Hallowed Be Your Name

Well, I invite you to turn two places tonight, one in the Scriptures to Psalm 148, that's found on page 623 in your Bibles. And before we read that, we will be looking at the single petition tonight in the Lord's Prayer, Hallowed Be Your Name. We're continuing our study in the Lord's Prayer, and you'll find that on page 254 in those little prayer books that are in front of you, the forms and prayers. And there's just one question and answer there. I'll ask the question, have you please respond with the answer. This helps us to have a good framework to understand what this first petition means and gives us a good understanding of it. So this is on page 254, Lord's Day 47, question 122. What does the first petition mean? Hallowed be your name means, help us to truly know you, to honor, glorify, and praise You for all Your works and for all that shines forth from them, Your almighty power, wisdom, kindness, justice, mercy, and truth. And it means help us to direct all our living, what we think, say, and do so that Your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised and then of course turning over to psalm 148 we'll read the entirety of the psalm tonight praise the lord praise the lord from the heavens praise him in the heights praise him all his angels praise him all his hosts praise him sun and moon praise him all you shining stars praise him you highest heavens and you waters above the heavens let them praise the name of the lord for he commanded and they were created and he established them forever and ever he gave a decree and it shall not pass away praise the lord from the earth you great sea creatures and all deeps fire and hail snow and mist stormy wind fulfilling his word mountains and all hills fruit trees and all cedars beasts and all livestock creeping things and flying birds kings of the earth and all peoples princes and all rulers of the earth young men and maidens together old men and children let them praise the name of the lord for the name alone is exalted his majesty is above earth and heaven he has raised up a horn for his people. Praise for all his saints. For the people of Israel who are near to him, praise the Lord. And there ends tonight the reading of God's word. Well, tonight we come to this first petition of the Lord's prayer. And here's a go. I remember reading something by J.K. Van Balen, who once said that the spiritual life of most of us is so poorly developed that we find it difficult to realize that hallowed be thy name is actually a petition. I thought that was an interesting comment that he, a thing that he wrote and observed about the Lord's Prayer. These words are not a doxology. These words are not the ending of our prayer but you'll notice that jesus instructed us in prayer the very first petition of the lord's prayer tonight that comes out of our mouths as we have recognized and think about our father who art in heaven we have looked at that and and and looked at the precious words of who we are addressing whom we are addressing and our father in heaven in the first petition being hallowed be your name that is something that we are are asking of god and that's tonight what we're unpacking and looking at tonight thinking about this petition that has the single great goal of course in prayer boys and girls that we would um that we would glorify the lord that we would praise him that we would enjoy him forever i've always said um it was a pastor years ago who said it. It always stuck with me. We are great at talking a lot about the glory of the Lord. I'm not sure we quite always know what that is. But to enjoy Him is something that is precious and something that we don't think a lot about. And I think that strikes at the heart of this petition tonight. What it means to enjoy God. To enjoy Him. And how is there any better place that we could enjoy our God than how we address him and what we ask of him first and foremost in prayer and that is an important point that we are making tonight this call that we have tonight to pray in this first petition there's really an emphasis here on a call to to praise in prayer and then we'll look at um that we are to pray with a perspective a certain perspective and then tonight to pray with purpose. So we'll begin with this initial prayer with praise, a call to praise. I appreciated something that Dr. Bittner said last time about prayer that is absolutely true. And I had said it a few weeks prior, and then he emphasized it again, and I was so thankful that he did it again. But it was that the heart really does need to be sort of warmed up to prayer. Prayer's hard business. Prayer's difficult, he emphasized. And that's absolutely right. Heidelberg is helping us to understand that and to appreciate that, the privilege of praying. And notice first how we began by studying prayer. We're praying to God, our Heavenly Father. We're praying to God the Father. That is meant to do something to the heart in prayer. It kindles something. Think of a good relationship between a father and a son. A son coming up to a father. And a father loving his son. And as Jesus said, earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to their children. Earthly fathers care about their children. There's a bond that they have with their children. It's really hard to capture in words. There's a beautiful love there, an affection there. And this is the kind of thing that the Lord wants kindled with us in prayer as to how we look