KNOWING GOD’S NAME
Psa. 9:10
Morning Meditation 3/4/2013
Psalm 9:10 will be our meditation for the day: “And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.”
Spurgeon prefers to think that this psalm found its inspiration from David’s victory over Goliath of Gath. He says, “Believing that out of a thousand guesses this is at least as consistent with the sense of the Psalm as any other, we prefer it; and more especially so, because it enables us to refer it mystically to the victory of the Son of God over the champion of evil, even the enemy of souls.” -Treasury of David Vol. 1 page 107.
The word for “name” here is “shem” and according to Strong means “name, reputation, fame, glory the Name (as designation of God).” God has revealed himself by many different names in the Bible. When Moses encountered God at the burning bush he said, “And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?”(Exo. 3:11). Moses understood what God was saying. He wanted him to go and lead Israel out of Egypt. To do this he would have to face Pharaoh. And Pharaoh was no small obstacle! He said, “Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh.” Lord, I know who Pharaoh is. And forty years ago I was no match for him. In fact Lord, as you well know I wore out a good pair of tennis shoes running for my life when I left Egypt forty years ago! And all I have heard about Egypt has not made it any easier for me.
Then the Lord began to assure Moses with the words “Certainly I will be with thee...” (3:12). Now that makes some difference. Someone has said “God and one man makes a majority in any case.” God prophecies Israel’s deliverance in this very verse in the words, “and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee; When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.” God gives Moses this token. But can’t you just hear Moses (it is not written but I can still hear him) say, “But God. Please. That token comes a little late. I need a token before I go to Egypt. I am no match for Pharaoh. I know that. I learned that forty years ago. Now if you are a match for Pharaoh, let me know now.” Isn’t that just like us? We want our guarantees up front. We do not want to walk by faith. It makes us nervous to put our trust in God’s name without any assurance but a promise. But God’s way is a faith-way. He says something and he wants us to believe without seeing (John 20:29).
Then Moses says, “...When I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them?” Moses says, “this is something I need to know. Because I know this question will be asked. And right now I’m having a good time talking to you. But I can’t take this bush with me. What am I going to say with they ask this question?” “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all generations” (3:14-15). So God continues in verses 16-22 to tell Moses what he will do for him and the children of Israel.
Then Moses responds: “And Moses answered and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee”(4:1). He becomes a prophet here. He said, “Lord, they wouldn’t trust me forty years ago and they will not believe me now.” Do you ever get worried about other people’s faith? Moses is beginning to get personally satisfied with whom God is, but he is not sure that those Jews in Egypt will be satisfied when he tells them about this personal experience with God.
Now you understand in this meditation I’m trying to help me to understand what’s in a name, i.e., esp. The name of God. I’m sitting at my key board trying to understand how Moses is going to get the Israelites stirred up to leave Egypt on the strength of telling them “I Am” sent me! Let’s go on.
The Lord gave Moses a couple of illustrations that reveal what is in his name “I Am.” He asked, “What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod.” He told Moses to cast it on the ground. And it became a snake. You say, “Was it poisonous?” They are all poisonous to me! And Moses agrees with me. He fled before the serpent. And then the Lord said to Moses “Put forth thine hand, and take it by the tail.” Now its going to take a lot of faith to obey this order. I think Moses said, “Lord, I have been running from that snake. And you are asking me to take it by the tail? You know Lord the snake handlers, and I’m not one of them, always pick it up by the business end. If I’m going to pick that snake up, I would rather do it right behind it’s biting end!” God says, “Moses, you do what I say and let me take care of the business end.” You do understand that what God tells Moses at this point is a death sentence unless he performs a miracle to keep that snake from biting him? Well, Moses does what God says and to Moses’ surprise, God doesn’t tame the snake, he turns it back into a stick. Well, to my surprise, Moses didn’t say, “How did you do that?!!!”
Then the Lord tells Moses, “Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow.” Then the Lord said, “Put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again; and plucked it out of his bosom, and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.” (4:6-7). Again, Leprosy was a death sentence. And when Moses put his leprous hand back into his bosom and brought it out completely cleansed of leprosy, it was life back from the sentence of death.
Both of these illustrations give Moses the ability to demonstrate who God really is. He is “I Am.” Not I was or I will be. The LORD is all Moses needs in the present tense. He can turn wood rods into snakes and snakes into harmless rods. He can strike a healthy man with leprosy and heal him on the spot. That is what is in God’s name.
