Now this morning we have two passages that we’re going to read in the book of Exodus. The first is Exodus chapter 3. Exodus chapter 3, verses 1 to 15. And then we’ll jump over to Exodus 20, verse 7.

So Exodus chapter 3, beginning at verse 1, listen now to the reading of God’s holy word.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, The bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

Then Moses said, I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn. So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here I am. Then he said, Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.

Moreover he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

And the Lord said, I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, And I’ve heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. So I’ve come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Now therefore behold, The cry of the children of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt? And so he said, I will certainly be with you, and this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.

Then Moses said to God, Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel, and say to them, The God of your fathers has sent me to you, and they say to me, What is his name? What shall I say to them? 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.

Moreover, God said to Moses, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, the Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations.

And then if you turn to Exodus 20, and we’ll just read Exodus 20 verse seven.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

So I’ll seek the Lord’s blessing on this, his word.

O gracious God and heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for the wonderful gift that you’ve given to us in your holy word, that it reveals to us all that we need for faith and life. It is our only infallible rule. And as we come to this particular passages, these passages, this particular commandment of your moral law, We would pray, Father, that Your Spirit would truly be active in our hearts, giving us understanding, opening our hearts and our minds and our eyes to see the truth, and that as Your Word goes forth in the power of the Spirit, we do pray that it would truly find within each and every one of our hearts that rich, fertile soil that will bring about great and abundant fruit, all to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus, we pray for your blessing upon your word. Amen.

Introduction: The Gift of God’s Revealed Name

One of the great things that we can be thankful for is that the creator of the universe has revealed himself to us.

God hasn’t left us in the dark about who we are and what He expects of us, and He certainly hasn’t left us in the dark about who He is.

And as we’ve noted before, God has revealed Himself, of course, generally to all through creation and all that He has made. But he’s also revealed himself in a special way through his word and especially through his son, the word become flesh, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And it’s through this special revelation that we discover that God has revealed himself to us even in a very personal way by revealing to us his name.

You see a God with a name, is a personal God. A God that we can enter into a relationship with. He certainly knows our name. He created us. But He has now revealed His name to us. So that we might truly know Him. And sincerely know Him. And personally know Him.

But God’s name isn’t just a label that identifies Him. It actually says something about Him, revealing to us not just His identity or how we should refer to Him, but also it reveals really the very nature of His being and character. In His name, God reveals who He truly is.

And this is why the Lord has given us the third commandment. Because His name is who He is, and we therefore ought to acknowledge and revere His name as we revere Him.

But as we’ll see, not only is His name to be revered, but really all ways in which God has revealed Himself are to be honored and respected according to the third commandment.

The Revelation of God’s Name at the Burning Bush (Exodus 3)

But we want to begin with his name that he first revealed to Moses in the burning bush, or from the burning bush here, in what we read in Exodus chapter three.

In this passage, we find God calling Moses to lead the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, to lead them out into a land flowing with milk and honey, into the promised land. And this, of course, was promised to God’s people long ago. He made this promise that He would give them an inheritance, give them a land that they could call their own. And the time was now for them to seize that land.

But in order to do that, they had to be freed from slavery in Egypt.

Well, Moses is reluctant, of course, to take up this great task. And he comes, not just what we read, but even beyond what we read. He has a variety of sincere-sounding excuses as to why he’s not the guy. He says, I’m nobody. I can’t speak. Who’s going to listen to me? Who’s going to believe me?

And he even sets forth this excuse. If I come to the children of Israel and say to them, the God of your fathers has appeared to me, they’re surely going to ask, what is his name?

And so it’s in response to this that God reveals to Moses the name we find in verse 14, I am who I am.

In Hebrew, the name God ascribes to Himself is simply the first person, present form of the verb, to be, repeated twice. Ha-Yah, Ha-Yah. I Am, I Am.

And so God is revealing His name as the God Who Is. Or simply, the God Who Exists.

This tells us much about God’s supreme character. It tells us that there is only one God and He is the Lord God.

Now we often read God’s name in its transliterated English form. Maybe sometimes you might see it as Yahweh or Jehovah. And of course, in more recent translations of the Bible, we know when this name is being used because it’s often translated as the word LORD in small capital letters. So whenever you see that, especially in the Old Testament, that’s the covenant name of God that He’s revealed to Moses here in Exodus 3.

Now the name of God is translated as LORD because the Jews so revered the name of God that they couldn’t bring themselves to say it. And so they often speak of simply the name, but they never actually say it.

