Exposition of Psalm
119
?
ZAIN
God’s
Word Produces Remembrance
Psalm
119:49-56
Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused
me to hope.
This
is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath
quickened me.
The
proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not
declined from thy law.
I
remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have
comforted myself.
Horror
hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that
forsake thy law.
Thy
statutes have been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage.
I
have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have
kept thy law.
This
I had, because I kept thy
precepts.
The key concept in
this stanza is apparent at the first reading. Three
times David writes of remembrance, the only
mention of this concept in the entire Psalm. The Hebrew
zakar—translated remember
in verse 49 and remembered
in verses 52 and 55—means not only to remember but also
to think of or pay attention to. The fact that it
appears some 238 times in the Old Testament, fifty-seven
of which are in the Psalms, including the three here,
dramatically demonstrates that remembrance in ancient
Israel was a major part of proper
worship. Psalm 22:27, for
example, declares: “All the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of
the nations shall worship before thee.” Psalm 45:17 also
declares, “I will make thy name to be remembered in all
generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for
ever and ever,” as does 63:5-6: “My mouth shall praise
thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed,
and meditate on thee in the night watches.” The clear
truth here is that we simply cannot worship unless we
are remembering.
Indeed, one of the
greatest acts of worship is to remember what God has
done. As the psalmist again declares, “I will remember
the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy
wonders of old. . . . who is so great a God as our God?”
(77:11, 13; cf. 105:5; 106:7). How this should be true
of us today! Much so-called “worship” in churches
revolves around people, what makes them feel good or
“meets their needs.” But that is not worship. True
worship considers God alone, lifts up
only Him, and one way to do
that is to recall His great works in the universe and in
the hearts of His people.
Such remembrance also
implies two results.
First,
remembering results in repentance. As Ezekiel 6:9 declares, “And they that escape
of you shall remember me among the nations whither they
shall be carried captives, because I am broken with
their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and
with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols:
and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they
have committed in all their abominations.” How we need
to remember our sin! David again writes in Psalm 38:1,
“A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance,” and then
describes his failures in the verses that follow: “There
is no soundness in my flesh” (v. 3), “mine iniquities
are . . . an heavy burden” (v. 4), and “I go mourning
all the day long. For my loins are filled with a
loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my
flesh” (vs. 6-7). In verse 18, he then prays, “For I
will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin.”
How different that is from what we hear today from many
pulpits. While we hear much about having “a positive
self-esteem,” David spoke of the “loathsome disease” of
sin from which he needed to repent. So to truly remember
is to mindful of our sin and to repent of
it.
Second,
remembering results in obedience, that is,
observing God’s commandments: “Remember all the
commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye seek
not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which
ye use to go a whoring: That ye may remember, and do all
my commandments, and be holy unto your God.” (Num.
15:39-40). Further, the word “Deuteronomy” literally
means “second law,” and that book is Moses’ restatement
of the Law that he passed down to the next generation.
The word remember
(zakar) appears some fourteen
times, as in chapter 5 to challenge the people to
remember and obey God’s commands. Likewise, the psalmist
again declares, “But the mercy of the LORD is from
everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and
his righteousness unto children’s children; To such as
keep his covenant, and to those that remember his
commandments to do them.” (Ps. 103:17-18). Phrasing it
in the negative, Solomon also counsels, “My son, forget
not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments”
(Prov. 3:1).
It’s also
significant that the Septuagint translates the Hebrew
zakar with the Greek mnemoneuo (English “mnemonic”) which refers not only to
the mental capability to recall something, but also “to
be mindful” of it and “take [it] into
account.”[i] With all that in mind,
the stanza before us reveals three principles: we are
comforted, confident, and challenged.
I. Be Comforted by Considering God’s Remembrance
(vs.
49-50)
Remember
the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused
me to hope.
This
is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath
quickened me.
What does David mean
by asking God to remember?
After all, God is omniscient so he can’t forget
anything. What David means, of course, is that God
remembers in the sense of “paying attention to” or
“working on behalf of.” The very first occurrence of
zakar, in fact, reflects this
very idea: “And God remembered Noah, and every living
thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark:
and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the
waters asswaged” (Gen. 8:1). Matthew Henry well says
concerning this verse: “The whole race of mankind,
except Noah and his family, was now extinguished, and
driven into the land of forgetfulness, to be remembered
no more; so that God’s remembering Noah was the return
of his mercy to mankind.”
