Hallowed be Thy name

It amazes me how fast time flies when I’m preaching. Perhaps no one in the congregation feels the same way, but sometimes I don’t cover nearly as much ground as I had intended to. Although I often cover some ground I did not intend to.

With that in mind, here’s the rest of what I wanted to say this past Sunday morning. If you weren’t there, I’ll start with some context.

God is holy. He alone is majestic in holiness. He is set apart. He is perfectly good in the absolute sense of the word. He is perfect in power, in wisdom and in deed. There is no blemish on His record. There never will be. He does all things well.

And He is adamant that all men recognize and honor His holiness. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims His handiwork. The winds and waves gladly obey the voice of their Creator. The mountains and the hills break forth into singing, and the trees of the field clap their hands as the sovereign God reigns magnificently over them. Among the gods and idols of the world there is none like the Lord Almighty. He is not interested in sharing the platform of His glory with another.

So as we look at how the Lord spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, we see God’s concern for His holy name. As much as the heavens speak of God’s glory, God has set apart His own people to reflect His glory in this world even more. That was His desire for Israel all along, that they would be a “light for the nations,” showcasing the salvation and grace and mercy and holiness and righteousness and glory of their God.

When Israel rebelled against God, in spite of all the great things He had done for them, His name was profaned. In Ezekiel 36 we see specifically that God indicts them for defiling the land by the impurity of their ways and their deeds. And in His holy and righteous wrath, after repeated calls to repentance were ignored, God scattered His people among the nations in judgment. Even as they came to the surrounding nations, they continued to profane His holy name.

Therefore, God said He was about to act for the sake of His holy name. In other words, He was about to begin of work of restoration for His reputation. It wasn’t because the people were worthy, but for His own glory God showered them with mercy and grace. He said He would gather them from the nations and bring them back to their own land. He would cleanse them from their sins. He would give them a new heart and a new spirit. He would give them His Spirit within them to cause them to walk in obedience to His ways. He would make the fields produce abundantly for them. He would make the desolate land like the garden of Eden and the ruined cities would become inhabited and fortified. Everyone would see it and know that the Lord is the holy and righteous God.

By way of application, this ought to lead God’s people to repentance. If we’re not living by the standard of God’s Word and His truth, then we are likewise profaning the holy name of our God, and we need to confess that and turn from every way and deed that brings reproach to His holiness.

A second application is that this ought to also lead us to long for God’s glory. When we claim the name of Jesus, our lives ought to reflect His glory through our wholehearted obedience to Word of God. Our greatest desire should be to glorify God in all that we do, in all that we say and in all that we think. We should spend our lives in pursuit of holiness, righteousness, faith, love and peace. We should delight in the things God delights in and despise the things God despises. 

If God is so concerned that His name be hallowed and honored as holy among men, that must become our heart’s longing and our life’s devotion as well.