In doing this, we become faithful and obedient servants of our great Savior, who was first obedient to the Father for our sakes. 

Third, we must put Christ first. It is very tempting to try and exalt your name. It is even more tempting to try and exalt your name under the guise of humility and a desire to have Christ be made known. Every time we evangelize, or do family worship, or write, or counsel, or proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, whose fame are we most concerned with? Whose name do we want people to remember? This was not a difficult question for John the Baptist when he said that, “[Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). This must be our mentality as well, each and every day when we open our eyes. We must say to our souls, “Today the name of Christ will be glorified in my life!” 

Even if our names are remembered for a few generations, let it be only because we are remembered for our faithful stewardship of the name of Jesus Christ, whose name will be praised for all eternity! Let our motivation be that the name of our God would be known by all the Earth so that every knee would bow!

 To him be glory, and dominion, and power, forever and ever!

S.D.G.