Also in Genesis, God
“remembered Abraham” by delivering his nephew Lot from
destruction in Sodom (19:29), and He also “remembered
Rachel” by enabling her to conceive and give birth to
Joseph (30:22-24). In Exodus 2:24, we also read that
“God heard [the] groaning” of His people in their
bondage in Egypt and therefore “remembered his covenant
with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.”
Because of such
remembrance David, therefore, says thou hast caused me
to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction.
Just knowing that God never forgets us, never forsakes
us, and is always working on our behalf provides the
greatest hope and
comfort
possible. As noted back in verse 43, hope
(yahal) means “confident expectation, trust, and
patient waiting.” Further, comfort
(nehamâ) speaks of compassion and consolation.
This same word is used in that great Psalm of comfort:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy
rod and thy staff they comfort me” (Ps. 23:4) This is,
indeed, the only thing that will [quicken] us (see verse 25b), that is, revive us in those
times when distress, discouragement, and depression
threaten to overwhelm us.
II. Be Confident by Remembrance of the Word of
God (vs.
51-53)
The
proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not
declined from thy law.
I
remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have
comforted myself.
Horror
hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that
forsake thy law.
As mentioned back in
verse 21, “the proud . . . are cursed” by God because
they “do err from [His] commandments.” Pride is a
self-sufficiency that that disregards what God says. As
a result, therefore, the proud
will arrogantly mock those who stand on God’s Word. The
Hebrew behind derision
(luts) is a strong word for scorn and mockery,
expressing utter contempt (cf. Prov. 9:7-8; 13:1; 20:1;
Job 16:20; etc.). Sadly, a prominent philosophy in the
church today is that we must appeal to the world, make
the “unchurched” feel comfortable in our church services
by giving them whatever they want. David says quite the
opposite, however, that the world will mock and scorn
God’s people as they stand for truth. Indeed, we will be
held in contempt by the rationalist, scorned by the
relativist, and even hated by the religionist.
Like David, however,
this should never cause us to [decline] from
[God’s] law. “No matter what they say,” David
continues, “I will lean on nothing else but God’s Word.”
The word declined
is the same word used back in verse 36 for “incline”:
“Incline my heart unto thy testimonies.” As noted there,
it’s usually used in a figurative way, such as inclining
or leaning toward something. The godly Believer, then,
never leans away from God’s Word, regardless of what
attacks that come. He is absolutely
confident is God’s
Word.
If I might share a
personal thought, when someone approaches me with a
supposed “contradiction in Scripture,” or asks, “Well,
what about this problem? How do you reconcile that with
this other thing over here?” I am never worried. It
never enters my mind to fretfully say, “Oh, no, what I
am going to do now? How am going to answer this?” Such
thoughts never occur to me because of my obsolete
confidence in God’s Word. I know God’s Word is right, so
I know the answer is there. If the answer is not
immediately forthcoming, I will find it. My confidence
is never shaken by the childishness, foolishness, or
wickedness of men.
David makes an
interesting statement in verse 53: Horror hath taken
hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy
law. That word horror
captures our attention. The Hebrew
(zal‘apâ) seems to refer to
the Arab simoom,
a hot, dry,
violent, dust-laden wind that occurs in Asian and
African deserts. David, therefore, recognized the
approach of the horrible, devastating “storm of burning
wind and sand” that sin is. Anyone who has ever been in
sandstorm understands the metaphor. Blowing sand cuts
the skin, blinds the eyes, and can choke a person to
death.
That is, indeed,
what sin does because men forsake [God’s]
law. Here is a challenge
to every Christian to be as horrified at sin as David
was, to recognize what it does to every person who lives
in its storm. The only safety, the only confidence that
exists lies in remembering the Word of
God.
III. Be Challenged by Remembrance of the God of
the Word (vs.
54-56)
Thy
statutes have been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage.
I
have remembered thy name, O LORD, in the night, and have
kept thy law.
This
I had, because I kept thy
precepts.
While the previous
verses underscore the Word of God, I was
profoundly struck by the fact that these stress the
God of the Word. The key words are I have remembered thy
name, O LORD. The names of God are one of the
most enlightening Bible studies one can do, for His
names actually describe His nature.
