The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

The Name of the Lord

At the age of 33, Barbara Clapham came to live in London. She decided she was going to look for a church. One Sunday morning she arrived at HTB. The young woman who was welcoming people at the door smiled at her and asked her name. Barbara said that because of that smile, she decided to come back the following week. When she walked in the next Sunday the same person said, ‘Hello Barbara’.

Because the person on the door remembered her name, she decided that she was going to come back every Sunday. That was in 1947. This year, on April 4th, I attended a party to celebrate her 100th birthday. She has made a huge impact on the life of HTB (including running the finances of the church for many years). I wonder whether the young woman on the door had any idea of the difference she made by remembering Barbara’s name.

There is great power in a name. I wish I were better at remembering names. Names are significant. This is true in our culture today, but it was even more so in the Hebrew culture we read about in the Bible. A Hebrew name is no mere label. It reflects character and speaks of influence and protection.

The name of the Lord reveals who he is. It is an expression of his nature and his character. The name of the Lord has great power. Jesus taught us to pray that God’s name would be honoured (Matthew 6:9).

Psalm 68:1-6

1. Praise the name of the Lord

David urges us to ‘sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds – his name is the Lord’ (v.4).

God reveals himself through his name. He gave his name to Moses (‘I AM WHO I AM’) when he came to liberate his people from slavery in Egypt (Exodus 3:14). Likewise, in this psalm we see that the God who bears this name has particular concern for the marginalised in our society:

God is ‘a father to the fatherless’ and ‘a defender of widows’ (Psalm 68:5).

‘God sets the lonely in families’ (v.6a). ‘God makes homes for the homeless’ (v.6a, MSG).

‘He leads forth the prisoners with singing’ (v.6b).

One of the ways to honour the name of the Lord is to love and serve the marginalised in our society: widows and orphans, the lonely, the homeless and those in prison.

Lord, I want to praise your name and bring glory to your name. May your name be honoured in my life as I love and serve the marginalised in society.

John 16:5-17:5

2. Power in the name of Jesus

Do you know how much power there is in the name of Jesus? As Jesus leaves his disciples, he says to them: ‘I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete … In that day you will ask in my name’ (John 16:23b–26a).

When we go to God in prayer we do not ask in our own names, but in the name of Jesus. On our own we have no right to ask anything. But Jesus, through the cross and resurrection, has made it possible for us to have access to God in his name.

Praying in Jesus’ name is not just about what we get though, it is also about aligning ourselves with Jesus. As we do this, our prayers harmonise with God’s broad desires for our life and we can pray that his will be done. That is also something we cannot do on our own, and for which we rely on the Holy Spirit.

Jesus tells the disciples that it is to their advantage that he is going away because, ‘Unless I go away the Counsellor [the ‘Friend’, MSG] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you’ (v.7). Jesus could only be in one place at a time. Now, by his Spirit, he can be with each of us as our friend and helper all the time, everywhere we go.

The Holy Spirit will convince the world about guilt (supremely because ‘people do not believe in’ Jesus, v.9), and ‘he will guide [us] into all truth’ (v.13a). Every time we go off track or in the wrong direction, the Holy Spirit convicts us. We sense in our spirit that what we are doing is not right.

Conviction is different from condemnation. The Holy Spirit never condemns us (Romans 8:1). He convicts us to repent and then to go in the right direction.

He guides us into all truth and truth is revealed by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13a). Among other things, he helps us to face the truth about ourselves. The truth sets us free.

Jesus promises you three things:

• Joy – in the midst of mourning and grief

‘I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy’ (v.20). When Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples’ joy was so great that it completely overshadowed their grief – like a mother who has given birth to a baby and forgets the anguish of the birth (vv.21–22).

• Love – in the midst of hate

Even when ‘the world hates you’ (15:18), Jesus says to you that ‘the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God’ (16:27).

• Peace – in the midst of trouble

Jesus never promised you a trouble free life. Indeed, he says that in the world you will experience ‘tribulation and trials and distress and frustration’ (v.33, AMP). But he promises you ‘perfect peace and confidence in the midst of these trials’ because he has ‘overcome the world (I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you)’ (v.33, AMP).  

The joy, love and peace that Jesus promises are the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (see Galatians 5:22). As you call on Jesus’ name, his Spirit is in you, growing this fruit in your life.

The most amazing thing that you receive from the Holy Spirit is the chance to be in a relationship with God. In this prayer Jesus highlights this as the true heart and definition of ‘eternal life’ – ‘this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent’ (17:3).

This amazing description of eternal life is surrounded by Jesus’ prayer that God’s name would be glorified. Everything Jesus did while he was here on earth, and our relationship with the Father through Jesus, are all ultimately to the glory of God.

Lord, I can never thank you enough for the immense privilege of being able to pray in the name of Jesus. Today I pray … in your name.

John 16:5-17:5

3. Protection in the name of the Lord

David realised that the best protection was not Saul’s armour but the name of the Lord (17:45).

At first David tried to face Goliath in Saul’s armour. Then he realised, ‘I cannot go in these … because I am not used to them’ (17:39). So he took the armour off. He decided to be himself. This is such a lesson in life. It is no good putting on someone else’s armour. It always looks artificial and unnatural when we try and present ourselves as if we are someone else.

There is great power in authenticity. Oscar Wilde said, ‘Be yourself; everyone else is already taken’! Memorably, the Bishop of London began his address at the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton by quoting St Catherine of Siena: ‘Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.’ 

David had a concern for God’s name and its vindication (v.45). He said to Goliath, ‘You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty’ (v.45). He realised the limitations of human efforts (v.47). He was confident in his God whose name alone is sufficient to strike the strongest person to the ground (v.46). He was prepared to trust in the name of the Lord in the face of enormous opposition.

You may face great opposition in your life and ministry. The world you live in can seem enormously powerful and overwhelming. You may feel weak and pathetic in contrast. But go out in God’s name – realising your limitations and yet trusting in him to vindicate his name. Because the Lord was with David he was successful in everything he did (18:5,12,14).

David’s success provoked anger and jealousy from Saul (vv.8–9). As Joyce Meyer points out, ‘God always puts us around someone who is like sandpaper to smooth off our rough edges … a testing that takes place before we get promoted. If you want to lead you must first serve in circumstances that may not be ideal and learn to behave wisely. This prepares us to be greatly used by God.’

God gave David more success. Interestingly, because of his concern for God’s name, David’s ‘name became well known’ (v.30). But that was not his aim or intention, or the focus of his life.

Lord, may the churches in this country be filled again with people worshipping the name of Jesus. I pray that everything we do may be focused on seeing the name of Jesus lifted up and honoured again in our society.

Pippa Adds

1 Samuel 18:1 

Friendships are wonderful. David and Jonathan ‘became one in spirit’ – real mates. There is something so satisfying about deep friendship. It makes such a difference having the support of loving friends to stand with you in difficult times. And to laugh with you in good times.

Friendships are something that will go on forever. In heaven there will be no time restrictions and none of the jealousy with which David had to contend.

Notes:
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.