Now we need to be clear, God has never forbidden them to speak his name, but this is another example where they have put a hedge around God’s word and God’s things having to do with God. Here they put a hedge around God’s name because they believed that to speak His name, even just to speak it would bring them close to blasphemy.

Well, this is exactly why the Jews and the religious leaders picked up stones to throw at Jesus in John chapter 8. Because there in verse 58, Jesus said,

Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.

You see, Jesus had not only spoken the name of God, but he was using it to speak of himself.

Now, we don’t need to be as superstitious as the Jews regarding speaking the name of God, and so we’re free to use I am who I am, or Jehovah, or Yah, or Yahweh, or Lord. But we must be careful, though, to do so with reverence, As it’s not just anyone’s name, but it’s the name that reveals who God is.

What God’s Name Reveals About His Character

And so in this regard, we first note that God’s name reveals His character or His attributes.

We’ve already mentioned how His name reveals the fact of His existence as the one true living God. He is the God, the only God, who is.

But the first person present form of the verb to be shows us not only that God exists, but that He forever is. That is, He’s not past or future as if He had a beginning or an end. He’s always in the present. That is to say, He’s eternal. The same whether it’s yesterday, today, or forever. The truth of God’s eternal being is revealed here in His name.

We also see the revelation of other attributes in the name of God and how scripture sometimes attributes the character and the works that belong to God alone to His name.

And so, for attended example, in Psalm 72, it says,

His name shall endure forever. His name shall continue as long as the sun. And men shall be blessed in Him. All nations shall call Him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things. And blessed be His glorious name forever.

God’s name shall endure forever and continue as long as the sun, just as God Himself does. And His name is glorious, even as God is glorious.

We find another example in the very first petition of the Lord’s Prayer. In Matthew 6, when Jesus is teaching His disciples how to pray, what’s that first petition?

Hallowed be your name.

Now to hallow, it’s hallow, not hollow, not emptying something, but it’s hallow. To hallow something means to set it apart and to make it holy, to give it high regard, to honor it.

And so God’s name is holy even as God is holy.

And in fact this first petition of the Lord’s Prayer is really calling upon the Lord really to help us in our thoughts and our words and our deeds and essentially in how we live to help us to be obedient to the third commandment. We ask God to make His name holy so that we might truly regard it as such even as He commands.

And so God’s name reveals Him to be:

• the one true living God,
• the only God,
• the eternal God,
• the God who is most holy.

The Positive Requirement of the Third Commandment

So what then is the third commandment calling us to do?

Well, the wording of the commandment in Exodus 20 is stated negatively. It’s a prohibition.

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.

Now to take something in vain is to do so foolishly or carelessly.

And so positively the command is that we would honor and lift up God’s name, handling it with great care.

Again, we don’t have to go to the superstitious route that the Jews did and not mentioning it at all, but we certainly need to give high regard to the name of God.

Well, how do we then do this?

We do so by honoring God’s name, first in praise and in worship.

When we come together and we gather together here as the people of God for worship, we’re to ascribe all glory and honor to his name, since God’s name is a revelation of God himself. His name is worthy to be lifted up and glorified.

We sang this in Psalm 29,

Give unto the Lord the glory due to his name.

God’s name is due glory because God himself is due glory.

Well, this applies really to any name that God might ascribe to himself:

• I am, I am,
• Lord,
• God,
• Father,
• Son,
• Holy Spirit.

Indeed, this then means that we must also honor and lift up the name of not just God the Father, but also God the Son, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. And of course, God the Holy Spirit.

We see this charge to exalt the name of the Son. By God’s own example, in Philippians chapter 2, Paul says,

Therefore God also has highly exalted him and given him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven and of those on earth and of those under the earth, and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father.

Now the name which is above every name is not Jesus necessarily because Jesus was a common name. There were other Jesus that we find in the scriptures.

But the name which is above every name is that covenant name, Lord.

And because of His perfect obedience and mediatorial work on our behalf, when He gave Himself and died on the cross for our sins, God has now highly exalted the Son, Jesus, and given Him that name. The God who is.

Indeed, Paul says in Romans that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God because of His resurrection from the dead. It proves that He truly is the I Am.

And it’s that name, that covenant name, that high covenant name that God revealed, that’s now given to Jesus as our Lord Jesus Christ.

It’s that name to which on the last great day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess as they acknowledge the glory of the Lord in the name of God.

But friends, as God’s people, even now, even before we get to that last great day, we must honor and confess God’s name in all truth and sincerity.

Indeed, we ought to bear witness to the glory of God’s name to others and not deny him.

