Psalm 23 - For his name's sake (8)

God leads us in paths of righteousness with the ultimate end of the exaltation of his name.



His Name

I am Jehovah. That is my name; I give my glory to no one else. - Isaiah 42:8

In our culture, names are little more than labels we assign to people to distinguish them from one another. But the name of God holds far more weight than this. We are to call on his name [Genesis 21:33] and by his name we are saved [John 1:12]. We pray in his name [John 14:13-14] and gather in his name. [Matthew 18:20]. We suffer for his name [Acts 5:41] and will one day bow at his name [Philippians 2:10-11].



Made known

Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.    - Psalm 105:1

Though God is unchangingly glorious in who he is, at this present time he is not recognised as such. Though he is supremely glorious, he is not given the glory that is rightfully his. Though he is glorious, his name is not fully acknowledged.

We are to make Christ known to the world that they might honour him as he deserves. We are to exalt him with our words and our actions and our very lives. Every good and perfect gift comes from God [James 1:17] and he alone has rescued us from darkness into light [Colossians 1:17] so we are to credit him by proclaiming his goodness and mercy to all we encounter.


By righteous living

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. - 2 Corinthians 9:13

When we live in such a way as to make Christ look precious in our lives, we exalt his name. We do this by faithfully proclaiming the gospel and by living righteously.

Proclamation of the gospel fills up "what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, the church" [Colossians 1:24] in that it propagates the news that Jesus has died for our sins if we only would believe in him. And righteous living means our lives visibly authenticate the preciousness and sufficiency of Christ as we conform ourselves to him in humble dependence.



In his strength

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  - Psalm 23:3

Our lives bring glory to the name of God. But not because of good work we do in our own strength (for that would bring us the glory) but because of God leading us in lives of righteousness.

As we live according to his will, in his strength, we make him look precious which adds glory to his name. Even when we mess up, and he has to guide us back onto the righteous paths, this too brings glory to his name as it displays his sufficiency and his great love and care for us frail creatures.