I will...show him my Yeshua

I have just three more pages of verses containing the amazing phrase, “My Name,” from the Old Testament in my collection, though I could choose many more.

 24 “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,

         And in My name his horn shall be exalted.

Psalm 89:24 (New King James Version)

I like to know the context of all the verses I read; I wanted to know more about what surrounded this promise, but the importance of My name is clear. The easiest question’s answer: Horn refers to strength, power, and dignity. The chapter is full of praise to God for His faithfulness, recognizing His power in His creation and among His people.

An earlier verse in the chapter says:

16 In Your name they rejoice all day long,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

17 For You are the glory of their strength,
And in Your favor our horn is exalted.

                Psalm 89:16 (New King James Version)

God’s name and His favor are seen in parallel here; His name and His favor are able to provide strength to those who believe in and praise Him. Can we claim the full power of His favor if we don't know or call on Him by His name?

One part of the chapter caught my attention--the verse that introduces the thoughts in verse 24 (and I am afraid this begins a short side trip, but if I don’t digress now, I might never have a chance to come back):

¹⁹ Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one,
And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.

                                Psalm 89:19 (New King James Version)

I wondered who it was that had had the vision, and at first thought it might have been David himself. “Your holy one” has various translations, however. Some put it in the plural, speaking of God’s people, some say, “…a vision of Your holy ones,” and some say it was a specific individual, most likely the prophet Samuel. In any case, the vision is a telling of God’s forever covenant with David and with his offspring, a parallel between David and his kingdom, and the kingdom of the coming Messiah. 

The last My name verse in my collection from Psalms is from chapter 91, one of my favorites; it concludes with these verses:

14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;

I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”

                                Psalm 91:14 (New King James Version)

When we know His name, we can call on Him in confidence, knowing He will deliver us and show us his salvation. And what is the word for salvation? Yeshua!

A place for My name, My eyes, My heart

This has, unfortunately, been a very long “weekend,” so long that my train of thought has completely been lost. I will, however, include more verses in which My name is mentioned, where God wants His name to live with his people.

In the following verses, Solomon is praying a prayer of dedication after the building of the temple.

27 But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built! 

29 that Your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place.

1 Kings 8:27, 29 (New King James Version)

The Lord responds, including the fascinating information that He will put His name there forever, His eyes and heart to be there perpetually. What does forever mean, given that "forever" in this verse wasn't "forever"?  Certainly a concept for further study.

2 that the LORD appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon.

3 And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.

1 Kings 9:2-4 (New King James Version)

I was relieved to see that I wouldn’t have to look very far to understand how God could say “forever,” when we know that His presence in the temple left a long time ago. The concept of forever is clarified in the next few verses. Forever is God’s ideal, but it was based on conditions. If they were not faithful, God would remove them from the land and no longer have his presence -- His name, His eyes, His heart – in the temple.

6 But if you or your sons at all turn from following Me, and do not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, but go and serve other gods and worship them,

7 then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them; and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight. Israel will be a proverb and a byword among all peoples.

1 Kings 9:6-7 (New King James Version)

When Solomon turned his back on God, he lost most of his kingdom, but God still maintained a place for His name for the sake of David:

35 But I will take the kingdom out of his [Solomon] son’s hand and give it to you—ten tribes.

36 And to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there.

1 Kings 11:35-37 (New King James Version)

Much later, Elijah brought a message from God to King Ahab, because Ahab had desecrated the house of God:

3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the LORD had said, “In Jerusalem I will put My name.”

5 And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD.

2 Kings 21:3-5 (New King James Version)

Imagine, building altars to a false god, worshipping the sun, moon, and stars, in both the courts of the temple! We are astounded when we consider it, but when I look at myself, I wonder, have I made any of those concessions? Have I moved His name from the place where it belongs and replaced it with something else, thus making that something else my god? The importance of His name becomes more and more evident, the more that I study.

These are not the only verses that I came upon while searching for verses containing the phrase, “My name.”

A house for My Name

Many verses in the Bible speak of God wanting a house or a temple built “for my name.” I find these fascinating. Why would God say to build a house “for my name?” Why didn’t He say to build a temple “for Me?” Is there special meaning to the phrase “my name?” Does it mean something different, something more, something less, than “for Me?” Let’s look at a few of them. First, Nathan the prophet bringing the word of YHWH to David:

12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.

14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

2 Samuel 7:12-14 (New King James Version)

Solomon determines to fulfill the prophecy:

5 And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spoke to my father David, saying, “Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he shall build the house for My name.”

1 Kings 5:5 (New King James Version)

Solomon gave a speech at the completion of the temple. Here is part of it:

15 And he said: “Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and with His hand has fulfilled it, saying,

16 ‘Since the day that I brought My people Israel out of Egypt, I have chosen no city from any tribe of Israel in which to build a house, that My name might be there; but I chose David to be over My people Israel.’

17 Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple* for the name of the LORD God of Israel.

18 But the LORD said to my father David, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well that it was in your heart.

19 Nevertheless you shall not build the temple, but your son who will come from your body, he shall build the temple for My name.’

1 Kings 8:15-19 (New King James Version)

* Literally house, also in verses 18–20

An interruption peers into my intellectual space. I will complete this post before the weekend is over.