Further, they tell us not only Who He is, but
also what He does. Theologian
Louis Berkof points out a very important foundational
truth:
While the Bible records several
names of God, it also speaks of the
name of God in the singular . . . [which] stands for
the whole manifestation of God in His relation to His
people. . . . This usage is due to the fact that in
oriental thought a name was never regarded as a mere
vocable, but as an expression of the nature of the thing
designated.[ii]
In other words,
while in our western culture names often don’t mean
much, in eastern thought a name was indicative of an
object’s nature. In a very real sense, then, God’s
name is His own self-revelation.
Isaiah 12:4, for example, declares, “Praise the LORD,
call upon his name, declare his doings among the people,
make mention that his name is exalted.” This becomes all
the more vivid as we note the various names used of God
in Scripture. How important this is in our day!
At the root of the
problems we see in society, and even the Church, is a
wrong conception of God. We simply do not know Who He
is. Instead of the shallow fluff, and even heresy, that
lines the shelves of many Christian bookstores, would
that pastors encouraged their people to read books such
as A. W. Tozer’s The Knowledge of the Holy, or
Arthur W. Pink’s, The Attributes of God. Better
yet, we should point them to Puritan Steven Charnock’s,
The Existence and Attitudes of God, which will furnish them a lifetime of depth and
meditation.
Yes, God’s names tell us
much. Let us take just a few moments to mediate on a few
of God’s Old Testament names.
Elohim
In the very first
verse of the Bible we read, “In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1),
acknowledging Him as the Creator of the universe and
exposing the evolutionist as the fool he is. The Hebrew
here for God is Elohim, the plural of
Eloah. The singular Eloah occurs only in
poetry (e.g., Ps. 50:22; Is. 44:8), while the plural
Elohim appears more than
2,600 times in the Old Testament and usually refers to
the one true God. Not only does it speak of God as the
Creator (Gen. 1:1; 5:1), but also as the King (Ps.
47:7), the Judge (Ps. 50:6), the Lord (Ps. 86:12), and
the Savior (Hos. 13:4).
A basic fact of the
Hebrew language is that any word ending in im is
plural, making Elohim plural.
This fact, however, has created three views as to why it
appears in the plural. Some regard it as an intensive to
signify God’s fullness of power, others see it as a
majestic form to indicate God’s kingly rule, while still
others believe it is as an allusion to the Trinity.
There is no doubt, however, that it is the third meaning
that is correct, and few have challenged this biblical
and historical view through the ages.[iii] While the doctrine
of the Trinity is not as prevalent in the Old Testament
as the New, it is there nonetheless, and to deny it is
one of the most serious heresies of all false teaching.
Genesis 1:1-2, for example, alludes to two members of
the Trinity, as the “Spirit of God [Elohim] moved
upon the face of the waters.” We then read in 1:26-27,
“And God [Elohim] said, Let us make man in our
image, after our likeness . . . So God [Elohim]
created man in his own image.” Isaiah 48:16 also
declares, “Come ye near unto me, hear ye this; I have
not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time
that it was, there am I: and
now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me” (cf.
63:7-10). Ecclesiastes 12:1 also declares, “Remember now
thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” where “Creator”
is actually the plural “Creators” in the Hebrew, as is
“Maker” in Isaiah 54:5 the plural “Makers”: “For thy
Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his name;
and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the
whole earth shall he be called.”
Finally, while some
scholars trace the origin of this amazing word to a root
that means “The Strong One,” others trace it to a root
that denotes “fear,” which therefore creates the idea of
reverence. Others believe, however, that it is possible
for some names to be derived from two or even three
roots, which means that Elohim is both, The Strong One who is to be feared and
revered because of Who He is.[iv] That is, indeed,
the challenge to us, to remember Who
Elohim is and what He has
done.
Jehovah
Here is a
fascinating name indeed. In spite of years of
scholarship, little is known of the word Jehovah
outside the text of Scripture. Even its original
pronunciation has been lost because for centuries Jews
would not even utter it, sometimes out of reverence but
more often out of superstition. Pronunciations include
Jehovah, Yehovah, Jahweh, and Yahweh. Up until the
Renaissance it was only the consonants YHWH (called the
Tetragrammaton) that appeared in the Hebrew Bible, at
which time the vowels from another name of God,
’Adonay, were added with the hope of recovering the
pronunciation. Even today, however, Jewish students and
scholars read ’Adonay (Lord)
when they see the Tetragrammaton, and even several
English translations indicate this by using the word
“LORD” in all uppercase
letters.
