Neville Turley

“He provided redemption for his people; he ordained his covenant forever— holy and awesome is his name.”  Psalm 111:9 (NIV)

Our Lord is a supreme teacher. He teaches us in the Lord’s prayer that God is our father in heaven, then in the very first petition lest we get too familiar, he commands us to hallow God’s name.

To hallow means to make holy. Our verse for today states that God’s name is already holy and awesome. We cannot pray that God will make his name more holy than it already is. We can pray that the Holy Spirit will empower us to accord God the holiness and respect due to him.

Since all good things come from God it is reasonable to assume that God himself is mindful of his good name. In the first book of Samuel it is written: “For the sake of his great name the Lord will not reject his people, because the Lord was pleased to make you his own.” (1 Samuel 12:22 (NIV))

We became his own when we became members of Christ’s flock.  “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12 (NIV))

As children of God we bear the name Christian, it is a name to rejoice in but it comes with obligations.  We make God’s name holy by our words and our deeds. It is an awesome challenge. How do we accomplish it?  The answer is in our Bible. “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.” (1 Chronicles 16: 8-11 (NIV))

We make God’s name holy when we lead righteous lives joyfully serving him and encouraging others to do the same.

Prayer: O God our Father may the Holy Spirit equip us with the gifts we need to bring glory to your name through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen