Mensa Otabil - The Name of the Lord
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Welcome to a brand new week. I trust that you’re doing very well. This week, we’re going to focus our devotion on God and His names. We will explore how God has revealed Himself to us through His name. We will begin today with a general introduction to the subject, and from tomorrow, I will start discussing the names of God in sequence. We will be talking about the name of the Lord and looking at Psalm 8, verse 9, which says, «O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth.»
In our world today, names are not very meaningful, but in the world of the Bible, at the time the Bible was written, both the Old and New Testaments held names in high regard. People’s names revealed much about themselves, and the names of locations conveyed significant information about those places. However, we have reached a point where people often prefer the sound of a name over its meaning. In the Bible, though, it was not about the sound of the name but rather its meaning.
As God reveals Himself to us, He uses His names to do so. God is immense; He has no beginning and no ending. It is impossible to know Him fully, but we come to know Him through the ways He has revealed Himself to us. He reveals Himself progressively, from Genesis to Exodus, through the Torah and the rest of the Old Testament, all the way to the New Testament. We continuously see God showcasing different aspects of Himself. Most of the revelation we have of God is based on His name, and the passage we read today tells us that the name of the Lord is excellent. In other words, His name is great, grand, and beautiful.
We will see how these names relate to us. Remember, much of what we believe about God is based on the name we call Him. In fact, our entire salvation is based on a name-believing in a name. When we pray, we use a name in our prayers, which makes the names of God and their applications very important. God’s name reveals His nature and His acts. His nature is who He is, and His acts are what He does.
As we observe His actions, we begin to understand who He is. This is how the people of the Bible understood God; they watched God’s works and how He handled situations. They witnessed Him manifest in various circumstances and then understood, «Ah, this is how God is; this is God’s nature.» His works reveal His nature, and through that revelation, we come to a name of God that is fitting for that understanding. Sometimes God Himself reveals His name to us.
As we continue our study, we will find instances where He says, «I am so-and-so; I am God who does such-and-such.» There is our discovery of Him that helps us assign a name to what He is doing, and then there is a name He Himself gives us. Whether through His self-revelation or our understanding of Him, we encompass all of that knowledge within the context of a name. This is why studying the names of God is so important; they help us understand Him, know Him, and learn how to receive what He has for us even in our prayer life. Knowing the name of the Lord is crucial.
The takeaway today is that the name of the Lord, no matter how it is revealed, is excellent, wonderful, powerful, and achieves so much for us in our walk with Him. I trust that this study will enrich your prayer life, enhance your knowledge of God, and strengthen your Christian walk as you seek to fulfill the will of the Lord every day. Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Yourself to us. Help me to trust You at all times and in all situations. In Jesus' name, Amen.»
Well, we will continue this wonderful study. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.