His word above all

What is God’s name? Moses asked God this question in Exodus 3:13. “And God said unto Moses, ‘I AM THAT I AM: … this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations’” (Exod 3:14–15).

What does God’s name tell us? God’s name tells us that He is the living and true God who is eternal, always existing, and forever living; all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful. God says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” Who is this God? He is the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible.

In the Old Testament, we find the God of Israel having the following Hebrew names:

1. YHWH Yireh: “The LORD who sees and provides” (Gen. 22:14)
2. YHWH Ropheka: “I am the LORD that healeth thee” (Exod 15:26)
3. YHWH Nissi: “The LORD my banner” (Exod 17:15)
4. YHWH Meqaddishkem: “I am the LORD that doth sanctify you” (Exod 31:13)
5. YHWH Shalom: “The LORD sends peace” (Judg 6:24)
6. YHWH Sabbaoth: “The LORD of hosts” (1 Sam 1:3; 17:45)
7. YHWH Ro’i: “The LORD is my shepherd.” (Ps 23:1)
8. YHWH ’Osenu: “The LORD our maker” (Ps 95:6)
9. YHWH Shammah: “The LORD is there.” (Ezek 48:35)
10. YHWH Tsidqenu: “The LORD our Righteousness.” (Jer 23:6)
11. El ’Elyon: “The Most High God” (Gen 14:19)
12. El ’Olam: “The Everlasting God” (Gen 21:33)
13. El Shaddai: “The Almighty God” (Gen 28:3)

All the above names of God give us great confidence in who God is and what He is. Proverbs 18:10 says, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” It comforts us to know that this living and true God who created heaven and earth is our God.

The names of God tell us not only who He is but also what He is. So, what is God? The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 4 has an excellent answer, “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” When we consider who God is and what He is, we can only cry out, “How Great Thou Art!” But there is more to His Name. The Old Testament prophesied the coming of the virgin born Son of God whose “name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). The Son of God who is the Lord Jesus Christ came as prophesied, and He was all that He was prophesied to be. Jesus Christ was none other than God Himself (John 1:1). As God the Son, he existed even before the world began, for He said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58 cf Exod 3:13–14). The Lord Jesus Christ was the “I AM THAT I AM” of the Old Testament. He revealed clearly what that Name meant through His great “I am” pronouncements:

1. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35)
2. “I am the light of the world” (John 9:5)
3. “I am the door of the sheep” (John 10:7, 9)
4. “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11, 14)
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25)
6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6)
7. “I am the true vine” (John 15:1, 5)

There are exactly seven “I am” statements, and the number seven is the number of God, the number of perfection. His Name is perfect. The above names of Christ are names that speak of Him as Saviour. The Lord Jesus Christ gives perfect salvation to all who would believe on Him. Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

How about His Word?

God’s Word is all that God’s Name is and more! If God is “infinite, eternal, and unchangeable,” and Jesus is “the same, yesterday, today, and forever,” so is His Word. As Christ the Living Word is 100% God and 100% Man in One Person, our perfect Saviour so is the Written Word, 100% inspired and 100% preserved in One Book, our perfect Scripture. Look at these wonderful verses which describe the Word of God:

1. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Ps 12:6–7).
2. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:16–17).
3. “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5:18).
4. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33).
5. “The scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35).

His Word is the evidence of all that His Name means and represents. If His Word be false and deceptive, fallible and errant, then His Name would mean nothing and would be worthless. For if the Word of God is not infallible and inerrant, perfect and altogether true, then how can the God of the Word be believed and trusted? He cannot! It is no wonder God finds it necessary to exalt His Word above His Name.

It might interest you to know that the Muslims have a very high regard for their Quran. Let me quote from a Malaysian newspaper—The Sunday Star—which on September 24, 2006 published an article about how Muslims view their Quran: “The way a Muslim approaches his faith is that he believes that every word of the Holy Quran is the Word of Allah and every word of Revelation to the Holy Prophet more than 1,400 years ago has been preserved without any change to the original text.”

Can this be said of every Christian? Does every Christian believe that “every word of the Holy Bible is the Word of God, and every word of Revelation by the Lord Jesus Christ more than 1,900 years ago has been preserved without any change to the original text”? The tragic and sad answer is no. Many today who profess Christianity deny the jot-and-tittle preservation of the Scriptures, and by so doing undermine the very foundation of their faith. There are those who claim to believe the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the “I AM THAT I AM,” and that Jesus Christ is the only name under heaven whereby man must be saved (Acts 4:12), but cannot believe in the perfect preservation of the Holy Scriptures, that we have in our hands today a 100% perfect Bible without any mistake.

Does it make sense to promote God’s Name on the one hand, but demote His Word on the other; to declare that God’s Name is perfect, but His Word is imperfect or not so perfect; God’s Word is perfectly inspired, but not perfectly preserved; the Bible was only perfect in the past, but no longer perfect today? The crisis in Christendom today is the systemic destruction of the very foundations of the Christian faith by Christians themselves. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Ps 11:3). Absolutely nothing!

