His Names

 I may have mentioned this before but, if so, here it is again.

In the last few verses of Psalm 91, we have 8 promises of God if we fulfill only 3 conditions.  He promises to (1) deliver us, (2) set us on high, (3) answer us, (4) be with us in trouble, (5) rescue us, (6) honour us, (7) satisfy us with long life, and (8) show us His salvation.  

What He asks of us is (1) to set our love upon Him, (2) to know His name, and (3) to call upon Him.  This is not a difficult list of requirements.  The first one follows easily upon recognizing His love for us.  "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19) and the more we have our eyes opened to see His love, the more we love Him.  The third one, to call upon Him, is almost a natural reaction for a believer whenever there is a need or attack or some kind of danger.

To know His name is also not difficult.  Most of us would easily call Him our heavenly Father, Saviour, Redeemer, and a whole varied list of names that we "hallow" in our own lives.  This is a great study, though, to compile and meditate on a list of His names.

I came across something I must have scribbled while still in bed because it was written on the back of a publication in my room.  I dated it Nov. 29, and the magazine is from 2020 so it is relatively recent.  I don't do this nearly often enough, but that morning I wrote the question, "Lord, who are You in my life today?"  This was His list of names that I could know Him by:

"I am your shield at your right hand.  I am your tower of strength.  I am your tower of protection.  I am your glory and the lifter of your head.  I am your enabler to do all that you need to do.  I am your friendliness to people who need it.  I will be your reminder to do the things you need to do and to pray in the Spirit, and to notice My love notes.  I am balm to your heart.  I am your wisdom when you are with people.  I am always near; in fact, right there inside of you.  You can touch Me at any time."

Seeing this again after a few months was encouraging all over again, and was a good reminder to take the time to ask Him that kind of question more often, and take the time to listen for an answer.

That promise in Psalm 91 was "I will set (you) on high, because (you have) known My name."  I encourage you to get your own list of names of who God is to you.  "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Thy name."  Or should we say "names"?

Righteous

 It's me going on about the Passion translation comparison with my Modern English version again.  I'm nearly finished Proverbs and I'm finding the Passion translation almost unrecognizable in many cases as compared to all the translations I have ever read.

One thing that I find disappointing is that, in many cases, "the righteous" is replaced with "the lovers of God".  For example, Proverbs 10:25 is changed from "...the righteous has an everlasting foundation" to "...when a catastrophe comes, the lovers of God have a secure anchor."  Sometimes, both versions do use the term "the righteous."

I'm going to include a few (actually, more than a few, but not nearly all) of the promises of protection, provision and blessing that Proverbs has for the righteous.  There are too many to list them all here.  (I will add bold type and italics as I please, not paying attention to rules of any kind.  Also, I’ll quote the Modern English first and add the Passion translation here and there)

Proverbs 11:8, 28:  The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his place...He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.  (The righteous are snatched away from trouble, and the wicked show up in their place...Keep trusting in your riches and down you'll go!  But the lovers of God rise up like flowers in the spring.)

12:3b:  …the root of the righteous will not be moved (…the lives of his lovers are deeply rooted and firmly planted). 

and v. 7:  The wicked are overthrown, and are not, but the house of the righteous will stand. 

and v. 28:  In the way of righteousness is life,and in its pathway there is no death.

14:11:  The house of the wicked will be overthrown, but the tent of the righteous will flourish.

15:6:  In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenue of the wicked is trouble.

21:18:  The wicked will be a ransom for the righteous, and the transgressor for the upright.

28:1:  The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. (Guilty criminals experience paranoia, even though no one threatens them.   But the innocent lovers of God, because of righteousness, will have the boldness of a young, ferocious lion!)

One of my favourite verses is Proverbs 18:10:  The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into it and are safe.  (The character of God is a tower of strength, for the lovers of God delight to run into his heart and be exalted on high.)

I have valued the use of the term “the righteous” in these promises because I can always say, “That’s for me.  That’s my promise.”  And why is that?  Because, I have been, by the grace of God, made righteous.  Romans 10:9, 10 says, “…if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved, for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”  The passage of 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 tells me that because I am in Christ, I am a new creation, God has reconciled me to Himself through  Jesus Christ, He is not counting my sins against me, and that He made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for me, so that I could become the righteous of God Himself through Him!!!  Romans 5:17 reads like this:  “For if by one man’s trespass (Adam’s) death reigned through him, then how much more will those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.”  So, I can read the promises in Proverbs and say, “Yes, that’s mine” because I have received that gift of righteousness.  I have not earned it nor do I deserve it due to anything that I have done, but it’s mine all the same.  I just had to recognize that it was offered, and accept it.

And that’s why I dislike the removal of that term from some of the verses in the Passion translation.  I have a claim on those promises to the righteous.

 

Beyond Description

Today, again, I was comparing Psalm 95 in my Modern English Version with my Passion translation.  Sometimes they are pretty dissimilar, and there will be a footnote in the Passion translation that this was translated from the Aramaic, or some other explanation for the differences.  Also sometimes, the Passion translation is much more down-to-earth and prosaic (for example, Psalm 95:10b where the MEV says, "He shall judge the peoples righteously" and TPT says, "for he treats everyone fair and square") and sometimes it is more poetic and flowery (like Psalm 95:6.  The MEV says, "Honor and majesty are before Him" while TPT says, "Breathtaking brilliance and awe-inspiring majesty radiate from his shining presence.")  

I like that the MEV capitalizes every pronoun relating to God; it just seems more respectful (Him, instead of just him.)

What drew my attention today was the first part of verse 4:  "For the Lord's greatness is beyond description, and he deserves all the praise that comes to him.  He is our King-God, and it's right to be in holy awe of him."

And it reminded me of a song we used to sing, and I still play and sing all the time.  If you look for it on YouTube, you will find it has been recorded by every artist, band, ensemble, and all their neighbours too.  One has added a second verse, so that's the one I'll quote.  The song is "You Are Beautiful Beyond Description" and this version is by the GTA Praise Band...

You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words,

Too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard.

Who can grasp Your infinite wisdom?  Who can fathom the depths of Your love?

You are beautiful beyond description, majesty enthroned above.

And I stand, I stand in awe of You.  I stand, I stand in awe of You.

Holy God, to whom all praise is due, I stand in awe of You.

You are beautiful beyond description, yet God crushed You for my sin,

In agony and affliction, cut off that I might enter in.

Who can grasp such tender compassion?  Who can fathom this mercy so free?

You are beautiful beyond description, Lamb of God who died for me.

I'm hoping that this will bring you to a bit of a pause in your day, where you will remember how beautiful our Lord is, beyond description.  Be still and know, and be in awe.