We have quoted the Lord’s Prayer often. And, in His model prayer for us (Matthew 6:9-13), Jesus offered a statement of commitment to honor God’s Holy name.
This model prayer, when interpreted through references from both Matthew and Luke, indicates that the prayer was intended more as a guide for all other prayers than simply a liturgical recitation. The very first petition in this prayer asks that God’s name be revered and held in honor. The “name” of God represents His character as revealed in all of history. To hallow God’s name expresses the highest and holiest honor to God and His full nature. Because God’s name expresses the fullness of who He is, His name is infinitely Holy. To petition that His name be Holy is not to pray for what His name is to become, but rather a petition that His name – His character – be revered for Who He is in His fullness. He is Holy. And the petition asks for God Himself to be approached as Holy – that His name be treated as Holy by His whole creation.
Let’s take a moment to look more closely into the essence of the name of our God. For this, we turn to a familiar encounter in the Old Testament:
5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed His name, the Lord. 6 And He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.” (Exodus 34:5-7)
Simply explained, Moses’ encounter demonstrates the characteristics of God given in verses 6-7 as the equivalent to the “name of the Lord” mentioned in verse 5. Our experience with God does not simply resonate the fact the we know His title, but rather that we know His character.
So, to hallow God’s name is to acknowledge His name as holy above all things, and this is to acknowledge His character as holy. John Calvin observed of this petition of prayer, “For God’s name to be hallowed means exactly that God’s name is to be held in the honor which is deserved, that men may never speak or think of Him without the highest reverence.”[1]
Also, to petition for God’s name to be honored as holy by all is to agree with the divinely prophesied confession that all creation will one day bow and confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10-11).
So, today, we are called by God’s Word to render our highest praise to God. We are called to honor Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord above all things, and to continually pray for God’s name to be honored above the earth. So, in a day when many voices proclaim the importance of different issues and values, and when many individuals boast of popular names and entities for answers to society’s ills, we must boast only in the name of the Lord our God.
Let’s lift high the name of our God, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let’s do so in our worship, our work, our communication, and ultimately in our hearts.
Blessings.
READRead Matthew 6:9-13 and spend time today honoring the name of the Lord our God.
[1] John Calvin, Calvin’s New Testament Commentaries, vol. 1, Matthew, Mark, and Luke (WM. Be Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1972), 207.