at Him. And we looked at with our last sermon on prayer, how do we view the Heavenly Father? Is somebody always ready to strike us and angry with us? Or is somebody who treats us as a good father does to his son because of Jesus? We have this access and we're able to cry Abba and he loves us and he desires to help us and to provide for us. That is so important to understanding prayer. That it kindles something in the heart. And that is particularly true as it continues with the first petition. How many struggle with feeling that prayer is powerless and feeling like it doesn't get past the roof and it's difficult and most of the time we pray and we fall asleep? What we don't realize about prayer is that that is not an issue with God. That's an issue with our heart. And the heart is not properly prepared. One of the things that we used to talk a lot about, we don't talk much about anymore, I think it would do good for us to talk more about it, is even how we prepare our hearts for worship. If I looked at, if I gave you some of the preparations of the old Puritans or whatever, how they prepared their hearts on Saturday night for worship and the effect of that by reading and meditating on the scriptures with the family. And this wasn't legalism. This was a desire to properly have their hearts prepared to worship the Lord and early to bed and reading of the scriptures and praying together and arising in the morning and preparing the heart to come in, your receiving of the word is going to be different. It just is. Then whether it was, you know, out till midnight and getting up at 9.15, throwing on the clothes, grabbing a hand bun and heading into worship. Point is, is that you need the preparation, don't you? The same is true with prayer. The same is true with prayer. This petition is helping us to properly frame our prayers. Helping us with how to pray. Helping us with the most important first petition of prayer as it has the effect of reverencing God. Enjoying God. Falling into amazement over God and His works and His ways. And that's what's said here in the Heidelberg. Grant us, first of all, as we ask the Lord something in our praise, we're asking Him that we would properly praise Him. And what comes from that is praise. Grant us that we may first rightly know You and sanctify and glorify and praise You. That's at the heart of this petition. That there would be proper praise of the Lord in our lives. that there would be proper glorifying of the Lord in our lives and sanctifying of ourselves in life in that way. And that's what's important to pray. I think it's important to say that we're asking the Lord that our prayers would be formed by praise. Why is that so important? Because we're immediately praying away from ourselves. And that's not to say there are times when we pray and we're overburdened and the first thing out of our hearts are cries and tears because of the moment. And you have psalms that inspire that for you. But the normal course of prayer, the regular course of prayer, is to begin with this kind of praise. And to ask Him that we would properly praise Him. Remember why Jesus condemned the Pharisees? Because their prayers were for show. And if you look at some of the recorded prayers of the Pharisees in the Bible, I think of the particular one in Luke, two men went up the temple to pray, and one of them stood at the front of the church, And he probably held out his hands ostentatiously and he said, God, I thank you that I'm not. That prayer was saturated with himself. Prayer is first a denial of ourselves. We're asking God that we would deny ourselves. And I think it's so beautiful that God has inspired many prayers of his saints to show us that the right prayer and the prayer that is most valuable to our souls and the prayer that is good and what is healthy is a prayer that is full of a reverence and a holy awe for who God is. Now to get an idea of how important this is to the Lord, we should listen carefully to some of the prayers of the saints in the past and the prayers that are outlined for you in the scriptures. I mean, maybe a good place is to grab the Valley of Vision and you could listen to some of those prayers. That's a collection of old Reformed writers' prayers, and they're beautiful. Let me take you an encouragement here, give a moment of encouragement to properly pray and ask God in prayer to properly praise Him. What a great way to begin by singing the Psalms. Now, that's not something we do. I would probably guess, I guess, that most of us, and this is not a condemnation, this is an encouragement, most of us only sing to the Lord on Sundays. I won't ask for a show of hands. But have you ever thought, a gathering around the table, and grabbing this altar, and singing a psalm of praise to the Lord, is one of the most spiritually beneficial things you can do? praying specifically, thanking him and praising him for his works, I promise that after you've done something like that, the prayer and the course of prayer that follows will be entirely different than had you not. I can prove this by the fact that if I've had a sermon that has struck powerfully from God's word that has spoke to you, and then we open up a psalm that directly speaks to that truth, The singing from this congregation, it's not even close to the singing before the word. Something has connected in the heart and you're singing with understanding. And what I'm saying is, is to begin prayer with praise, with