What does this mean: Holy be you name

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Dore Bible Sermon on the Mount
Dore Bible Sermon on the Mount (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
How appropriate, then, that the first petition in our Lord’s pattern for prayer focuses on God: “Hallowed be Thy name” (Matt. 6:9). Commentator Arthur W. Pink says, “How clearly then is the fundamental duty of prayer set forth. Self and all its needs must be given a secondary place, and the Lord freely accorded the preeminence in our thoughts and supplications. This petition must take the precedence, for the glory of God’s great name is the ultimate end of all things” (An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount [Grand Rapids: Baker, 1950], 161–62). 

 Even though He is our loving Father, who desires to meet our needs through His heavenly resources, our first petition is not to be for our benefit, but His. Thus “hallowed be Thy name” is a warning against self-seeking prayer because it completely encompasses God’s nature and man’s response to it. Jesus wasn’t reciting some nice words about God. Instead, He opened a whole dimension of respect, reverence, glory, and worship for God.

The most familiar Hebrew name for God is Yahweh, and it first appears in Exodus 3:14, where God said “I AM WHO I AM.” The other familiar name for God is Adonai, which means the “Lord God.” Because they considered God’s name sacred, the Jews would not actually pronounce Yahweh. 

 Eventually Old Testament Jews took the consonants from Yahweh and the vowels from Adonai to form Jehovah. While taking such great pains to honor the sacredness of God’s name, they thought little of dishonoring His person or disobeying His Word, thus making a mockery of their effort.

By focusing our thoughts on God’s name, our Lord is teaching us that God’s name signifies much more than His titles; it represents all that He is—His character, plan, and will. Certainly the Jews should have understood that, because in Old Testament times, names stood for more than just titles.

MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1995). Alone with God (p. 55). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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