The Psalm of David starts with praise for the LORD (YHWH in Hebrew), our Lord (adon in Hebrew meaning sovereign). The name of the LORD is the manifestation of his character. It has no separate existence apart from the YHWH, but is synonymous with God in his gracious manifestation and accessibility to his people.
The name of a person, place, or object is more than a letter sequence and vocal pronunciation. If someone were to say my mother’s or father’s first name, two prevalent English names, I would react in a very unique personal way for their names mean something to me. I will re-experience their character, mannerisms, events we shared, their smile and scowl, their words, actions, and reactions, their emotions expressed to and for me. The name of my parents is the manifestation of their character and more than my perception of their being.
So is it with the LORD, my Lord. His name is majestic in all the earth! When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey just before he was about to suffer for his people, the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Then Jesus entered the temple, drove out the buying and selling, and healed the blind and lame. The children kept repeating the words of their parents and other adults, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” Their adoration is greater than the angels who continually declare at the heavenly throne, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and will come.”
The chief priest and teachers of the law took objection to this and indignantly asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?” Jesus replied with verse 2 of this psalm, “Yes, have you never read, ‘From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise’?” Jesus did not finish the verse which explains why the children praised the name of the LORD Jesus, “because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.”
This early morning with less than a week till Christmas, I am moved by the name of the LORD, our Lord. How majestic is his name in all the earth. I will not be silenced. I will declare praises to his name.
