Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
I wonder what the significance is of your NAME. Why did the person who chose your name give you the name that appears on your birth certificate? Did you have a ‘nickname’ as you were growing up and if so, what did it mean? Even now, is there a ‘nickname’ by which your friends call you and why?
The names of people are significant, aren’t they? Did you know there are several people in the Bible who received their names directly from God, in some cases even before they were born? For instance, both Joseph and Mary were told by the angel Gabriel to give Mary’s firstborn son the name “Jesus“, and Gabriel explained, because Jesus would save his people from their sin. (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:31) Gabriel also told the priest Zechariah that he and his wife Elizabeth would have a miracle son in their old age, and God wanted them to name him “John“. (Luke 1:13) Do you remember the angel of the LORD met Hagar and told her to name her son “Ishmael“ (Gen. 16:11) and God told Abraham to name the miracle son of Sarah “Isaac“. (Gen. 17:19)
But what about the names by which the one, true, living God has become known through the centuries? Did you know some of the names of God in the Bible are names God gave Himself and some are names people gave to God? for instance: God proclaimed to Abraham that He was All Sufficient to make good on every promise God would ever make, by using the name “El Shaddai” (Gen. 17:1) translated “God Almighty”. In response to Moses’ question about who God wanted Moses to tell the people he had met with on Mount Sinai, God proclaimed the name “YHWH”, translated Jehovah or ‘LORD‘. (Exodus 3:15)
The name “Elohim“ is used for God in Genesis 1:26,27 when the Scriptures record: “God said, ‘let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…so God created mankind in His own image…” And frequently in the Bible we find combinations of the names of God which fit into a particular event or an encounter or conversation someone is having with God. That is what I find happening with King David as he is having one of his life changing encounters with God as recorded in 2 Samuel 7 & 1 Chronicles 17. I think it’s fascinating, so I’m inviting you to join me as we watch and listen in on David’s conversation with God.
You’ll recall David is responding to a wonderful message of blessing from God which the prophet Nathan had brought to David. David was simply overwhelmed, and he found a quiet, private place to meet with God and express his profound gratitude to God, while he was simply in awe of God. 2 Samuel 7:25,26 record these words from David to God: “And now, LORD God, [Jehovah Elohim] keep forever the promise You have made concerning Your servant [David] and his family. Do as You have promised, so that Your name [all the great names of God] will be great forever. Then people will say, ‘The LORD Almighty [Jehovah Sabaoth] [El Shaddai] is God over Israel! And the house of your servant David will be established before You.”
David was responding to the promise God had made to him that one of his sons would build a magnificent Temple for God (2 Samuel 7:12,13) and also that David’s family line would be the royal line in Israel from which future kings would come to reign over the people of Israel. (2 Samuel 7:8-11) Do you hear his profound gratitude? Does David seem overwhelmed by it all as he should be?
God had promised David’s name and his reign as King would be an important part of the nation of Israel’s story forever. And all this would be the result of the very unusual relationship David had with God as seen in David’s use of the word ‘servant‘ when David referred to himself. By my count David used that word 17 times in his prayer! David was saying that from his viewpoint the highest value of his life was to serve Almighty God by being faithfully and fully obedient to God and available for God for any God given assignment to accomplish any plan or purpose of God on this earth during David’s lifetime.
Now think about that for a moment friends, as you consider what you have determined to be your greatest value on earth; and your life purpose; and your relationship with God Almighty? I wonder what words or phrases you would use to describe YOU?
Listen now to what David said next in his powerful prayer to God: “O Sovereign LORD, you alone are God! Your words are trustworthy, and You have promised these good things to Your servant. Now be pleased to bless the house of Your servant that it may continue forever in Your sight…” It is very clear, isn’t it? While David knew that people groups living in what we call the Middle East around Israel worshipped many different images and idols they made with their own hands, and some worshipped the sun or the moon or stars, David was proclaiming that he was convinced there is only ONE true, living, Almighty, Holy, Creator God.
David had grown to love God as a boy caring for sheep, watching the stars at night, the brilliant sunsets and refreshing sunrises. That’s why David wrote many Psalms praising God for His uniqueness, His majesty, His wonderful creation that proclaims the glory of God! Psalm 19 for instance: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of God’s hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display God’s knowledge.” David had experienced the power of Almighty God in his life.
It seems to me as David reflected on his life journey and how God had brought him from being a simple shepherd boy, to be King David, responsible to lead an entire nation of God’s people, and as David deeply considered the powerful personal relationship God had developed with David over the years, David’s mind and heart were overwhelmed. Seven times David used the phrase “O Sovereign LORD” as David tried to combine the unlimited majesty and power of God with His authority over all things at all times in all places in this universe HE had created by HIS glorious design. It’s no wonder David found great joy and fulfillment in the concept of his being God’s servant, always available to God for anything God wanted to accomplish through David.
Finally, do you see David’s great desire that his family would forever enjoy the very close relationship with God that David was living? That’s what I think David meant when he asked God to “be pleased to bless the house of Your servant that it may continue forever in Your sight…“ (2 Samuel 7:29) For David, as he thought about his children and grandchildren and those far in the future for many generations to come, nothing would be better for them than to live under the watchful eye of God. David was not asking for wealth or fame or success for his descendants, but only that God would be pleased to watch over David’s descendants and nurture the same type of relationship with them that David and God were developing!
Now is that your prayer for your descendants my friends? And what are you and I doing practically to nurture that relationship? Are we speaking God’s Word into our kids and grandkids; are we praying with and for them; and we pointing them to God’s truth? Here’s a song to help us consider the power of David’s prayer applied to your family and mine, I urge you to listen very closely to the challenge of these words. Can you sing along? Is it your commitment to God?
Today’s Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:25-29.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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