Skip to main content

His Name Is Good


I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints. (Psalm 52:9) 

        Have you ever met someone whose name didn't fit? The name mismatch that comes to my mind wasn't for a person. It was for a dog, and I was responsible. I got a collie puppy, and thought "Lassie, big, bold, courageous, British," so I named him Excalibur. Mind you, I loved Cal, but he was loving, gentle and shy. That's not exactly the image created by the name Excalibur. I'm not sure I was any wiser in naming Grace. Grace seems to me to refer to something calm, fluid, and gentle. She's more likely to have me say, "Oh my goodness, Grace-ious!" with her vast stores of energy and stubbornness. 
        God's names aren't like that. Did you know God has more than one name? Did you know He has more than three or four? God has lots of names. I have a book that discusses many of them (at home.) I started working on a list from memory the other day, thinking ahead for material about which to write. Like ancient Jewish names, each name had a meaning that is true of God. Today's passage has, and doesn't have, a name of God. It says "for your name is good." It doesn't say "for your name is Good," but goodness is one of God's attributes, so we'll come back to that.
        God's name is also good in that He has a good reputation and a reputation for doing good, being effective (good batteries have a charge.) His reputation among the nations was as a God who did mighty things on behalf of Israel, unlike the gods of other nations who tended to not do anything. God gave His people hope. Other gods didn't offer hope, at least not to the commoner. 
            This is one of the reasons we shouldn't take God's name in vain, or use it carelessly. We especially shouldn't use it to curse others or for evil purposes. His name is good.


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Way, The Truth, and The Life

              Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me . (John 14:6)           If “I am the gate of the sheep…I am the good shepherd” from chapter 10 is a double whammy, this verse is a triple whammy. And its first victim is the notion that any other so-called god was acceptable or the same as Jesus. He, and He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, and the only way to get to the Father. There is no other Savior, or Redeemer, according to Jesus. Now, to be fair, other religions will claim that their religion or god(s) are the only way. That is the nature of gods and of religions. If this and that are equally good and agree on what’s necessary, then this and that are the same thing, so there’s no need to from the other to one. If that’s the case, then why speak against the other or promote the one? There’s a song I’ve been listening to i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more