On the other hand, Jehovah
is actually more fully defined in Scripture than all
God’s other names and is the most significant, appearing
5,321 times in the Old Testament.[v] It comes from the
Hebrew verb “to be” (hayah) and therefore
emphasizes God’s self-existence and unchangeableness, as
He revealed Himself to Moses saying, “I AM THAT I AM”
(Ex. 3:14), that is, “I
Am the One Who Is.” It was this name, in fact, that God
chose as His personal name by which He related
specifically to and most dramatically with His chosen
people.
Jehovah is also the name
that is specifically God’s “covenant name,” the name He
usually used when making covenants and giving promises
to His people, such as Noah (Gen. 8:20—9:27), Abraham
(Gen. 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-18), and Moses (Ex.
20:1—31:18). In those passages, in fact, we find the
word Jehovah some sixty-eight times.
One of the chief
uses of this name for God relates to His work of
redemption. Leviticus 26:45, for example, declares, “I
will for their sakes remember the covenant of their
ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt
in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God:
I am the LORD [Jehovah].” Psalms 19:14
proclaims,
“Let the words of my mouth,
and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy
sight, O LORD [Jehovah], my strength, and my
redeemer.”
Of such pivotal importance
is this word that we discover several compounds of it,
each of which reveals a special way that God deals with
His people.[vi]
First, we
encounter the name Jehovah-jireh in Genesis 22:14. The scene is when Abraham is
about to sacrifice Isaac but God stops his hand and
provides a ram in the thicket instead. It was then that
“Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh,”
that is literally, “The LORD Will Provide,” or even more
significant, “the LORD will see to it.” That latter idea
is perhaps the most blessed. As Paul declares, “My God
shall supply all your need according to his riches in
glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19). Indeed, the Lord
will see to it, He will take care of
it.
Second, He is
Jehovah-rapha, “The LORD
That Healeth,” in Exodus 15:26. After the Exodus and the
crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites found themselves
in the wilderness of Shur, where they found no water.
When they finally did find water in Marah, the water was
bitter and undrinkable. After God sweetened the water,
he said, “If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice
of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in
his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and
keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases
upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for
I am the LORD that healeth thee.” As Paul reminds us,
“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for
we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered [i.e., dismayed sighs that
cannot be expressed in words]” (Rom.
8:26).
Third, He is
Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord My
Banner,” in Exodus 17:8-15. The scene is Israel’s battle
with the Amalekites, “when Moses held up his hand . . .
Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek
prevailed,” so Aaron and Hur “stayed up his hands” and
Israel was victorious. We then read, “And the LORD said
unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and
rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly
put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And
Moses built an altar, and called the name of it
Jehovahnissi.” We, too, are victorious when we fight in
His power alone, when we put on the whole armor of God
(Eph. 6:12-20). Was it Israel who in truth prevailed
against the Amalekites? No, it was God. Likewise, God
will win the victory as we trust in His Word alone.
Victory comes only with obedience.
Fourth, He is
Jehovah-shalom, “the Lord Is
Peace,” in Judges 6:23-24. This was the name God used to
reveal himself to Gideon: “And the LORD said unto him,
Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt not die. Then
Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it
Jehovahshalom.” And only to the Christian does God,
through Christ, bestow upon us the “peace of God, which
passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and
minds through Christ Jesus.”
Fifth, He is
Jehovah-sabaoth, “the LORD Of
Hosts,” first mentioned in I Samuel 1:3, the first
occurrence of some 240 instances of this wonderfully
descriptive name. It’s rooted in Genesis 2:1: “Thus the
heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of
them.” One commentator puts the meaning
well:
It represented Jehovah as ruler
over the heavenly hosts (i.e., the angels, according to
Gen. 32:2, and the stars, according to Is. 40:26), who
are called the “armies” of Jehovah in Psa. 103:21; Psa.
148:2. . . . It is simply applied to Jehovah as the God
of the universe, who governs all the powers of heaven,
both visible and invisible, as He rules in heaven and on
earth.[vii]
It’s also worthy of note
that this name appears twice in the New Testament, once
in Romans 9:29 (which is a quotation of Is. 1:9), and
again in James 5:4: “Behold, the hire of the labourers
who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept
back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have
reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of
sabaoth.” Here James declares that this God of Hosts,
this God of Armies, is not oblivious to the cries of
those who have suffered injustice; He will vindicate
them and judge the oppressor. That is our assurance, an
assurance we see many times in Psalm 119.
