THEY THAT KNOW THY NAME
“And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.” Psalm 9:10
We are often reminded of how much the Lord desires for us to trust Him, consistently and completely. This is one of the primary themes of the entire Bible. We are told in the Scripture that it is not possible to please God without faith. Old Testament men and women modeled the importance of living by faith. Many times in the Gospels, Jesus taught the value of trusting God and reprimanded the disciples for their lack of faith. God wants us to trust Him, and yet it seems to be inherent in man that we struggle with this.
Turning to God in faith is quite often our last resort rather than our initial response. Worry and anxiety are frequent problems, due in great part to the lack of faith in our lives. Like the example of Abraham when he went in unto Hagar, orchestrating a plan that depends on the flesh is frequently more natural than believing that God is able to do what He has promised to do. All of us must vigorously deal with this harmful tendency to doubt or disbelieve. The Scripture tells us, “they that know thy name will put their trust in thee.”
One reason we do not trust the Lord as we should is because we do not know Him as we need to. A child who knows the trustworthiness of his parent is not hesitant to leap into his arms. The more familiar we are with the character and attributes of our heavenly Father, the more natural it will be to depend more entirely upon Him.
God’s name teaches us much about Him. Names in the Bible are of great significance. For instance, the name Jehovah-jireh means “the LORD will provide.” The name Jehovah- Shammah is defined as “the Lord who is there.” The name Emmanuel means “God who is with us.” Jehovah-shalom means “the Lord is peace.” Jesus means “Savior.” El-shaddah means “God Almighty” and Jehovah-nissi means “the Lord is my banner or victory.” These, and many other names found in the Scripture, describe the nature of the God that we love and trust. The more we know His name, the more prone we will be to trust Him and to believe His Word. God is one God, but His many names speak of the glory of His person and the importance of His attributes. By reading the Scripture, we get to know God as He is. The more we know Him, the more we will learn to trust Him.