God Speaking

“He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”

(Psalm 23:3)

Just recently I was watching a dedication of a new wing at one of our hospitals which was to be named in honour of a tireless worker in our community who had worked hard at raising money for research and had now passed away.  His name would be now revered in big letters at the entrance to this wing. Later as we were driving through our city I saw many examples of names emblazoned on schools, parks and buildings which were an honouring of certain person/ persons. While I was contemplating the importance of remembering these names, I thought of the many times God speaks to his people through the prophets, telling them of the importance of his Name and how it is to be respected and honoured.

“But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my Name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.” (Ezekiel 20: 22)

When we belong to the Lord we assume the incredible privilege of bearing his name. When Samuel is speaking to God’s people, he reminds them to remember in awe what this means;

“For the sake of his great Name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.” (1 Samuel 12: 22)

As I was reading some of the names on the schools around our neighbourhood I thought to myself, “I wonder who that person really was?” and wondered why the name had been preserved, but as there was no record readily available to tell future generations of the full story, the significance of the name was lost. The Lord has promised that will never happen to his Name.

When we read the beautiful Psalm 23, we begin to understand what, For his name’s sake, means.  When we bear his name, we will be lead by the caring Shepherd, comforted by him, protected, never alone, surrounded with goodness and love, but there is an underlying message for this abundance of blessings. We will be guided on paths of righteousness for a reason, the glorifying and preserving of his Name.  When we display his righteousness through living and obeying his commands we are giving witness to his name.

Sometimes in our human frailty, we think our walk with the Lord is mainly about us and our needs, but when we realise the honour it is to be called one of his, we long for our lives to be a living testament to that Everlasting Name. There is a lovely song, Your Name is a Strong and Mighty Tower, which expounds on this theme and one of the verses sums this up.

Jesus in your name we pray

Come and fill our hearts today

Lord give us strength to live for you

And glorify your name. 

Check out youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj7xTDlOqog (You Are My Strong Tower by Kutless)