Sixth, He is
Jehovah-raah, “the Lord Is My Shepherd,” in Psalm 23:1. In
David’s great Psalm of comfort, he declares, “The LORD
is my shepherd; I shall not want.” As Charles Spurgeon
writes in his Treasury of David, “What condescension is
this, that the Infinite Lord assumes towards his people
the office and character of a Shepherd!” Think of it!
God descends and assumes one of the lowliest occupations
in the ancient world. As a shepherd, therefore, leads,
feeds, tends, and protects the sheep, so God does for us
in all ways.
Seventh, He
is Jehovah-tsidkenu, “the Lord Our
Righteousness,” in Jeremiah 23:6. In His promise of the
Righteous King Who will come (Messiah), God declares,
“In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be
called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” God is not only
righteous in Himself, but He produces righteousness in
those who He saves through Christ. While many in pulpits
today go out of their way to avoid mentioning sin,
salvations is about sin and righteousness, that is,
our sin and Christ’s righteousness that
saves us from our sin. Further, this is also wonderful prophecy of
Christ’s Second Coming, when He shall return and the
nation of Israel will be saved (cf. Rom. 11:26).
Based on this name of God,
the beloved Robert Murray M’Cheyne wrote the wonderful
hymn, “I Once Was A Stranger,” (which can be sung to the
melody of “My Jesus, I Love Thee” by Adoniram
Gordon):
I once was a stranger to grace and to
God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my
load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the
tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to
me.
I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or
engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple
page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled
tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to
me.
Like tears from the daughters of Zion that
roll,
I wept when the waters went over His
soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the
tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to
me.
When free grace awoke me, by light from on
high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to
die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I
see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Saviour must
be.
My terrors all vanished before the sweet
name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I
came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and
free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to
me.
Jehovah Tsidkenu! my treasure and
boast,
Jehovah Tsidkenu! I ne’er can be
lost;
In thee I shall conquer by flood and by
field,
My cable, my anchor, my breast-plate and
shield!
Even treading the valley, the shadow of
death,
This “watchword” shall rally my faltering
breath;
For while from life’s fever my God sets me
free,
Jehovah Tsidkenu, my death song shall
be.
Eighth,
because of His perfect, absolute righteousness, God is
also called by two names that speak of His judgment upon
unrighteousness. In Jeremiah 51:56 He is called
Jehovah-Geműlâ, “the Lord Will Recompense,” where
the prophet foretells that God will come “upon Babylon,
and her mighty men are taken, every one of their bows is
broken: for the LORD God of recompenses shall surely
requite.” The Hebrew geműlâ
speaks of full repayment of what is deserved. There are
some seventeen other instances of this word that speak
of recompense, both of judgment and
blessing.[viii]
As if that is not
clear enough, God is also called Jehovah-Nakâ,
“the Lord That Smiteth” in Ezekiel 7:9. Writing about
Israel’s own rebellion, the prophet declares that God
“will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine
abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD that smiteth.” The Hebrew
nakâ means to beat, to
strike, or to wound, usually in non-lethal way. The men
of Sodom and Gomorrah, for example, were stricken blind
by the two angels (Gen. 19:11), and God struck the
Egyptians with plagues (Ex. 3:20).
In a day when God is
viewed as a tolerant grandfather who simply smiles
understandingly at sin, men need to be told that God is
a God of retribution and wrath, Who will bring judgment
on those who reject Him. Likewise, we as believers need
to be reminded that God disciplines and chastises His
own people when they rebel: “For whom the Lord loveth he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth”
(Heb. 12:6; cf. vs. 7-8).
Ninth, He is
Jehovah-Maccaddeshcem (or M’kaddesh), “The
Lord Who Sanctifies,” in Exodus 31:13: “Speak thou also
unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths
ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and
you throughout your generations; that ye may know
that I am the LORD that doth sanctify you.”
Maccaddeshcem is derived from the Hebrew
qâdash, which “signifies an
act whereby, or a state wherein, people or things are
set aside for use in the worship of God: they are
consecrated or ‘made sacred.’”[ix] The scene in this verse,
of course, is the setting aside of the Sabbath as holy.
It was a sign to Israel alone of God’s covenant with
them and marked Israel out as His people. Observing the
Sabbath showed that the Israelites were set apart (i.e.,
holy) to God.
