(Continuing from last week) “YHWH” is generally believed to be a form of the verb “hayha” meaning “to be” in which case it connotes firmly “the eternal One”, ” the self-existing One”the self-sufficient One”, “the One who lives eternally or forever” The particular Divine attribute stressed by this title is that of ” Self Existence and faithfulness” pointing to the Lord as the Living God, the source of life, in sharp contrast with the heathen gods that have no existence apart from that which exists in the imagination of their worshippers (see Isa. 41:23-29; 44:6-20).
There are other names in which God described Himself the Lord will provide’ (Jehovah-jireh); ‘the Lord that healeth’ (Jahovah- rapha); ‘the Lord our Banner’ (Jehovah-nisi); ‘the Lord our peace’ (Jehovah-shalom) ‘the Lord our shepherd’ (Jehovah-ra-ah); ‘the Lord our Righteousness’ (Jehovah-tsidkenu) and ‘the Lord is present’ (Jehovah-shammah). In giving all these Jahovaistic names to Himself , God was revealing Himself and something of His nature and being, His character and His attributes to mankind. In a sense “the name” stands for all this. Our Lord Jesus Christ in his model prayer – the Lord’s prayer – is teaching us to pray that the whole world may come to know God in this way, that the whole world may come to honour God. It is the expression of a burning and deep desire for the honour and glory of God.
This notion is found again perfectly in the Lord’s great High Priestly prayer in John 17 where He says. “I have glorified thee on the earth …” and “I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest unto me” Christ was always concerned with the glory of His Father. He said “I have not come to seek mine own glory but the glory of Him that sent me”. There can be no real understanding of the earthly life of Christ except in these terms. He knew that glory which ever belongs to the Father.
“The glory which I had with thee before the world was”
(John 17:5) He had seen that glory, and He had shared it. Christ was filled with this sense of the glory of God, the Father; and, His desire was that mankind might come to know, accept and live it. Man as matter of inevitability ought to realize when we talk and make reference either in our private discussions or in prayer that we are talking of the ever blessed, eternal and absolute almighty God.
There is a sense in which we ought “to take off our shoes” whenever we mention the name of God. And, how little do we appreciate the goodness of God, the kindness and the providence of God. If only we follow the examples of the Psalmist’s delight in celebrating God as our rock, God as our peace, God as our righteousness, God as our shepherd and as the ever present One who will never leave us nor forsake us. This makes it imperative for everyone who seeks God’s intervention in his affairs for his good, to have a consuming passion that the whole world might come to honour, to celebrate and glorify God.
And when the Psalmist says in Psalm 34:3. “O Magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together” He does not mean that man can actually add to the greatness of God, for that is impossible, but he is advocating that this greatness of God may appear to be greater amongst men. Thus it comes to pass amongst men in this world that men can magnify the name of God. We can do” so by words, and by our lives, by being reflections of the greatness and the glory of God, and of, His glorious attributes.
This is the meaning of “Hollowed be thy name”. It connotes a burning desire that the whole mankind may bow before God in adoration, in reverence, in praise, in worship, in honour and in thanksgiving. This should be the Christian’s supreme desire; this should be uppermost in his mind whenever he prays to God. If we could set this in honest self-examination or spiritual audit of our Christian life, we may see how utterly valueless much of our praying must be and why, pray as hard as we might, decree every word of God with reference to our need; nothing comes of them.
This happens because the prayer and decreeing may draw authority and be based on the right Word of God, but failed to order the supplication rightly by first recognizing the almightiness of God in reverence and adoration in the prelimary invocation exemplified in Christ’s “Hollowed be thy name”. In this model, our Lord Jesus Christ is saying: ‘stop for moment, and just recollect and realize that whatever the problem is, no matter how pressing and urgent, your greatest desire of all should first of all he that this wonderful God, who has become your Father in Christ Jesus, should be honoured, worshipped and magnified amongst the people,’ hence “Hallowed be thy name” as opening praise!
And this has been so in ages amongst true saints of God that ever lived on the face of the earth.
If therefore you are anxious to experience God’s blessing, and concerned that your prayers should be effectual and of value, you must follow the directive put in a phrase repeated often in the OT: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”, if you
want to know what true wisdom is, if you want to be blessed and prosperous, if you want to have peace and joy, if you want to live and die in a worthy manner, if you want wisdom with regard to life in this world; here it is “The fear of the Lord”. This does not mean a craven fear, it means reverential awe. If therefore we want to know God and to be blessed of God, we must start our prayers by worshipping Him: We must say Hallowed be Thy name’ and tell Him so before mentioning any problems and concerns about ourselves. Let us approach Him ” with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire” (see Heb. 12:28,29; Deut.4:24).
THE SECOND PETITION in the model prayer taught by our Lord Jesus Christ is “Thy kingdom Come” for clearer understanding of this petition, it is necessary to examine what is referred to as “Thy kingdom” here. As to the nature of the “kingdom” referred to here, it is the kingdom of heaven and its central position in the teachings of Christ. He, here, speaks not so much of the kingdom of grace, as of the kingdom of glory for which the kingdom of grace prepares the way, and in which, it culminates. This notion is supported by the tense of the Greek verb applied to the kingdom in Matt.6:13 which is the doxology to the Lord’s prayer, (absent in Luke’s version of the prayer). However, the sentiment it expresses is certainly Scriptural and closely parallels 1 Chronicle 29:1-13, particularly verse 11,12 and 13. A shorter doxology occurs in II Tim. 4:18). The “kingdom”, “power” and “glory” ascribed to the Father in this doxology of Matt. 6:13 certainly include the present kingdom of divine grace in the hearts of men, looking forward primarily to the glorious kingdom that will be ushered in with Christ’s second advent to reign in power and glory.
The kingdom of heaven/the kingdom of the heavens more precisely, is not as comprehensive in application as the kingdom of God which embraces all created intelligences both in heaven and on earth who are willingly subject to God, and thus in fellowship with Him. The “kingdom of the heavens” is a term descriptive of any kind of rulership God may assert on the earth at any given period. John the Baptist, Christ and the Apostles announced this kingdom unto national Israel as being “at hand”. That offer was rejected. As a results the “kingdom of heaven” in its early manifested form was postponed until Christ’s Second Advent. All the widespread attempts to “bring in the kingdom” on the basis of Christ’s First Advent are misplaced. According to the clear teaching of the Bible it will be realized only in connection with the Second Advent. The testimony of the Scripture agrees completely with this fact. And according to Matt. 13, the present gospel age represents the mystery form of the kingdom. “Since the kingdom is no other than the rule of God on the earth, He must now be ruling to the extent of full realization of those things which are termed the mysteries in the NT, and which really constitute the new message of the NT” (Lewis Sperry Chaffer, in Systematic Theology vii page 224)