understanding, directs all of prayer. I guess I should say at this point that it really is the gospel that drives all true prayer and what leads to true praise. I remember when my parents bought me my first car. I was so thankful that they would do that for me. You know what they bought me? They bought me a Ranger Splash. Remember those? It was brilliant blue. It had rainbow stickers down the side. I peeled those right off. But it was a good, gracious gift that they had given me. And I had great affection for them for doing that. They didn't have to do that. They were kind to me. What kind of person would I be if I took the keys and ran off and never expressed any gratitude to them for such a gift? Well, this is what matters to the Lord. That we praise Him for who He is and the wonderful things that He's done for us. That's what drives us, is the inexpressible gift of His Son. The gospel drives us to prayer. The gospel drives us to praise. The gospel drives us to say thank you. The gospel drives a deep emotion, and emotions are good. I don't know why we ever thought that emotions have to be controlled by the word, but emotions are good. Of the greatest gift that you've given, recognizing what kind of a God he is to us. Not only think about what we learned last time, our Father. A father who loves us so much that he gave his only begotten son and put him under the curses of the covenant to face the cruel death of the cross so that we can live in the reception knowing that we have a great love with which he loved us and forgave us. Prayer has to be properly driven. Now, what I'm saying here tonight, then, is think about how many of the prayers begin in the Bible. Think of how many of the prayers of praise begin. And the Lord is encouraging this element to true prayer. Think of some of them. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, for praise from the upright is beautiful. How do we usually begin prayer? Father, I pray for, you know, Aunt Jan and her cancer and I pray for this and I pray for every woe under the sun and all the hardships and I pray for all these things and there has been little adoration in prayer. Psalm 115, Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto you be glory given. Your name give glory. Because of your mercy and because of your truth, I'm praising you because of mercy and because of truth. Lord, our Lord, Psalm 8, how excellent is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens. Psalm 54, save me, O God, by your name. Vindicate me by your strength. When Solomon dedicated the temple, this is what he cared about in his prayer. That all the peoples of the earth, O Lord, may know your name and fear you. And as your people do Israel, that they may know that this temple that I have built is called by your name. There was this great motivating factor in all of prayer, of praise, and a recognition of the privilege of knowing the name of the Lord. Now we're asking this of him. Would you help us with this? And would that translate then in our prayers to praising you to enjoying you i think that's what exactly paul was getting at in in philippians 4 which is one of our favorite passages that um when we have burdens and we have distresses in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving make your request known to god and he's going to give you peace there's that that prayer that is first mentioned there by prayer it's a it's a doxological word it it means that we're first coming with a kind of prayerful worshipful state in prayer prayer and supplication with thanksgiving then make your requests known of course he wants to hear requests and that's why i appreciate psalm 148 tonight you know listen to what this psalm is is saying tonight praise the lord praise his name and and who who is what is the psalm calling everyone to do it's calling the whole creation to praise him praise him from the heavens praise him in the heights praise him angels praise him all his hosts the sun and the moon the shining stars the highest heavens the waters um he goes on the sea creatures and all deeps fire and hail snow and mist stormy wind fulfilling his word in other words they praise god simply by fulfilling what they were created to do in creation when the sun shines as it should when the moon gives its light um i've always said when you're um maybe i can speak to the young people here when you're sleeping in and you hear those birds up early in the morning and they're they're singing as they fly through the heavens they're praising the lord So maybe get up, right? That just came out. I don't know if I should have said that. Pray with praise. The marvel of this psalm is that first whole section of the psalm, none of those things have minds that understand and know the Lord. when the psalm breaks into, after the mountains and the hills and the fruit trees and the cedars and the beasts and the livestock, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and rulers of the earth, young men and maidens together, old men and children, children, get up and praise the Lord. How do we do that? Well, that's what the first petition's all about. That's what he's calling us. Let them praise the name of the Lord. For his name alone is exalted. His majesty is above earth and heaven. And that's the beauty of Psalm 148. So prayer, we're asking God that it would be properly formed by praise. And then it's prayer with, you'll notice here, understanding, isn't it? And this is the one thing