At True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church, we affirm without equivocation that the Name of our God is indeed perfect, and His Word is even more perfect. We declare in Article 4.2.1 of our Constitution:

1. “(1) We believe in the divine, Verbal Plenary Inspiration (Autographs) and Verbal Plenary Preservation of the Scriptures (Apographs) in the original languages, their consequent inerrancy and infallibility, and as the perfect Word of God, the Supreme and final authority in faith and life (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20–21; Ps 12:6–7; Matt 5:18, 24:35).
2. “(2) We believe the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament underlying the Authorised (King James) Version to be the very Word of God, infallible and inerrant.
3. “(3) We uphold the Authorised (King James) Version to be the Word of God—the best, most faithful, most accurate, most beautiful translation of the Bible in the English language, and do employ it alone as our primary scriptural text in the public reading, preaching, and teaching of the English Bible.”

We know what God is, but do we know what the Bible is? Dean John William Burgon—who defended the divinely preserved Traditional Text and the Authorised Version against the heretical and corrupted text of Westcott and Hort and their Revised Version— has an excellent definition of the Bible. “What is the Bible?” Here is Dean Burgon’s answer,

The Bible is none other than the voice of Him that sitteth upon the throne. Every book of it, every chapter of it, every verse of it, every word of it, every syllable of it, every letter of it, is the direct utterance of the Most High. The Bible is none other than the Word of God, not some part of it more, some part of it less, but all alike the utterance of Him that sitteth upon the throne, faultless, unerring, supreme.

Is the above declaration of the perfection of the Bible to the last syllable and letter an overstatement? Yes it is! But can the Word of God be ever overstated? No it cannot! God Himself says that He has magnified His Word above all His Name. If God’s Name is perfect, then His Word is doubly perfect—past perfect and present perfect, even three times perfect— past perfect, present perfect, future perfect, ie, always and forever perfect. A Christian can never be too extreme in his view of God’s Word. Peter himself described God’s Word not only as a “sure Word,” but a “more sure Word” (2 Pet 1:19).

What is God? What is the Bible? I hope you are able to answer these basic questions about whom and what you have believed. Memorise the answer to Question 4 of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and memorise the Dean Burgon Bible statement.

The appeal to Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) is not alogical but metalogical. God has magnified His Word above all His Name. As Bible-believing and Bible-defending Christians, we are not ashamed of our Lord and we are most certainly not ashamed of His Words. Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone). Amen.

Combining Young’s Literal Translation with his Analytical Concordance seems to give clarity. It is true that various translations have given different renditions of the Hebrew, so that the only way to sort this out is to be as literal as possible. Robert Young is. Here is the verse in his translation:

«I bow myself toward thy holy temple. And I confess Thy name, for Thy
kindness, and for Thy truth, for Thou hast made great Thy saying above
all Thy name.» (YLT)

The key words seem to be God’s ‘saying’ and God’s ‘name’. In what sense do those words relate? That should give the meaning for this verse. For ‘name’ Young identifies the Hebrew word ‘shem’ (which means ‘renown’), quoting the A.V. phrase, «…magnified thy word above all thy name». For ‘saying’ Young identifies the Hebrew word ’emrah’ (which means ‘a saying’, ‘speech’), quoting the A.V. phrase, ‘…thou hast magnified thy word above all…’

Putting that together, the verse seems to show that God has magnified his word above all his name, and the way David understands that comes out when David says that he confesses God’s name, for what God says is above his name. Therefore, when David confesses God’s name, he is magnifying God’s word (or, sayings).

The two are utterly linked to the point of being united, and inseparable, for what God is, so is his name and his word. His name is his renown, and in this Psalm David is exhorting the nations to confess God’s name in worship. Further, he shows that it’s declaring God’s renown that brings the nations to that point of confessing his name:

«O Jehovah, all kings of earth confess Thee, when they have heard the
sayings of Thy mouth.» (YLT)

Therefore, when God’s people spread abroad the sayings of God’s mouth, they are magnifying God’s renown, which is his name, to the extent that the nations will come to acknowledge that Jehovah is the only God to bow in worshipful confession of: as David already does, because he is living out the high honour of the Almighty (vss. 5 & 6). It is necessary to magnify the sayings (the renown) of God before others will appreciate the magnificence of God’s name.

Does the Bible Say That God Puts His Word above His Name? (Psalm 138:2)

The Attributes of God That Belong to Him Alone – Question 19

There is a statement in Scripture which seems to teach that God actually puts His Word above His Name. In Psalm 138:2, the King James Bible reads as follows.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2 KJV)

The American Standard Version of 1901 translates the verse in a similar manner. It reads,

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and give thanks unto thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. (Psalm 138:2 ASV)

The New King James Version reads something similar. It translates the verse as follows.

I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (Psalm 138:2 NKJV)

This has given the popular idea that God actually magnifies His Word, what He says, above His name or character. Is this what the Scripture teaches? Is God’s Word more important than His character? The following points need to be made.