And we know Jesus gives a stern warning to those who refuse to boldly declare and confess his name before men. Matthew 10, Jesus says,

Therefore, whosoever confesses me before men, him I will confess before my Father who is in heaven… But whoever denies me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.

And friends, if there’s one thing you do not want to be, it’s to be on that last great day, to be denied by the Lord Jesus Christ before the Father.

And so we must honor God’s name at all times.

All Ways God Makes Himself Known Must Be Revered

But as we noted, it isn’t just God’s name that’s to be revered, but any way in which God has revealed himself.

And this is how the Westminster Shorter Catechism Question and Answer 54 summarizes really the requirement of the Third Commandment, saying that the holy and reverend use of:

• God’s names,
• titles,
• attributes,
• ordinances,
• word, and
• works.

See, these are all the ways in which God has revealed himself.

And again, we’ve already considered His names and His attributes, but note also His titles, His ordinances, His word, and His works.

What are His titles? God, Almighty, Creator, Redeemer, King of Kings, Christ, Messiah, just to name a few.

When we use these titles in relation to God, and truly, they can be given to no one else, then we must remember who it is that we’re talking about. We must always remember that God is most holy, and we ought to then revere Him as such.

His ordinances refers to His laws and His commands, the instructions that He gives to us in His word, which then is His word in general, the scriptures,

His works. What are His works?

• His creation of all things,
• His work of providence that continues to sustain all things, and
• of course, His great work of redemption accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ.

And so in all ways that God has revealed Himself, all these must be honored and revered as He Himself is.

What the Third Commandment Forbids

And so this is the positive requirement of the third commandment, that we revere God’s name, His word, His works, anything that reveals Him.

But as we read the commandment, again, as it’s written, it emphasizes, though, the negative, or what is forbidden.

And so here again, this time the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 55, can be helpful.

The third commandment forbiddeth all profaning or abusing of anything whereby God maketh himself known.

To profane means to corrupt, to defile or pollute.

And so if God is holy, and He is, and His name is holy along with His titles, ordinances, word, and works, and they truly are, well then to profane the name of the Lord would be to mark it with stain and blemish.

Abusing is the improper use of God’s name. That is, using it in such a way that doesn’t give the Lord the reverence and the honor that’s due to Him and His name as the one true living God.

Ways We Profane God’s Name

God’s name can be profaned and abused when we speak ill of the Lord. That is, if we slander Him.

We have an example in Scripture, the Rabshakeh, the servant of the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, as they were coming and surrounding God’s people, surrounding the city of Jerusalem, profaned the name of the Lord. Isaiah 36. He cries out,

Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their countries from my hand, that the Lord… should deliver Jerusalem from my hand.

Here this bold fool is likening the Lord to the false gods and idols of the other nations that weren’t able to deliver their people. This was a true affront to God’s name, because He is the one true living God. Indeed, it was blasphemy.

It’s speaking evil of God’s name. This is a serious offense.

And we find out just how serious, even in the New Testament, with the unforgivable sin. Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is condemned, because to deny the power of the Holy Spirit is to deny the very power of God.

And the scribes and the Pharisees actually committed this sin, many of them committed this sin, when they said that Jesus had healed people by the power of the devil. They profaned the work of the Holy Spirit that was at work in Jesus and through Jesus. Thus they not only violated the third commandment, but they did so with this unforgivable sin.

Another way that the name of the Lord can be profaned is when we use His name loosely or carelessly and offensively as a curse or as a part of a cuss word. A kind of four letter word we talk about. Either speaking His name alone in a cursed manner or by using God’s name in conjunction with other foul language.

Such profanity, we know, is common today. It’s so common that it’s difficult to even listen to conversations when someone’s repeatedly taking the Lord’s name in vain. And if you call them out on it, they often will look at you as if you’re from another planet, as if you have three heads. They don’t know what you’re talking about because it has become so common so easy for men to blaspheme the name of the holy God.

But to use God’s name in such a way truly dishonors Him.

And of course, we need to know, and this is where maybe it’s going to hit a little closer to home, it’s not really any better when we simply substitute for God’s name so as not to violate the letter of the law. I’m thinking here maybe an example would be things like OMG. Seems simple and harmless. We’re not using the name of God. Well, the implication is pretty clear that you’re still referring to God. You’re just not doing so directly.

This itself is a foolish and vain talk that ought to be avoided as it violates the spirit of the law. may not be the letter of the law, but it truly violates the spirit of the law.

