Remembering God's Name

Psalm 119:55,56

    A thing gets its name because of  what it is made of. the purpose it serves, and to distinguish it from other objects. A day gets its name from what happened or will happen: thus birthday and Thanksgiving Day. A person gets his name by what he did or is doing. Thus he is called a carpenter, or, in tragic circumstances, a murderer.

    God's name tells us not only what He does but Who He eternally and unchangeably is. A man first becomes a babe, and later a father. God eternally is unchangeably God. That is why the psalmist in Psalm 119:55, 56 writes, "I have remembered Thy name, O Jehovah, in the night, and have kept Thy law. This I had because I kept Thy precepts."  Thus the Hebrew has it; and Jehovah means, ''I AM."

    In the night of sin and death the psalmist keeps that truth before him. When the enemy comes, he remembers God's complete control over every creature; and he has no fear. In temptations he remembers Who it is that he must love and serve. For us it is also to remember our sins, and that His Son saved us by His blood. Then we remember to give God thanks.

    We do well, however, to bear in mind that we remember God's name only in the way of keeping His law. Break God's law, and you say that He is not God. By sin we say that He has no right to demand this or that of us. Sin is not merely foolishness but is an act of hatred towards God.  It is saying that His laws are not good, and therefore that He is not the ALL-wise God; and that we should give Him another name than Lord and Holy Law-Giver.

    Flee from sin and sing with our versification (PRC Psalter):

    Thou hast been my meditation
    And Thy law has been my guide;
    I have kept Thy righteous precepts,
    And Thy law has been my guide.

    If you remember God's name, you will agree that His law is true, and you will sing of the trustworthiness of His commandments. Upon them you can depend as the way of life, and as pointing out the way of  love to Him Who is the one and only God, the God of our salvation.

Read: Psalm 63 
Psalter versification: #327:4

Meditations on the Heidelberg Catechism

Song for Meditation: Psalter #381
Why not sing along??

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Through the Bible in One Year
Read today:
II Kings 23:1-31 
II Kings 24:1-20 
II Kings 25:1-30 
Acts 22:1-17 
Acts 23:1-10 
Psalm 2:1-12 
Proverbs 18:13 
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Quote for Reflection:

"Brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).   “Liberty, then, is always in order to goodness.  It is never merely freedom from something; it is always freedom to something, the freedom to meet one’s obligations.  It always implies direction, which means commitment to some value or ideal.   This means that freedom binds.  It presupposes God…There can be no liberty that does not take God into account…”  ~Henry Stob