“THANKFUL FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD” Prov. 18:10
FBCF – 11/22/20
Jon Daniels
INTRO – I’ve been in the ministry since 1982 – closing in on 40 years. Over those years, I’ve interacted w/ & ministered to literally hundreds – even thousands – of people while serving as a student minister & then as a senior pastor. There’s no way I could possibly remember all of their names. But there’s always that person who, when I run into them in a store or restaurant, having not seen them for 25-30 years, will say, “You don’t remember me, do you?” As badly as I want to remember their name, many times I just have to say, “Nope!”
Names are important. One of the challenges for me as your Pastor during these first months of ministry has been working on learning & remembering your names. I want to so badly & know that’s an important thing for me to do. I even pray about it a lot. COVID has made that especially difficult. But I’m still working on them. Thanks for your patience & understanding.
Some names are immediately recognizable – Elvis, Santa, Snoopy, Tarzan, Barak
Other names will bring to mind different people to each of us. Let’s have a little fun here. For instance, when I say the name:
- George – Washington? Clooney? Bush – the father or W? Curious George, the monkey?
- Barney – Barney Fife? Or the purple dinosaur?
- James – Bond? Dean? Brown? Madison?
- Steve – Harvey? Martin? Jobs? McQueen?
- Tom – Hanks? Cruise? Selleck? Brady?
This morning, we continue our series “Thankful For…”. Today, on this Sunday before Thanksgiving, we are thankful for the name of the Lord.
EXPLANATION – Proverbs 18:10
Let’s ask some questions about this verse.
WHY IS THIS VERSE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS CHAPTER? – Remember that Proverbs is a wisdom book. When you look at some of the other subjects covered in this chapter, we see some reasons that we need to run to the Lord for His protection & provision.
- The danger of being an unfriendly person
- The danger of dealing w/ a fool
- The danger of wickedness
- The danger of careless & hurtful words
- The danger of laziness
- The danger of a prideful, haughty heart
- The danger of greed
- The danger of unreliable friends
We may not think that, in & of themselves, these things are dangerous. But it’s those little compromises in our lives that lead to major catastrophic failures.
- It’s a tiny area of plaque in an artery that can cause a fatal heart attack
- It’s a cancerous cell that leads to a life-ending disease
- It’s a small crack in a dam that is the beginning of a devastating flood
And it’s these small decisions that will start us down a dangerous path if we don’t run to the Lord. Solomon, in his wisdom & under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, wrote these words here b/c the Lord knew that we would be surrounded by a myriad of struggles & troubles that could damage & destroy our lives if we don’t run to Him!
WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE LORD? – The Hebrew name for the Lord here is Yahweh or Jehovah. The Jews would not even say this name b/c it was so holy. They wrote the name w/ no vowels – only used 4 consonants – b/c He is indescribable. We would write it YHWH in English.
Think of some the names of the Lord:
- Elohim – Most common Hebrew name for God. Means strength & power
- Adonai – Lord, Master, Owner
- El Elyon – Sovereign God most high
- El Shaddai – God Almighty who is all-sufficient
- El Roi – the God who see – omniscient
- Immanuel – God with us
- Jehovah Jireh – God who provides
- Jehovah Rapha – God who heals
- Jehovah Nissi – God our Banner – power over our enemies
- Jehovah Shalom – God our Peace
- Jehovah Ezer – God our help
- Jehovah Shammah – God who is there
- Abba – Father – “Daddy”
Psalm 9:10 – “Those who know your name trust in you…”
Most of the time as Christ-followers, when we think of the name of the Lord, we immediately think of the name JESUS – say that name w/ me – JESUS. And we should! His name means “Yahweh is salvation” or “Yahweh saves.” And although the name, Jesus, was a common name in biblical times, there’s never been anyone who has truly fulfilled the meaning of that name except this One – Jesus Christ – who is the Way, the Truth, & the Life, & whose name is above every other name.
WHAT IS A STRONG TOWER? – Taipei 101 is a huge skyscraper in Taipei, Taiwan. Known as one of the most stable buildings ever constructed, the 101-floor building was built to withstand the earthquakes that are common in that area, as well as the typhoons that sweep across that region. In fact, during the construction phase of building, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake hit & knocked 2 construction cranes off the 56th floor. 5 people killed, but the building itself suffered no structural damage, & construction restarted within a week.
Safe to say that the Taipei 101 skyscraper is one of the strongest, safest manmade towers ever built. But it pales in comparison to the strength & safety found in the tower of the name of the Lord.
A tower in biblical times was a place that the people would run to when the enemy was about to attack. The word literally means, “high, fortified, unattainable, inaccessible, safely protected.” It would provide them w/ an advantage over the enemy & a much better chance to defend themselves in an attack.
- Judges 9 – Evil judge in Israel, Abimelech. Ruthless ruler – his reign had touched off a civil war. He was attacking a city named Thebez. All of the people of the city had run to a tower in the middle of the city & climbed up to the top. As Abimelech approached the tower to burn it down & kill everyone, a woman dropped a huge stone off the top & hit him in the head, cracking his skull. As he lay dying, he called out to one of his armor-bearer to stab him to death so he wouldn’t suffer the disgrace of being killed by a woman.
- The tower in the city provided the people w/ the opportunity to defend themselves against the enemy & emerge victorious!
How much more can you & I count on the name of the Lord – His strength, His presence, & His protection in times of the enemy’s attacks? Notice that I didn’t say that He would stop the enemy’s attacks. He can if He wants to. But many times, He allows those attacks to come so that we will run to Him & let Him show us how He is working in the midst of those attacks.
WHO ARE THE RIGHTEOUS? – Simply put: those who are right w/ God. We have no righteousness on our own – “There is no one righteous; no, not one” (Romans 3:10). The ONLY way we can be righteous is for Jesus to make us righteous when we come to Him for salvation. And that’s exactly what He does. He takes our sin from us – the deadly sin that will send us to hell - & give us His righteousness – imputes it to us.
- 2 Corinthians 5:21 – “God made Him who knew no sin to BE SIN FOR US, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (NIV)
That’s YOU, IF you’ve trusted Christ as your Savior! You are the righteous one who can run to the tower of the name of the Lord in your times of distress – those times when the enemy is attacking – when the waves of distress & trouble are overwhelming you – those moments when the panic of an out-of-control life threatens to take over. You RUN – don’t walk – RUN to the Lord & call on His name.
CONCLUSION – So, here’s how this can look in your life today – right now,:
- Sick (COVID) – run to Jehovah Rapha – God who heals
- Worried about your needs – run to Jehovah-Jireh – God who provides
- Mind constantly racing w/ anxious thoughts – run to Jehovah-Shalom – God our Peace
- Sensing the enemy attacking you – run to Jehovah-Nissi – God our banner
- Fatherless – run to Abba – “Daddy”
- Wondering if God knows where you are – run to El-Roi – God who sees
- Feeling alone – run to Immanuel – God with us
- Need to be saved – run to JESUS!