And though we know that all foul and offensive speech should be avoided by the professing Christian, we should especially be careful to keep God’s name out of it and far away from such foul language. Thus we take the Lord’s name in vain and blaspheme him.

False Oaths and Vows

We can also take the Lord’s name in vain and profane it in other speech, especially when taking oaths or making vows.

We know that oaths and vows are typically made before God, that is your, for example, you know, the classic putting your hand on the Bible in court and saying, I swear to tell the truth and nothing but, you know, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God. That’s an oath.

or even vows made before God and witnesses. When we enter into marriage and we, into the marriage contract and we have exchanged vows, marriage vows, or the covenant communicative church membership, we make vows before God, before witnesses.

You see, as soon as you bring God into the equation, well, you’re adding a solemnity, you’re adding a seriousness that should cause you to take extreme care to follow through on what it is you have sworn or vowed to do. Because you’re invoking the name of God.

And the Lord gives explicit charge regarding this.

For example, in Leviticus 19 verse 12,

And you shall not swear by my name falsely, nor shall you profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

Swearing a false oath can either be swearing to do something that God forbids. And so maybe you swear to commit evil in the name of the Lord.

We might think, well, who would do that? Well, we have an example in Acts chapter 23, where a group of 40 Jews had banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed the apostle Paul.

This was a false oath, and these men certainly likely went hungry and thirsty for a very long time, because we know that Paul was able to escape their hands. But even more, they were going to be held accountable to God for the wicked oath that they made in His name, to kill someone, an innocent man, a servant of the Most High God.

Swearing a false oath can also be swearing under false pretenses. That is, not having any intention of keeping the oath or vow that you make right from the start.

And again, people do this all the time. They make a contract and they have no intention of keeping it, but they’re just trying to accomplish whatever ends they’re trying to achieve.

Jesus challenges this kind of false swearing when he says in Matthew 5,

Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. but yet let your yes be yes and your no, no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Simply put, say what you mean and do what you say.

Now, similar to swearing a false oath is swearing a secret oath. And this too is forbidden by the third commandment as it defiles the name of the Lord, since all oaths are to be made before him openly.

And this includes what we call force swearing. That is swearing to something when you don’t have all the information or swearing to keep something a secret when you don’t even know yet what that secret is.

Right? That’s a dangerous trap that people can easily fall into.

Somebody goes, Hey, can I tell you a secret? Well, maybe. It depends on what that secret is, because there’s some secrets you can’t keep. Like if someone was intending to harm themselves or to harm someone else, that’s a secret you ought not to keep.

And so this sinful practice of secret oath-bound societies And this is what they do, is people forswear. They swear to commit things, keep things secret they don’t know anything about.

It’s one of the reasons why we reject membership in groups like the Masonic Lodge. It’s because we’re called to make our oaths and our vows, we’re called to live our lives in the light, not in the darkness of secrecy.

We’re given an extreme example of the sinful foolishness of forswearing in the book of Judges with Jephthah. In Judges chapter 11, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said,

If you will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.

Well, this was foolish because Jephthah didn’t know what or who would come out. He didn’t know whether it was going to be the family goat, the dog, or servant. And of course, as we read further, it ends up being his only child and daughter.

And even though it was a foolish oath, he made it before the Lord, and therefore it must be kept.

And so be careful of the oaths and the vows that you make, because you can take the name of the Lord, you can take the Lord’s name in vain.

Hypocrisy: Taking God’s Name in Vain by Our Actions

One other way that we can take the Lord’s name in vain is not so much by what we say, but in what we do. in both worship and even in life as those who profess faith in Jesus Christ.

In other words, hypocrisy in the life of the Christian actually violates the third commandment because he were claiming to bear the name of God, even His Son, Jesus Christ.

You say, I’m a Christian. But when you fail to be consistent with that witness, you take the Lord’s name in vain. There’s a danger of profaning the Lord’s name.

When we gather for worship, we call upon the name of the Lord. As we do, with the invocation and our prayers, we’re calling upon the name of the Lord. We’re invoking His presence to be with us.

But if you come, and if you just go through the motions of worship, and you’re singing, and in your prayers, because your heart isn’t right with God, That’s vain worship.

An insincere worship doesn’t honor the Lord as He ought to be honored. It’s not reverencing His name or properly giving the glory that is due to His name.

Sometimes in this we can be too focused on ritual form or tradition in the place of simple worship out of a true and sincere heart. And that’s what the Lord desires when we call upon His name.

The prophet Isaiah warns of this profaning of the Lord’s name in Isaiah 29, saying,

Therefore the Lord said, Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the commandment of men, therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and wonder, for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden.

