“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:1 NASB
“O LORD” - YHWH - the great I AM. The one who created the universe with merely His Word and wisdom.
By wisdom the LORD founded the earth;
by understanding he created the heavens.
Psalms 104:24 NASB
O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
Proverbs 3:19 NASB
For when he spoke, the world began!
It appeared at his command.
Psalms 33:9 NASB
“Our Lord” – Adonay. The NASB Strong’s Dictionary says this is “an emphatic word from a root that means to rule.” God is THE ruler. But note here, the Psalmist says “OUR”. How differently you look at creation when God is YOUR Lord! He is a personal God.
“How majestic is your NAME in all the earth!"
Surely His creation is glorious. David goes on to declare in verse three that looking at the heavens causes him to take pause. Maybe you have personally seen and been astounded at the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, or the ocean, or the incredible variety of landscapes in the USA.
Yet it is not God’s creation that David says is majestic. Let us not worship the creation.
"Your NAME" - God’s name - is majestic. His name is what deserves our praise.
Sometimes I think we struggle in our American culture to grasp the significance of a name. How did you pick your child’s name? Was it a family name? Or were you just looking for a first and middle name that sounded good with the last name? Often in our culture we don't pick names based on the meaning of it.
Not so in the Bible. Time and again scripture tells us the meaning of a person’s name - because that was significant to their culture. We even see times when God changed people’s names (Abram, Sarai, Saul of Tarsus).
So it makes sense that God’s name would be significant. John Piper gives us insight to the significance of the name YWHW.
So Yahweh, the name that’s used over six thousand times for God in the Old Testament — it’s usually capitalized L-O-R-D in our English translations — is built on that phrase: “I Am Who I Am.” In other words, every time we read the name of God, the proper name Yahweh, he wants us to remember his essence. That’s the point. “When you say my name, remember my essence. I absolutely am. That’s why I gave myself a name with a meaning. No beginning, no ending, no becoming, no changing. I absolutely am. I am true. I am reliable.” Every time you say L-O-R-D, all caps, Yahweh, remember that. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/why-does-the-bible-stress-the-power-of-jesuss-name
God’s essence is majestic. His essence is above what our language can even describe. It is greater than the highest mountain or the deepest ocean or the vastest desert.
So worship His majesty today. Speak it out loud and let it sink in!
O LORD, our Lord, how majestic - large powerful, excellent, famous, gallant, glorious, goodly, lordly, mighty, noble, principal, worthy - is your name in all the earth!
What is your favorite display of God's majesty in creation?
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