There Is a Question about How to Translate This Verse

To begin with, we must understand that this is a difficult verse. While the King James Version gives the impression that God somehow exalts His Word above His character, this is not what the Scripture teaches.

His Character and Word Have Been Exalted above All Things

The traditional Hebrew text, the Massoretic text, literally says, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” This has been understood in a number of different ways.

A number of versions see the verse saying that God’s name and His Word have been exalted above all things. For example, the New International Version says,

I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Psalm 138:2 NIV)

The Holman Christian Standard Version says something similar. It reads,

I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. (Psalm 138:2 HCSB)

The translation “God’s Word” says,

I will bow toward your holy temple. I will give thanks to your name because of your mercy and truth. You have made your name and your promise greater than everything. (Psalm 138:2 God’s Word)

The idea here is that God’s character and promise, or His Word, is greater than everything. This seems to be a much better way of understanding the text.

Some Emend the Text

The New English Translation understands this verse differently. It says,

I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your name, because of your loyal love and faithfulness, for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. (Psalm 138:2 NET)

This translation of the NET Bible emends or changes the text. Instead of reading “your name” it emends to the text to read “your heavens.” This would make the verse say that God’s faithfulness to His promises is clear for all to see.

However, we are to understand this verse, we should not interpret in a way which says God puts His Word above His name or character, He does not.

Therefore, we should not use the translation which is found in the King James Version, and a few other versions, to establish how God compares His Word with His character or name.

Summary – Question 19
Does the Bible Say That God Puts His Word above His Name? (Psalm 138:2)

It is a popular idea that the God of the Bible has magnified His Word above His name or character. This is based on the translation of the King James Bible, the New King James Bible, and several other translations. The way the passage reads in these translations indicates that God’s Word is more important to Him than His name.

Modern translations do not render this verse in the same way. They understand it to mean that God’s name or character, as well as His Word, are to be magnified above all things. Instead of contrasting His Word and His name, the psalmist links the two together.

The New English Translation emends the verse to say that God’s faithfulness is there for all to see. It too does not accept the idea that is brought across in the King James Version.

However, this is not how this verse should be understood. There is nothing in Scripture to indicate that God magnifies His name above His character.

“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.“ (Psalm 138: 2)

This verse is not merely a general statement about reverence toward God’s words. It is a clear declaration of authority. God, Himself, has established this absolute priority.

Allow this to sink in. God places His words above His name!

Preservation Applies to Every Word

Every word is critical. God has preserved His words through His sovereign providence down through every generation. And those words are placed in higher importance than His name. This preservation is not just speaking of general principles or ideas or the “essence” of truth, as some men falsely claim. Every word has been perfectly preserved.

The place of authority that the Word of God has in our hearts determines our obedience to Christ. We cannot walk in the Spirit unless the sword of the Spirit, God’s words, are placed above all else in our lives.

The reason for this priority is because we cannot truly know Him apart from His Word. No tradition, philosophy, “commandments of men” or creed can replace the word by word revelation of God to man.

Nothing is Equal to His Word

We struggle with Christian groups that would place signs and wonders, extra-biblical revelations, prophecies, Christian psychology and many other philosophies above the completed Word of God.

We also struggle with those who would place church traditions or creeds in a position equal to the Word. Or use the traditions to explain the Word. That is, for all practical purposes, placing traditions above the Word.

It is interesting to note that at least three main religious groups do this. Catholicism, Mormonism and Judaism each base their teachings on some part of the Bible. Yet their traditions and church leadership take priority over the Word. The Bible is interpreted and accepted only from the authority of their tradition. The leadership of those religions determines truth. The common man is not permitted to search the scriptures and arrive at truth on his own. He must submit himself under the teaching of the church or temple or synagogue.

But God has not made us dependent on any man or system between us and Himself. We are each able to come directly to Christ based solely on His Word. All that we need in order to know Him and walk with Him is in the Scriptures.

“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” ( John 5:39 )

Why the “Dark Ages” were Dark

The “Dark Ages” may have been so called due to the removal of the Word of God from the hands of the common people. The words were kept hidden away by the religious authorities who set themselves up as the interpreters and dispensers of truth. Salvation and communion with God was locked up within the religious systems. Salvation was dispensed by the systems.

It is interesting how the secular world likes to teach that the Bible kept people in darkness during the Middle Ages. But this is contrary to the facts. The Bible was locked away from most people. Those people found to be in possession of a Bible, which they read and kept privately, were sent to prison, had their property taken away, were tortured and put to death. The darkness was due to the lack of Biblical exposure. Not the other way around.

We see the same problem today. The world would silence the truth of the scriptures. It wants nothing of the gospel. Or it wants a distortion of it. A Humanistic, Universalist gospel. One that has all the trappings of sentimental and experiential beauty without the absolutes of God’s truth. All of tolerance and open-mindedness. Nothing about Christ alone, by faith alone, by the Scriptures alone.

This is why the Christian must be vigilant. He has been given a charge to follow and guard the Words of God.

To keep every word.