This word is, in
fact, one of the most dramatic examples of a New
Testament doctrine that is rooted in Old Testament
doctrine. The Greek is hagios, which appears some
231 times in the New Testament. While in secular
Greek it meant “to stand in awe of or be devoted
to the gods,” Paul lifted it to a new level of meaning:
“to set apart or be separate.” It is translated by such
words as holy, sanctification, and saint. Particularly
significant is “saint,” which refers to
every believer, not some
“especially holy” person who has been canonized by the
Roman Catholic Church. Paul uses this term some
forty-two times, and in every instance he refers to one
who has trusted Christ as Savior and Lord, one who has
been set apart.
We see the title
Jehovah-Maccaddeshcem again
in Leviticus 20:8, “And ye shall keep my statutes, and
do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you,” which
couples God’s setting apart Israel with their keeping of
His Word. We again find the same principle even more
strongly stated in the New Testament. Our Lord Himself
declared that He will “Sanctify [His people] through
[God’s] truth” because [His] word is truth” (Jn. 17:17).
Paul likewise writes that Christ will “sanctify and
cleanse [the church] with the washing of water by the
word” (Eph. 5:26). Let us be reminded moment-by-moment
that Scripture is the source of
sanctification.
Tenth, He is
Jehovah-shammah, “the Lord Is
There,” in the last verse of Ezekiel’s prophecy (48:35).
In verses 28-35, we read the description of the New
Jerusalem, which will have twelve gates, three on each
side, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, and
its circumference will be “about eighteen thousand
measures,” that is, almost thirty-seven miles. And what
will its greatest feature be? “The name of the city from
that day shall be, The LORD is there.” What a joy that
will be for all of us one day!
So as our text (v.
55) reveals, how important it is to able to say,
I have
remembered thy name, O LORD [Jehovah,
Yahweh]! And this name should, indeed, be
remembered above all others.
Adon,
Adonai
The Hebrew
’Adonay, rendered “Lord”
(initial caps) in most English translations, appears
over 400 times. It is the word that expresses God’s
dominion, possession, and sovereignty.
It is extremely
significant that the direct Greek equivalent in the New
Testament is kurios, which is frequently applied
to the Lord Jesus. While “lord” is sometimes used as
simply a title of honor, such as Rabbi, Teacher, Master
(Matt. 10:24; cf. Luke 16:3), or even a husband (1 Pet.
3:6), when used of Jesus in a confessional way, it
without question refers to His divinity. The simple
but deeply profound confession Kurios
Iesous (Lord Jesus) is rooted in
the pre-Pauline Greek Christian community and is
probably the oldest of all Christian creeds. Jesus is
Lord!
In a day when the Lordship
of Christ means very little in the thinking of many who
call themselves “Christian,” we must emphasize it all
the more. There is simply no salvation apart from Jesus
as Lord.
El-Shaddai
Here is the name by
which God made Himself known to the patriarchs.
El is one of the most ancient terms for God, god,
or deity and means “mighty,” and Shaddai means
“almighty, possessing all power, all-sufficient.” We
find it first in Genesis 17:1: “When Abram was ninety
years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said
unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me,
and be thou perfect.” El-Shaddai, then, “is found in the passages that report
God’s promises of fertility, land, and abundance to
them, indicating that He, the Almighty, could fulfill
His promises (Gen. 17:1; Gen. 28:3; Gen.
35:11).”[x] The other patriarchs,
Isaac and Jacob, also knew Him by this name (28:1-3), as
did Joseph (48:3).
It is most significant
that this name is a universal name for God, as is
demonstrated by the non-Israelite Job and his “friends,”
who used it some thirty times. Here are a few of those
encouragements:
Behold, happy is the man whom God
correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of
the Almighty (5:17).
Surely I would speak to the
Almighty, and I desire to reason with God
(13:3).
Yea, the Almighty shall be thy
defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then
shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt
lift up thy face unto God
(22:25-26).
But there is a spirit in man: and
the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them
understanding (32:8).
The spirit of God hath made me,
and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life
(33:4).
Touching the Almighty, we cannot
find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment,
and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict
(37:23).
El-Elyon
Elyon means
Most High, the Highest, and appears thirty-one times in
the Old Testament in reference to God. There is no one
higher, no possibility of being higher. The most notable
is in Genesis 14:18-20, where the non-Israelite
Melchizedek, a vivid Old Testament type of Christ, was a
king-priest of God Most High. So important is this
incident, that is again referred to in Hebrews 7:1-2:
“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most
high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter
of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave
a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King
of righteousness [the meaning of Melchizedek], and after
that also King of Salem, which is, King of
peace.”
