The Lord’s Prayer: Holy is His name.

Tuesday December 13, 2022

Mat 6:9-13

"Pray, then, in this way:

'Our Father who is in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

10 'Your kingdom come.

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

11 'Give us this day our daily bread.

12 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

We realize that we are in the presence of God in heaven, and that He is literally and eternally our Father. Therefore this, says Christ, should be our first desire, our first petition: “Holy be Your name.”

Hallowed or holy is the verb hagiazo in the imperative. It is an intense request, as are all of the petitions since they are all imperative.

Hallowed means to sanctify or revere or to keep holy. It is our desire for ourselves, the body, and the world.

What does “name” stand for? In Israel it was what they revered God as – Yavah. It is how God summoned Moses. Moses was on holy ground and it was “I am that I am” (ehyeh – asher – ehyeh) that spoke to him.

Your name refers to God Himself, and the purpose of the petition is to express this desire that God Himself may be revered, may be sanctified in our own hearts and in the hearts of others, that the very name of God and all it denotes and represents may be honored amongst men, may be holy throughout the entire world.

When that desire becomes a reality in each of us, we will find ourselves wanting to do the things that shine His light to all around us. We will find ourselves spontaneously doing and saying the things that reveal Christ.

Jesus has given us a way to pray that will instill in us the desire to God to be revered, sanctified, and honored.

The name means all that is true about God and all that has been revealed concerning Him. It means God in all His attributes, the Father in all that He is, in all that He has done, is doing, and will do.

We remember that God revealed Himself in various names to the children of Israel.

El or Elohim – strength and power.

YHWH – the self existent One.

YHWH-jireh – the Lord who provides or sees (Gen 22:14).

YHWH El Elyon – the Lord most high (Gen 14:22; Psa 7:17).

Psa 7:1 A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjamite.

O Lord my God, in You I have taken refuge;

Save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me,

David then prays that if he is guilty of sinning against his enemies to let them hurt him. And then calls for God to act in justice.

Psa 7:10

My shield is with God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

And he closes his prayer with the name of God, the Lord Most High.

Psa 7:17

I will give thanks to the Lord according to His righteousness

And will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

YHWH mekadishkem – the Lord your sanctifier (Exo 31:13).

YHWH nissi – the Lord my miracle (Exo 17:15).

Exo 31:12-13

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

This will become important in “Your will be done,” because we will see that only obedience brings rest, and how in the context of that exhortation, God offers us mercy and grace at His throne (Heb 3-4).

In Exo 17:15, we find Israel’s first battle in the wilderness against Amalek and Moses on the hill over the battlefield. Moses is able to keep his arms up with the help of Aaron and Hur and Israel prevails. Moses builds an altar and names it Yavah nissi.

The name of God is miracle worker.

YHWH raph’ekha – the Lord who heals you (Exo 15:26).

YHWH ro’i – the Lord my shepherd (Psa 23:1).

In Exo 15:26, God made the bitter water sweet. He promised them that He would heal their diseases. However, many of them died in the wilderness. Why? The were disobedient because they did not mix faith with what they heard.

Because we translate into English, “The Lord is my Shepherd” we disconnect “shepherd” from His name.

YHWH shalom – the Lord our peace (Jdg 6:24).

YHWH tsuri v’goali – the Lord my rock and redeemer (Psa 19:14).

In Jdg 6, the Lord appears to Gideon and promises him that He will be with him to defeat Midian, then heavily oppressing Israel.

Psa 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer.

The context is the Law of God that, like the sun, touches and and reveals everything. It restores the soul, makes wise the simple, rejoices the heart.

YHWH tsidkeinu – the Lord our righteousness (Jer 23:6; 33:16).

YHWH shammah – the Lord is present (Eze 48:35).

Jer 23:5-6

"Behold, the days are coming," declares the Lord,

"When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch;

And He will reign as king and act wisely

And do justice and righteousness in the land.

6 "In His days Judah will be saved,

And Israel will dwell securely;

And this is His name by which He will be called,

'The Lord our righteousness.'

Jer 33:14-16

'Behold, days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will fulfill the good word which I have spoken concerning the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 15 'In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and righteousness on the earth. 16 'In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will dwell in safety; and this is the name by which she will be called: the Lord is our righteousness.

Yavah shammah is the name of the new Jerusalem during the millennial reign of Christ. The Lord is there. The Lord is always with you.

YHWH avinu – the Lord our Father (Isa 64:8).

Isa 64:8

But now, O Lord, You are our Father,

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all of us are the work of Your hand.