A Name

This year, I'm sharing my "Treasures" of my study of my "Ponder the Morsels" book. I've picked 31 Psalms to study throughout 2013. Today I studied Psalm 8. Here is what I learned.

LORD our Lord, ·Your name is the most wonderful name

[How majestic is your name]

in all the earth!

Psalm 8:1 (NXB)

Name. How majestic, grand, magnificent, marvelous, “mind-blowing", monumental, noble is God’s Name. 

The Hebrew word for “Name” means “embodying the (revealed) character”. So what Name of God did the Psalmist use. He actually used two names.

LORD is Yahweh. God’s proper name; His name of deity.

Lord is Adonai. Adonai means master, ruler, owner, and is such a title as is given to an owner of land, to kings, or to rulers, and is applied to God as being the ruler or governor of the universe.

So the very Name of God, Yahweh Adonai is “mind-blowing” in and of itself. Simply because the power and authority in His Name. It reveals Who God is. 

When we hear a name of a celebrity or sport’s player, we immediately associate that name with a characteristic, or action, or something about that person. But when we hear God’s name, how do we react? Of what do we think?  

One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Exodus 20:7 (KJV) 

What does that mean? 

No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter;

God won’t put up with the irreverent use of his name.

Exodus 20:7 (MSG). 

When we lose lack of respect for a person’s name, we also lose respect for the person. This is a sad fact of our society today. People think nothing of swearing and using “OMG” flippantly. 

If we could grasp even the smallest amount of understanding of Who God is, we would begin to understand the magnificence of God’s name and then the very being of God, Himself. 

To create a positive day, I need to respect the very Name of God, for it reveals His character, His ability—Who God is. And when I recognize Who God is, that changes my outlook on life.