The truth will be hidden from them because they worship the Lord in vain.

It’s no surprise then that Jesus picks up on this in Isaiah’s warning and charges the Pharisees with the same in Mark 7 saying,

And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

The Pharisees were hypocrites because they professed to be faithful, and yet they were not living according to God’s Word. It was an affront to God’s holy name, the very name that they claimed as the people of God.

But friends, it’s not just the Jews of ancient Israel that fall into this. Even we ourselves, in our worship of God today, we just go through the motions in worship with hearts that are far from God.

And Paul warns of this in 2 Timothy 3, saying,

having a form of godliness, but denying its power.

A form of godliness where we’re sort of doing the right things, but there’s nothing there. It’s empty. It’s powerless. There’s no truth and sincerity.

Now indeed, there are many people who vainly call upon the name of Christ. They go to church. They offer up worship. But because their hearts aren’t right with the Lord, they’re actually profaning His holy name.

They identify as Christians. They belong to a church. You can find their name on a membership roll somewhere. But they have no regard for Christ and how He has called His people to live.

As it’s not just, but it’s not just about what we do in worship, but even how we live as those who profess the holy name of Christ.

You see, we can be guilty of profaning the name of Christ when there’s no consistency in our lives between our profession of faith and our walk, our journey of faith.

This is this very same hypocrisy we mentioned regarding the Pharisees that Jesus condemned.

But as Christians, because we identify with Christ, we must walk and live our lives in the manner Christ would have us walk.

And John lays it out very clearly for us. In 1 John 1:6, he says,

If we say that we have fellowship with Him, if we say we’re a Christian, if we say we are true disciples of Christ, but then walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

We’re hypocrites and we’re taking the name of the Lord in vain.

The Serious Warning and the Hope of Salvation

So friends, God’s name is holy. His titles, his word, his attributes and his works are holy because he is holy, because they reveal who he is. They reveal the most holy God to us.

Therefore, we must regard his holiness by taking care of how we use and invoke his name.

And in case you’re tempted to take this as just a light thing, since, oh, it’s just a name. Take note of the warning that attached at the end of the command in Exodus 20 verse 7.

For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

What does this mean? It means that God will not remove the guilt of the one who takes his name in vain. It means that there really then is no escape from the just punishment due to the one who takes the name of the Lord in vain and profanes it.

And this holds true, especially we know for those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit, but not just for those who commit the unforgivable sin, But really, for all those who persist in unbelief with hard hearts, who reject the gospel, who reject Christ, and who defile the holy name of God in their speech, and in their actions, and how they live their lives.

Because they’re creating the image of God. In that sense, even in the smallest way, They bear His name, they bear His mark, and yet they profane that when they reject their Creator and their God, the only God.

But friends, there is, though, hope, even for the blasphemer. There is hope, actually, for the one who profanes the name of God.

There is but just one way of escape from God’s just judgment.

Humble yourselves before the Most Holy God and turn away from your sin and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in faith. And you will be forgiven. You will be spared. You will be redeemed. You will escape because of what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross.

Friends, this is the only way of escape.

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Therefore, bless the name of the Lord for such a wonderful salvation that we have in Jesus, all to the glory of God alone.

Closing Prayer

O gracious God and heavenly Father, we do rejoice and give thanks for your word, for this admonition, for this charge. And when we may even think about our own lives and how we speak and what we’ve said, how we live, our own hypocrisy, how we have violated this command, how we have taken your name in vain.

But we rejoice and give thanks, Father, that you do not leave us without hope. that there is forgiveness. And that we would come to you with humble hearts, confessing our sin, of profaning your holy name, and calling out the name of Christ in faith. Believing on Him, believing in what He accomplished for us on the cross. Because in Him, in His name, there is no other way of salvation. There is no other hope.

And so we pray, Lord, that each and every one of us would embrace that hope that you offer to us through the gospel. And we also pray that we would not be loose when referring to you. Be mindful of our speech, mindful of the oaths and the vows that we take, mindful of how we worship you and how we live our lives. that we’d be careful to be a witness to the glory and the majesty of Your name.

We praise You and thank You, O God, that You have so considered us, the lowly creatures that we are, that You have revealed to us this holy name, and that when we take it upon our lips, that it may always be with sincere hearts and truth and righteousness as we give all praise and glory and honor to you as that one true living God, because you alone are worthy.

We pray, Father, that you would, by your spirit, impress these truths upon each of our hearts, drawing us all closer to yourself, all to the praise of your glorious name. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.