Walking in the Name of the LORD

2012.05.27 Dingpu Church

Key Verse: Micah 4:5
All the nations may walk in the name of their gods,
But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

OPENING:
Story: Naming our kids (how we chose names)
o when naming our kids, we would read through a name book together,
discuss names look at the meaning, rate it in a scale of 1-10
Our kids names were mainly chosen for their meaning
Elise = dedicated to God
Kenna Grace = beautiful grace
Anaya = looks to God
Nathan Elisha = gift from God / God is my salvation
o Why did we focus on meaning?
Because we hoped that the meaning of their name would be part of
their character / part of their person / part of Gods calling on their
life
INTRO:
The Bible talks a lot about peoples names.
In Scripture, a persons name often signifies something about his character, his
ability, or his calling.
Sometimes in Scripture, God would change peoples names to signify a new
character or new calling He was giving them.
The Bible also talks a lot about Gods Name. Over and over we see people in the Bible
call on the name of the Lord
We are also to:
Trust in the name of the LORD
Praise the name of the LORD
Bless the name of the LORD
Ask in the name of the LORD
Walk in the name of the LORD
In fact, the phrase, the Name of the LORD is repeated 109 times in the Bible 1. So,
today thats what were going to talk about The Name of the Lord, and specifically
how to walk in the name of the LORD. Once we understand what Gods Name
means, we will see that one of the major focuses of the entire Bible is telling us Gods
Name, and applying His Name to our lives.
SCRIPTURE / GODS NAME:
Micah 4:5
All the nations may walk in the name of their gods,
But we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.
There are two things we are going to focus on this morning:
1. The Name of the LORD what is the Name of the Lord, what does this MEAN
to us?
2. Walking in the Name of the LORD Application, HOW do we walk in the name of
the Lord
1 Name of the LORD = 109x // OT = 88x // NT = 21xOnly a few focus on negative, most focus
on positive ways to life up the name of the LORD our God.

(Re-read Micah 4:5) -- When the Bible talks about the name of the LORD,
what is this talking about?
We are going to look at a few passages in Exodus, to see if we can discover what the
Name of the LORD means:
[Ex 3:13]
Historical Background:
Exodus people of God in slavery in Egypt God calls Moses to deliver them:
Moses calling @ burning bush:
Ex 3:13
13
Moses said to God, Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, The God
of your fathers has sent me to you, and they ask me, What is his name? Then
what shall I tell them?

When Israelites ask What is his name what are they asking = What is God like?
What is His person like? His character?
Moses asking for an understanding of who God is:
o [The Name of the Lord] = Who God IS, His character, what He is like

How does God answer Moses question -- God, what is your name??
Ex 3:14-15
14

God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM
has sent me to you.
15

God also said to Moses, Say to the Israelites, The LORD, the God of your fathersthe
God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacobhas sent me to you.
This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation.

So, God tells us His name is:

I AM most common and most important name for God in the Bible (Heb=)
YHWH
o In our Bibles:
LORD
__
What does this name mean/imply? [I AM]
o God exists He is Real
o He has always been, has always existed, He has always been God, and
there is NO OTHER.
When we are reading our Bibles and come across this word (LORD / __ ), do we
ever stop and think about what this means? What Gods Name is?
o The Jews had such reverence for this name that they would never
pronounce it out loud.
o When scribes copied Scriptures, and they came to a secondary name like
El Shaddai (=God Almighty), they would put down their pen, take a new
pen, and then write Gods name.
o However, when a scribe came to this name [YHWH / I AM], he would stop,
go bathe himself, then take a new pen to write this highly revered name of
God.

A little bit different today isnt it!

People have no regard for Gods name they use it to cuss
(), it means nothing to them.
Which of the 10 commandments talks about Gods name?
What does it say?
Ex 20:7 Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain

What does it mean to take Gods name in vain?

When I was growing up, was always taught this meant swearing. We were never
allowed to say, O my God or even O my gosh
But this command is just talking about not saying, O my Gosh I think the
meaning of this command is a lot deeper than that
Heb word = empty, false
If something is empty, it means it has no meaning, no weight
o Its to treat Gods character, His very being with no meaning, no weight to
our lives
How do we treat Gods name? How do we treat Gods very being, His very
character? Is God empty to us? Meaningless? Or, is the person of who God is
the most revered thing in our lives?