This name also appears in
Isaiah’s recounting of Satan’s rebellion, “I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most
High” (Is. 14:14). This demonstrates that this name
refers to God’s rule and sovereignty. Here is a
challenge to us to submit ourselves always to His
sovereign rule.
Meditating on these names
of God, therefore, presents us with at least three
profound challenges.
First, they
challenge us to stand for God’s nature. There are today
countless oppositions to God’s nature. There is
Arminianism that dilutes God’s sovereignty in salvation.
There is Open Theism, which goes ever further to deny
that God is fully omniscient. Even the ancient 4th
Century heresy of Arianism, which taught that Jesus was
not coequal with God and was a created being, still
exists today in various disguises. As a by-product, this
caused (and still causes) some to deny the cardinal
doctrine of Trinity, thereby blaspheming all God’s
manifestation: God the Father, God Son (Jesus Christ),
and God the Holy Spirit. To stand for Who God is,
therefore, is just one aspect of what it means to
“earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3).
Second, these
names of God challenge us to stand for God’s Word. As
the expression goes, “A man is only as good as His
word,” and God’s nature is inseparable from His
Word. As majestic and awe-inspiriting as God’s names
are, David makes one of the most astounding statements
of Scripture when he writes, “I will worship toward thy
holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness
and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word
above all thy name” (Ps. 138:2). Think of it! It is
impossible to elevated God’s Word too high because God
Himself elevates it higher than His own
name! Why? Spurgeon well
answers:
The name of the Lord in nature is
not so easily read as in the Scriptures . . . Moreover,
the Lord lays all the rest of his name under tribute to
his word: his wisdom, power, love, and all his other
attributes combine to carry out his word. It is his word
which creates, sustains, quickens, enlightens, and
comforts. As a word of command it is supreme; and in the
person of the incarnate Word it is set above all the
works of God’s hands.
We must, therefore,
also contend for God’s Word as we do His
nature. We must never
tolerate any teacher or teaching that undermines God’s
Word in even the minutest degree.
Third, these
names of God challenge us to proper worship. As verse 54
declares, Thy statutes have
been my songs in the house of my
pilgrimage. As travelers
in ancient time sang songs to themselves to make the way
easier and more pleasant to them, the psalmist did
likewise. Why? Because singing is consistently a part of
worship in Scripture. The very first result of the
spirit-filled Christian, in fact, is singing, as Paul
declares in Ephesians 5:19, “Speaking to yourselves in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody in your heart to the Lord.”
But what exactly are
those songs? In our day, many of our Christian songs are
shallow ditties about our feelings and are hollow for
lack of doctrinal substance. But David declares that
God’s statutes
(that is, His decrees that are engraved in stone showing
their permanence) are the songs he
sings. Those songs, therefore, helped David to
remember and keep God’s name,
God’s law
(instruction and direction), and God’s precepts
(injunctions and moral obligations) both night and day.
Let us thank God that His
Word produces remembrance.
[i] Brown, Vol. 3, p.
230.
[ii] Berkof, p. 47 (emphasis
in the original).
[iii] See Chafer, Vol. I, pp.
265-266, for example, for a discussion of those who
departed from this historic view.
[v] Kittle, III, p.
1067.
[vi] See the author’s,
A Hebrew Word for the Day
(Chattanooga: AMG Publishers, 2009), for a deeper study
of these “Jehovah-compounds.”
[vii] Keil and
Deiltzsch.
[viii] TWOT: “Isaiah 3:11;
Isaiah 35:4; Isaiah 59:18; Isaiah 66:6; Jeremiah 51:6;
Lament. 3:64; Obadiah 15; Joel 3:7 [H 4:7]) and by man
(Joel 3:4 [H 4:4]; Psalm 137:8); the benefits God has
given (Psalm 103:2; 2 Chron. 32:25), and the deeds one
does (Judges 9:16; Proverbs 12:14; Isaiah 3:11). The
Psalmist invokes God, the God of recompense (Jeremiah
51:56; cf. Deut. 28), to give the wicked his due (Psalm
28:4; Psalm 94:2).”
[x] Baker and Carpenter,
#7706
