GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 10 ~ ~Psalm 25:11~ ~ “FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.”
Excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”, chapter 4
section: “Pardon Flows From the Pleasure of His Fame”
The great ground of hope, the great motive to pray, the great wellspring of mercy is God’s awesome commitment to His name. The pleasure that He has in His fame is the pledge and passion of his readiness to forgive and save those who lift his banner and cast themselves on his promise and mercy.
The saints of the Old Testament stake their hope for forgiveness not on their merit or their external rituals. They plead mercy on the basis of God’s love for his great name. “FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE, O LORD, pardon my guild, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11) “Help us, O God of our salvation, FOR THE GLORY OF YOUR NAME, deliver us, and forgive our sins, FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE!” (Ps. 79:9)
“Though our iniquities testify against us, act, O Lord for your name’s sake; for our backslidings are many, we have sinned against You…..You, O Lord, are in the midst of us, and WE ARE CALLED BY YOUR NAME, leave us not (Jeremiah 14:7-9)
When we say “hallowed by thy name” and end our prayers with “in Jesus’ name”, we mean that the glory of God’s name is the goal and the ground of everything we pray. Our praying for forgiveness should be based not only on an appeal to God’s mercy, but also on an appeal to his justice in crediting the worth of his Son’s obedience. “God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.” (1John 1:9)
In the New Testament the basis of all forgiveness of sins is revealed more clearly than in the Old Testament, but the basis in God’s commitment to his name doesn’t change. Paul teaches that the death of Christ demonstrated the righteousness of God in passing over sins and vindicated God’s justice in justifying the ungodly who bank on Jesus and not themselves (Romans 3:25-26)
We can see this also in the Gospel of John 5:43, where he tells us that Jesus came IN HIS FATHER’S NAME, and in 10:25 he goes on to say that Jesus did the works IN HIS FATHER’S NAME. At the end of his life Jesus said that he had MANIFESTED THE FATHER’S NAME to those whom the Father had given him. (17:6) and that he would yet MAKE THAT NAME KNOWN to them (17:26)
So all of Jesus’ life and work seems to be aimed at revealing and honoring the Father’s name. This is especially true of Jesus’ death, as he shows us in John 12:27-28. Here He is praying just before his death. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, GLORIFY YOUR NAME”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The hour of Jesus’ death was at hand and the purpose for coming to that hour was to GLORIFY THE NAME OF THE FATHER. Therefore we should think of the death of Jesus as the way the Father vindicated his name—his reputation—from all accusations of unrighteousness in the forgiveness of sinners.
On this side of the cross we should pray as David did in Psalm 25:11 “FOR YOUR NAME’S SAKE, O LORD, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” but when we Christians pray this, we should mean, “Forgive me, O Lord, because your great and holy name has been vindicated by the death of your Son and I am banking all my hope on Him and not myself.”
This is what John meant when he said in 1 John 2:12, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven FOR THE SAKE OF HIS NAME.”
So whether we are reading in the Old Testament or the New, the great ground of our forgiveness is God’s allegiance to his holy name and the unswerving pleasure that He takes in making the worth and righteousness of that name known, especially in the gospel message that Christ died both to justify the ungodly and vindicate the Father’s justice.
If God were ever to lose his delight in the fame of his glorious name, the foundation of our pardon would be imperiled.