The Jews had an understanding of the deep reverence that Gods Name, that
Gods Being deserves. Do we have a very deep reverence for Gods name in our
own hearts?
Lets keep going and see if we can bring some more meaning, some more weight to
the Name of God
Turn to [Ex 33] Historical Background:
God just brought Israel out of Egypt where they had been in slavery for 400 years
Gives them 10 commandments, enters into covenant relationship
o He will be their God He wants personal relationship with them
o He will bless & prosper them, make their name great, multiply them to the ends of
the earth
o They need to obey His commands and follow Him
Israel makes golden calf (Ex 32.1-4)
People deserve Gods wrath
Moses intercedes

Ex 33:13
o Moses asks for God to go with them and wants to know Gods ways
13
If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know
you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation
is your people.
Ex 33.19
o God answers Moses by revealing His name
19
And the LORD said, I will cause all my goodness to pass in front
of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have
compassion on whom I will have compassion.
o So, what is God proclaiming?
o The LORD is going to proclaim His name. Not just, Hi, my name is God.
Gods name is His character, His character is His name.
Ex 34:1-7
1

The LORD said to Moses, Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I will write
on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 2 Be ready in the
morning, and then come up on Mount Sinai. Present yourself to me there on top of the

mountain. 3 No one is to come with you or be seen anywhere on the mountain; not even
the flocks and herds may graze in front of the mountain.

Chisel out new stones -- What does this tell us? God is going to renew the
covenant shows us the grace and mercy of God. His people were extremely
undeserving
o they had just been rescued from 400 years of slavery,
o had just miraculously been through the Red Sea,
o had just abandoned God,
o and now He is going to renew His covenant!
o Is that a gracious and faithful God?!?
4

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai
early in the morning, as the LORD had commanded him; and he carried the two stone
tablets in his hands. 5 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him
and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, The
LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love
and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and
sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their
children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.

Look at some of these aspects of God:

Compassion
o Gods desire to free people from their suffering
o (Note rpt phrase in gospels, and Jesus had compassion on the crowd)
Grace
o Gods undeserved favor
What do we deserve? wrath, hell
What do we get? eternal life!
Abounding in love / Steadfast love
o Steadfast What mean?
o Gods love is:
Strong
Devoted
Focused on us, we are the object of His affection
o Gods love is much stronger than our modern-day concept of love
o Gods steadfast love is abounding
Think of standing under waterfall
Its overflowing
Its immeasurable (Eph 1.7-8 immeasurable riches of His grace)
Faithful
o God is who He says He is, and does what He says He will do
Forgiving
o In Heb, there are 3 main words (prob. groups) for sin. All 3 are mentioned
here:
v.7: wickedness, rebellion, sin
o Point = God forgives the lot. No sin is unforgivable.
o Psalms (103.12) as far as the east is from the west so far does he
remove our transgressions from us
Slow to anger
o God is patient, amazingly patient
o Continually calls His people back to himself
Sent prophets over and over to call His people back
Just
o Unless we accept what Christ has done for us on the cross, unless we take
on His righteousness, we are doomed to Gods eternal wrath.
o Gods holiness cannot leave sin unpunished
SUMMARY / APPLICATION:
Does anyone want to guess how many times YHWH is repeated in Scripture?
A: 6790!
You guys are reading through the book of Exodus right now, right?
In Exodus alone, the LORD is repeated 347x.
So, this name for God, I AM refers to all that God is, His Being, His complete
Character.
Lets go back to our key verse for today, Micah 4:5, and talk about what it
means to walk in the Name of the LORD our God
What

does it mean to walk in Gods name?

To walk in His character, to display His character.
Walking = synonymous with living
We are to live in such a way that everyone knows who we belong to, and in a
way that brings glory to Gods Name.

Walking = Doing

o
o
o

We are to love others like God loves us

We are to forgive others like God forgives us
We are to be gracious as God is gracious to us

So, lets take a moment and examine our lives What things are we walking in? Are
we walking in Gods character or Un-godly character?
Love Selfishness
Forgiveness Unforgiveness
Faithfulness Dishonesty / Deceit
Grace, Mercy Anger, Bitterness
Compassion Apathy
What will help us to walk in Gods character more?
Read the Bible.
Highlight the character of God.
Application Activity:
Choose one aspect of Gods character that you will work on this week. Write on sticky
note. Place in shoe. When take off shoes, ask yourself if you are really working to
display this aspect of Gods character in your life. Ask yourself, Have I been walking in
the Name of the LORD my God today?
CLOSING PRAYER.