FEBRUARY 25

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

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Psalm 68:4

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name;  extol Him who rides on the clouds,

By His name Yah,  and rejoice before Him.”

Exodus 3:14

“And God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”

John 10:29

“My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

Psalm 50:1-3

“The Mighty One, God the Lord,  has spoken and called the earth

From the rising of the sun to its going down.  Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God will shine forth.  Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;

A fire shall devour before Him,  and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.”

Psalm 50:12-15

“If I were hungry, I would not tell you;   For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

Will I eat the flesh of bulls,   or drink the blood of goats?  Offer to God thanksgiving,

and pay your vows to the Most High.   Call upon Me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”

John 16:30

“Now we are sure that You know all things, and have no need that anyone should question You. By this we believe that You came forth from God.”

John 19:28

“After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!”

John 18:6

Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

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Our book for this month  is called “100 NAMES OF GOD”  written by Christopher D. Hudson.  Each day we’ll take one Hebrew name for God as given in the Bible to study and relate to.

YAH

SELF-EXISTENCE – “I AM”

Exodus 15:2

“The Lord is my strength and my defense; He has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise Him, my Father’s God, and I will exalt Him.”

When Moses was called by God to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt, he asked the Lord a great question; 

“How should I respond when people ask me what Your name is?” (see Exodus 3:13).

Literally the Almighty called Himself the Hebrew verb “hayah”, which means “to be” or “to exist”.  In time, God became known to the Hebrew people as Yahweh, a name found more than 6,800 times in the Old Testament and translated into English as “Lord” or “Jehovah”.

Scholars puzzle and wrangle over the deep meaning of this mysterious name.  But most agree that at the very least, God wants us to see in this name the idea that He is uncaused and self-sufficient.  He is the One who has always existed, the One who abides forever.

Saying the name Yahweh, or Yah, is a way of saying that God is absolute.  He is not contingent on any outside source for anything.  Nothing created Him and nothing can end Him.  God is independent, not dependent – a truth with wonderful ramifications for us.  For example, it means God will never change.  Since He can’t change, we have confidence that His promises will never fail.  While we are often faithless, He remains perfectly faithful.

Saying the name of Yah or Yahweh is also a way of saying God is self-sufficient and needs nothing.  He is never incomplete or unsatisfied.  He is never bored.  He is never lonely.  He never lacks.  He is never unfulfilled.  Since He has always existed (and always will), He creates in order to express love, not to find meaning.  He is absolutely complete.

The Hebrew word Yah (or Jah) is a shortened form of Yahweh that is sometimes combined with other words and  phrases in the Bible.   For example:

HALLELUJAH means “Praise the Lord.”

Names also incorporate variants of Yah to offer deeper meaning.  Example:

ELIJAH means “God is Lord”

JOSHUA means “The Lord is my salvation.”

Each of these names reminds their owners that they originate with God, the great uncaused cause.

We come from God and we need Him;  He is the uncaused cause who needs nothing.

Why does it matter that God is self-existent?

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PRAYER

Yahweh, all around me people worship contingent things that do not last.   Thank You for being absolute, self-existent, and self-sufficient.  You need nothing, yet You created us out of Your love.  Please help me give You the honor You so richly deserve.  Amen

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