Monday July 7, 2025
THE Name
By Jenny Pfister
We are surrounded by the name of the Lord. We hear it on TV. We hear it at the movies. It is thrown around in supermarkets, and schools, and offices. We read it in books and newspapers. It is plastered all over the internet. We hear it spoken in church and speak it when we pray. The name is everywhere. It should be…just not in the wrong way.
Have you ever wondered how God’s name became an exclamation or a four-letter word? Why don’t people say, “Oh my Buddha” or “Oh my Allah,” or “Oh my Confucius?” Why is it always the holy name of Almighty God that gets thrown around as some trivial cuss word? And how it grieves me to hear the name of Jesus Christ used as a foul-mouthed comeback. Why not Fred Flintstone or Santa Claus? I think I know the answer…Satan only hates one name…God.
We recollect from our earliest Sunday School memory that God admonishes us in the Ten Commandments not to “take the Lord’s name in vain.” But do we remember the rest of that verse? “Do not take the Lord’s name in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7 NHEB) Yikes!
What does it actually mean to speak His name vainly? The Hebrew word used in Exodus 20 is shav which means, “useless, destructive, and wasteless.” It denotes a sense of desolating and destroying His hallowed name. Psalm 139 calls the one who does this an enemy of God! Why? The name of the Lord and His character are inseparable. When we irreverently speak His name, we irreverently impugn His holy character. Doesn’t that sound like something Satan would do?
You see, His name is who He is! His name is power. His name is healing and peace. His name is salvation and love. His name is life. Oh, how beautiful His name! We must be sacredly careful how we speak His name. We are to:
Magnify His name. Magnify means to “make large, to advance, to increase, and to promote.”
So let Your name be magnified forever, saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is the God over Israel.’ And let the house of Your servant David be established before You. (2 Sam.7:26 NKJV)
Revere or Fear the name. Revere means to have reverence. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of reverence)
O Lord, I pray, please let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant, and to the prayer of Your servants who desire to fear Your name; and let Your servant prosper this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” For I was the king’s cupbearer. (Neh.1:11 NKJV)
Love His name. Love means to “have an affection for.”
But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You; Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them; Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. (Ps.5:11 NKJV)
Glorify His name. Glorify means to “make weighty, to honor, to make rich.”
All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name. (Ps.86:9 NKJV)
Bless His name. Bless means to kneel, salute, act in adoration.”
I will extol You, my God, O King; And I will bless Your name forever and ever. (Ps.145:1 NKJV)
Praise His name. Praise means to, “make clear, to shine, to make a show.”
Every day I will bless You, and I will praise Your name forever and ever. (Ps.145:2 NKJV)
Hallow His name. Hallow means to “make holy, to consecrate, to set it apart.”
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. (Matt.6:9 NKJV)
When you really know someone, you call them by their name. In the ancient Hebrew culture, a name meant so much more than just what you called somebody; it reflected a person’s character. Take Satan. Satan means “opposer” or “adversary;” Devil means “accuser” or “slanderer.” This tells us a lot about Satan’s role as he opposes God and man, and seeks to accuse both.
The name of God gives believers tremendous comfort because it reveals aspects of His nature and character. The person who understands how to use God’s name will have a tremendous source of strength and protection while enduring the trials of life.
So if speaking His name in vain makes us an enemy of God, then speaking His name with reverence and awe must make us a friend of God. Which would you rather be?
Why this name? Because it is the name above every other.
