Glory to the Lord's Name
Step into a stirring meditation on how fruit-bearing, fervent prayer, and faithful obedience can unite your whole life in one grand aim: bringing glory to the Lord’s holy name.
Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
(Psalm 29:2)
How many different ways do you suppose we could glorify God? I’m thinking here primarily of our individual lives rather than congregational activity. The most obvious way would be speaking of God’s glory in the hearing of other people, but I believe some other things in our lives result in the glorification of our Father.
(1) Fruit-bearing. Jesus said in John 15:8, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” We know that Christ expects of us the fruit-bearing that grows out of discipleship, but doesn’t it impart a special meaning to the bearing of fruit to see it as an opportunity to glorify the Father? Is this not an excellent way to “give unto the Lord the glory due to His name”?
(2) Prayers. It doesn’t come as news to anyone that praise should be a primary ingredient in our prayers (Matthew 6:9). But in proportion to other things like asking God for things we desire, how much of our prayer time actually consists of praise? If the glorification of God is so unfamiliar to us that we can’t think of much to say about it when we’re talking to God, we should be ashamed. There is more to God’s glory than we could praise if we prayed all day, every day!
(3) Obedience. Tragically, obedience is often downplayed these days, as if emphasizing it would lead to nothing more than cold, self-righteous legalism. But it is clear, in the New Testament as well as the Old, that our obedience to God, imperfect though it surely is, should be seen as a means of glorifying God. Jesus made His view of obedience clear and easy to understand when He said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:10).
When we stumble in our obedience, no motivation to repent is better than knowing our repentance will bring glory to God. The angels rejoice — and glorify God — when even one sinner repents (Luke 15:7). And those who love God most — and praise Him most gladly — are those who have been forgiven of much (Luke 7:47).
One eager hope, one passionate desire,
One grand, all-unifying aim —
Albeit in doubt’s dark night or pain’s fierce fire —
Let me bring glory to his name.
(Frank Houghton)
Gary Henry - WordPoints.com