that is so important about knowing God's word and understanding God's word. we have to rightly understand who we're praying to. You can't listen to this petition and not be moved by our Lord's emphasis on our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. I'm drawn to the fact that God devoted an entire commandment to the honor of his holy name. But think about in prayer. Grant us that we may rightly know you, sanctify you, glorify and praise you in all your works which shine forth your almighty power, wisdom, goodness, righteousness, mercy, and truth. That's why I say pray with good perspective and understanding. The name of the Lord is a revelation of who He is. All these names in the Bible are given to help you understand Him, to know Him. There's the general name of the Lord. Hallowed be your name. That name is everything that He's revealed about Himself in Scripture. Then he's given us a lot of personal names in the scriptures to help us understand him. They're all accommodations to help us understand what he's like to us, how good he is to us. These are wonderful revelations. You know, El Shaddai, the Lord is almighty. El Elyon, the most high God. Adonai, the Lord is my master. The Lord cares for me. The Lord owns me. The Lord knows me. Yahweh, I am who I am. Jehovah Nisi, the Lord is my banner. Jehovah Ra'ah, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall lack nothing. Jehovah Rapha, the Lord that heals. Jehovah Shema, the Lord is present. What have we always said in the covenant? He's present with you, always. The Lord Tzedekinu, the Lord, our righteousness. He is our righteousness. El Olam, the everlasting God. The Psalms celebrate that attribute of his being eternal as the greatest comfort to us in the midst of everything that's transitory and fleeting and passing. Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide. Has he never provided for us? He's always cared for us. Jehovah Shalom, the Lord is peace. Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts, all the angels in the heavenly realm do his bidding. They reveal that what God is like to us and how he cares for us. But think of the precious ability to pray, Father, my Father. We've been looking at that. The incredible mercy that the Lord would give us such access to know that he is our father and that we can have that kind of prayer and approach to him that he cares for us and that God the father has received us and loves us because of Christ it it it presupposes reconciliation with him presupposes a right relationship that Jesus has bought you and that Jesus has stepped into your place and that you're adopted sons and that the spirit is is indwelling you and that you have the ability to cry out to your father and you're asking him that you would hallow and praise and reverence his holy name one of the things i don't think we do enough and appreciate enough is i i often get this is that many people ask me for resources for spiritual growth and they ask me for devotionals and they asked me for what are the best devotionals of the day that I can read and grow and there's some good devotionals out there what if I told you the best devotionals you already have think of belgic oh no the belgic yeah belgic one it's wonderful imagine praying this with understanding we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths that there is a single and simple spiritual being whom we call God. Now, when we are asking, saying, hallowed be your name, and as Heidelberg says, that we may rightly know you and understand you, we're thinking about his attributes. We're thinking about who he is and what he's like. Eternal. Meditate on these things. Incomprehensible. Invisible. Unchangeable. You don't change. Think of all the change and decay everywhere we see. Infinite. Almighty. Completely wise. You are so governing our lives. You are all wise. And whatever you decide is perfect and right. Just. What's everyone after today in society? Justice. He's the just one. Good. The overflowing source of all that is good. You see, you can use this. and we can pray to him with understanding. That's what he wants. And I want to think then finally tonight about what it means that all of our lives would be directed to him. Think about that with purpose. Notice the end of the Heidelberg tonight says that so wonderfully in that Lord's Day, in Lord's Day 47. And it means this. What are we asking of God? Help us to direct all our living what we think, say, and do so that your name will never be blasphemed because of us but always honored and praised. To direct our living in how we think, say, and what we say and what we do. Jesus said, We are the salt of the earth. The salt loses its flavor. How shall it be seasoned? Then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men you are the light of the world so then let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and do what glorify your father in heaven at the heart of this prayer it's asking of god that hallowed be your name that my life would demonstrate what it means to be a true Christian. Isn't that what everyone's after today? Authenticity. Something real. Something sincere. That's the goal. That every bit of our lives would be ordered to an end that it would glorify and hallow the name of the Lord. And all that we think and all that we say and all that we do. This is a beautiful aspect to prayer. When we do not direct our lives to hallow God's name, we do the opposite. I was always