Weekly Devotion no 10
5 June 2020
Bible reading – Matthew 6:9-13
9 ‘This, then, is how you should pray:
“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.”
Reflection - Hallowed be your name
This
week we are considering the first petition in the prayer, where Jesus
encourages us to hallow God’s name. In other words, to pray that God’s name
would be made holy or would be honoured. This takes us back to the 3rd
commandment: that we should not misuse the name of the Lord our God, for the
Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. This is a petition
that God would be seen to be holy in the sight of all the world.
But
what is God’s name? When God spoke with Moses through the burning bush, he said
that his name was “I am who I am…. This is my name forever, the name you shall
call me from generation to generation”.[1]
God doesn’t really tell us much from his name. There is nothing about his
character or personality, they remain a mystery. But his name does reveal that
he exists and that, as the almighty God, he is the one who determines who he
is, not us. He is not defined by our perception of him. This name is reflected
in our Bibles as ‘LORD’.
So,
it seems that this name is deemed special by God and exclusive. And yet, after
Jesus’ death and resurrection, we hear that God gave him the name LORD too.[2]
And then we discover that the Holy Spirit is also to be called LORD.[3]
By having the one, holy, divine name we see that God the Father, God the Son
and God the Holy Spirit, whilst having separate identities and roles, are one.
And so, when we are baptised, we are baptised in the name (not the names) of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit as instructed by Jesus
himself.[4]
By
honouring the LORD, we honour God the Father, the creator of the world; we
honour Jesus the Son, our saviour; and we honour the Holy Spirit, who is at
work in the church and in us.
This
Sunday is Trinity Sunday, a day in the Christian calendar when we contemplate
God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What better way to do this than to hallow his
name?!
Hymn
Verse 1
Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning
Our song shall rise
to thee:
Holy, holy Holy! –
merciful and mighty.
God in three persons,
blessed Trinity.
Verse 2
Holy, holy, holy! All
the saints adore thee,
Casting down their
golden crowns
Around the glassy
sea;
Cherubim and Seraphim
Falling down before
thee
Who was and is and
evermore shall be!
Verse 3
Holy, holy, holy! –
Though the darkness
hide thee,
Though the eye of
sinful man
Thy glory may not
see;
Only thou art holy,
There is none beside
thee
Perfect in power, in
love and purity.
Verse 4
Holy, holy, holy! –
Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall
praise thy name,
In earth and sky and
sea:
Holy, holy, holy! –
merciful and mighty
God in three persons,
blessed Trinity.
Reginald Heber © 1826 Public Domain CCLI:69198
Prayer
O
blessed Trinity,
in whom
we know the Maker of all things, seen and unseen,
the
Saviour of all, both near and far:
by your
Spirit enable us so to worship your divine majesty,
that
with all the company of heaven
we may
magnify your glorious name, saying,
Holy,
holy, holy. Glory to you, O Lord most high. Amen
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