May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
Psalms 20:1
What’s in a name?
I ask this because the Psalmist specifically chose to write “May the name of the God of Jacob protect you” versus just saying, ‘May the God of Jacob protect you.”
I know I touched base on this before here in my writings but I felt this entire topic merits its own slot in the approximately 52 slots reserved for a sermon this 2024. I feel that there’s so much more to our revering the name of the Lord, more than we conventionally see it. Just take a look at what we pull up when we look at the Hebrew used in place of ‘name’:
שֵׁם / shêm / shame / A primitive word (perhaps rather from H7760 through the idea of definite and conspicuous position; compare H8064); an appellation, as a mark or memorial of individuality; by implication honor, authority, character: – + base, [in-] fame [-ous], name (-d), renown, report.
Seeing what we have here we recognize the obvious: That a name is ‘a mark or memorial of individuality’. However, take a look at what else is written: “by implication honor, authority, character” – as if to say that by someone’s name, his or her honor and character also come to mind, as well as any authority (or lack thereof) implied to the person.
So with that being said, when I tell you, just as the Psalmist or the writer of Psalm 20 proclaimed, for the name of the God of Jacob to protect you, I am also automatically saying: May His honor, His character, and His authority protect you.
I hope this makes sense, because to me it adds more value and meaning to whenever we say stuff to others, such as ‘Your reputation precedes you’; People may not be around, but when their name is mentioned, so their honor, character, and authority are brought up.
At this time I’d like to bring to mind my experience with one of my nieces. We’ll call her Alex. She was so loved by my brother and my sister in law, much so that at her age, her response was to cling to them – and she clung to them so much that even when we, her relatives, tried to carry her or even come near her, she would cry. Heck, even just being with her in the living room without her parents within eyesight was already causing her anxiety. At the end of those moments where we lived with her face to face, we tried hugging her one last time, hoping that she would eventually be confident enough not to be scared of us.
The second time around we assumed that she probably saw more of the world and spent more time with her parents, and were just generally looking forward to seeing her. Of course, the apprehension was there, from our past experiences with her. However, we were pleasantly surprised when my mom and I were warmly greeted by both her and her younger sister – and not only was she not scared of us, but she wanted to spend time with us!
The thing is, after our initial shock, my brother revealed that he took extra time to put a good word in for my mom and I, weeks and months before we actually came over to visit. He ‘built us up’ by saying how we were nice and we had lots of gifts to give them – joking aside, he wanted nip any potential problems in the bud and told them that when we saw each other again, there was nothing to fear.
Let’s keep that in mind, and let’s also talk about how this concept about our names also affects me negatively – in the sense that when a person’s name is mentioned, and when negative things are said against their honor, character, and authority. There are quite a number of people whose names I’ve heard about, and whose reputations are busted in my own mind way before I meet them… and unfortunately, even when I know that this is mostly mental programming, it all remains in my mind, long past getting to know them.
Unlike my niece, I’m not going to mention any examples here… but I will say that I myself am guilty of making use of this phenomenon, to build people up, or to tear them down. We like to say stuff like, ‘I don’t mean to bring him down, but’, or ‘I don’t mean to brag, but’; and I’m here to say that statement notwithstanding, we ARE doing what we say we don’t mean to do.
Through my own criticism I’ve tore people down – not only bringing them to judgment, but apparently encouraging others to bring them to judgment. I’ve also made people out to be saints – and, I’ll say a name here because I HAVE been mentioning and quoting him a lot: Pastor Joedy is one example.
Okay at this point I feel I’m digging into a rabbit hole that’ll just get us even more sidetracked; I just want to say at this point that there is MUCH more to a name than we may be thinking.
And am I saying, therefore, that we should be building the name of the Lord up? Sure. We do it in our worship, and I cannot think of a finer example than that one song we’ve heard through the decades:
We sing, ‘Lord, I lift Your Name on high’, but what we’re also doing subtly is recognizing His uncompromising honor (“You came from heaven to earth to show the way”), His selfless character (“From the earth to the cross, my debt You paid”), and His eternal authority (“From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky). We precede the chorus telling the Lord and the World that we lift His name on high, and we love to sing His praises, and then we END the chorus appropriately, AGAIN proclaiming, ‘Lord, I lift Your Name on high!’
And isn’t this nice that we don’t necessarily need all the bells and whistles involved, the snazzy instruments and the ‘beautiful’ sound system? No, our HEARTS, made new by the finished work of Christ, the grace of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit – it’s our HEARTS that serve as our greatest instrument, and our hearts could not help but make good music, soon as we realize that there’s MUCH more to the name of the Lord than we’ve realized!
But as the folks in those infomercials would tell us – WAIT! There’s (even) MORE! For see, in all our own efforts to try to defend religion, constructing the 10 Commandments here, protecting the 10 Commandments there, checking our words to see that we don’t take the name of the Lord in vain, there’s actually something we should realize. I mean, we’re quick to call out blasphemy, but hear me out – let’s go back to the verse!
Does the Psalmist write that we should protect the name of the Lord? Friends, LOOK – it’s the name of the Lord that protects us!
I’m brought to remember the story of one of my favorite characters in the Bible, Gideon (who was leader of the 300 who actually won):
That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.” So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.
When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.
Judges 6:25-32
Look at it this way – the people of Baal thought it was proper to kill Gideon because he destroyed the altar of their god, and ‘the Asherah beside it’. I feel a good number of us are the same way. I think of the one lady who was falsely accused of defiling sacred text, and brutally murdered by a mob. I think of the many people who died in a similar manner across history because they were allegedly caught in the act of blasphemy.
I love Joash’s response to the mob. He’s basically calling them out for their apparent disrespect (‘Will (YOU) save (Baal)?’), and at the same time putting their ‘faith’ in the right place – ‘If he is a god, let him contend for himself’.
I remember what I talked about in my last article, regarding Lot – despite literal divine counsel he insisted in having his way, and in staying in the Valley he apparently revered. Here I thought Lot’s example was already pretty tragic, but we see here how I think it’s in our nature to offer up our own lives (Lot), or end the lives of others (Gideon) in defense of what we think we believe and revere.
I raise all of this up because I believe that, through all of this, not only are we seeing valuable aspects of what it means to recognize the name of the Lord, but another perspective of what it really means to trust in Him.
We may feel as if we need to contend for the Lord, especially in these times of famine as we’ve discussed… But at the end of the day, whether we show our efforts or not, the truth of the matter is that through our belief in Christ, our lives already proclaim: ‘Let the Lord contend for Himself.’
We need protection – especially in these times of shaking, wars, and earthquakes! But for all the circumstances we’re in, and for all the help we give and receive, our lives also proclaim: ‘The name of the Lord protects us.’
The Lord contends for Himself because the Lord contends for us.
The Lord contends for us because the Lord contends for Himself.
I want to keep on going but I think I’ll cut it here for now. This is a lot to take in, even for me. But I hope I made some sense here.
Thank you for making it this far! Rest assured, we have so much more to talk about.
Until the next post, God bless you!
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#BibleStudy #Christianity #Faith #Reflections #PracticalChristianity #BenefitsOfSalvation #SeasonOfRearranging #FaminesAndEarthquakes#2024YearOfTrust #Responsibility #Bible #Psalms #TheNameOfTheLord #HonorAndAuthority #TrustInGod #Gideon
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