thinking of something that Paul said in Romans chapter 2 on this particular prayer point. You therefore who teach one another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, do not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Do you make your boast in the law? Do you dishonor God through breaking the law? for the name of God is blasphemed among the nations because of you. I think that every morning when we rise, this is why I said praying the Lord's Prayer is, as Luther said, a helpful thing to do. To have set before us, before we walk out of the house in the morning, that all of our lives would be directed today to glorify the Lord so that in all of our actions and all of our words and all of our thoughts, think of all the temptations that come at us and we'll look at that when it comes to that petition of the Lord's Prayer that we would have this first and foremost on our minds filled with praise in the morning filled with understanding of His wonderful works and then filled with a directive in life that our whole lives would be directed throughout the course of that day to think this way to glorify the Lord that's what we're asking of Him I should also say that it'll require in times of difficulty and hardship and things that we think we can't bear an understanding and a response that is like Job's. The Lord has given and the Lord has taken away. What do you say? Blessed be the name of the Lord. All of our lives are directed by him. all of our lives are under His fatherly care. That prayer has trained us to submit to that and to glorify Him no matter the circumstance of life, no matter what He tests us with, no matter how we're tried. It may require that we suffer a lot of hardship in life. You know, think of Paul when he was put in prison or when in Acts the guards were standing there and what were they doing when they were in prison in shackles? They're singing praise to the Lord. Singing psalms of praise. I know that this will turn out for my deliverance so now also Christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death. That's what gave him the perspective in whatever came down his path even a thorn in the flesh he could boast in the hardships and afflictions and sufferings and whatever it might be for there the power of christ is on him and he is glorifying and he is sanctifying and hallowing the name of the lord you're asking to give up your wills it's really a summary statement in many ways you're asking your entire life would be consecrated to him so that he would be glorified and that his name would not be blasphemed because of you and that our lives would be ordered around His word. Our lives would be ordered around His will and that we would love Him and respond to Him. So I hope you've seen how glorious and important it is tonight to begin our prayers with this great desire and petition of Him. There's a lot of things we're going to talk about in prayers, a lot of things to pray. There's a lot of things to ask of God that He invites us to do, casting all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. But what a precious thing to be able to begin to think more and more about what praise is in prayer and to ask Him to help us to praise Him properly in life. That all of our lives would be directed this way and they'd be filled with praise as all the creation does when you look at the sun shining and the moon at night and the trees and the mountains as they're fulfilling and doing exactly what God made them to do. He gave you minds to enjoy Him and to glorify Him forever. So then may our lips and hearts be filled with praise because we have the special privilege to know Him and have been saved by Him who has given us such access. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. That is what we are thinking and thought about tonight, that above all and through all and in us all, He would be glorified and that we would praise Him for praise is befitting for His saints. Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. May our lives be filled more and more, O Lord, with praise of You. We praise You for making us, for redeeming us, for saving us from the pit that we chose. We praise You, O Lord, for giving us all kinds of help and good gifts. We praise you for your wonderful works and your ways, that you are a faithful covenant God, that you do not change, that you are infinite, that you are all-powerful, and that you uphold us and will keep us, and that you are a God who is near to us and one who never changes and turns your back on us. We praise you for such wonderful works. We praise you for who you are. We praise you for the gift of your Son in the gospel. We praise you, Lord, for saving and giving us joy in this life. And we ask, O Lord, that in praying this prayer more and more in our lives, that all of our lives would be directed to glorify you. Yes, we know that may require difficult moments and trials and tests, but we trust you. No matter what it is, we can say, Blessed be the name of the Lord. All that you have revealed and what you've said of yourself is true. You are a faithful covenant God, and tonight we praise you. Thank you for this access because of Christ. May our lives be filled more and more with praise and thanksgiving, and will we talk to you, our Heavenly Father, recognizing the splendid privilege that we have to draw near to the throne of grace and that you love us and that you care for us. Receive our thanksgiving in Jesus' name. Amen.