Title: Exalt God's Name
Isaiah (116) Exalt the name of God (Isaiah 48:1-11)
<Believe in God and be humble>
A high school was attended by the son of an influential politician. He was a relatively good student, and sometimes his friends made fun of him for even the slightest mistake. “Who do you trust and be so naive? Do you trust your father and be so naive?”
A saint can be said to be ‘a person who believes in Heavenly Father and is skeptical. To become a character, you have to be humble, yet sometimes believe in Heavenly Father and be bold. David was the man who believed in God and became a character. When David went out to fight Goliath, the people must have been talking in unison. “Who does that kid believe in?” Even Goliath despised David (1 Samuel 17:42). You probably said this. “My dear! Who do you trust and be so arrogant?”
Then David replied: “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have insulted. Today the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and behead you. 1 Samuel 17:45-46).”
David believed in God, and he trusted the power of God's name. That is faith. When you try to exalt God's name as much as possible, God will give you the power to exalt Him, and when you try to avoid insulting God's name as much as possible, God will also give you the ability to keep His name.
< Exalt the name of God >
In ancient times, the Israelites often took an oath on the name of God. An oath is often made by someone who is good at breaking promises to cover up their bankruptcy. In this way, the Israelites said they depended on God and called God unrighteously, swearing by God's name without truth and justice (verses 1-2).
Also, the Israelites were stubborn and stiff-necked and did not accept God's word well (v. 4). So, God kept it a secret until God revealed the secret things related to the restoration of Israel through Isaiah (verses 6-8). After all, spiritual secrets can only be heard by the faithful who have ears to hear. Where there are ears to hear, the Word becomes a living Word, and where there is no ear to hear, the Word becomes a dead Word.
God does not want perfect children, but obedient children. Even when God hears prayers, He hears the prayers of children who are trying to obey rather than those of perfect children. God doesn't want perfection, He wants 'ears open to the Word'. If we strive to listen to God's word, God will listen to our prayers.
As such, Israel's history is filled with the history of betraying God, but God still has mercy on them and does not annihilate them. Why did you do that? He did it for the name and glory of God (verses 9-11). If we have God's grace to protect us in the midst of such shortcomings, how much greater will God's grace to protect us when we try to live faithfully before God?
Now cherish God's name and don't dwell too much on the outcome of your work. Giving up the belief that there is no fruit is ultimately not loving God. It is an act of instrumentalizing God to achieve a goal. Many people take an oath on God's name and call on God's name to achieve something, but above all, keep God's name cherished. If only God's name can be carefully kept, God will be with him as a greater blessing when he says that it is okay to have bad results.
Sometimes I see people selling the president's name and trying to get an advantage, and then getting caught as fraudsters. There are spiritual scammers who sell the name of God like that. If you fall over there, your soul and your whole life will be ruined. Now, don't take God's name in vain, keep it precious, and live always thinking that your words and actions might harm God's name. When we try to exalt God's name as much as possible with that mindset, God will exalt our name and protect our lives.