CD - The Second Commandment - Psalm 50:1-15

The Second Commandment reminds us of what we are not to do. We are not to misuse the Lord’s name. Some people take that a little too far and will not even say God’s name. We have an example of that in the Bible. God’s name is Yahweh. Because the early followers of Yahweh did not want to break this commandment they would not say Yahweh. Instead they would say the word for Lord, adoni. You can see how this has made its way into our Bibles today. In our Bible we have the word “lord” in all capital letters, “Lord,” “lord” with the first letter as a capital, “Lord,” and “lord” in all small letters, “lord.” The general word for “lord” is a person as the lord of his house. “Lord” is a word of title such as Lord Gregory. Lord is the word used for God’s name, Yahweh. Thus, whenever you see the word Lord in all capital letters in the Bible, you can read it as God’s name, Yahweh.

The Second Commandment also reminds us of what are to do, what we get to do. We get to use the Lord’s name in good ways. In Psalm 50 David tells us that we get to “Call upon [the Lord] in the day of trouble, [He] will deliver you, and you shall glorify [Him]” (Psalm 50:15). Psalm 103 reminds us that we can praise the Lord, “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name” (Psalm 103:1). Paul tells us in his letter to the Ephesians, “Give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

We talk a lot about the things that the commandments tell us we are not to do. We do not talk enough about the things the commandments tell us we get to do. The Second Commandment tells us we get to call on the name of the Lord. We get to call upon Him in times of trouble. We get to call to call upon Him when we need help, when we need someone to talk to, when we need anything. We get to call upon Him, and we will know He hears us and will answer us.

We get to call upon the Lord in times of trouble, but we also get to call upon Him and give Him praise and thanks for all His good gifts and blessings to us. The thing we need to remember about calling upon Him to give Him thanks and praise is that this is something which we cannot do on our own. We cannot on our own do anything that is even remotely good. We call upon Him and give Him thanks and praise only because the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to do so. Thus, we see that all praise and glory, all credit for anything good in life goes to the Lord.

Sometime, sometime soon, pray to the Lord and instead of asking Him for something, instead of going to Him for something you think you need, take the time to just give Him thanks and praise. Rejoice in all His good gifts and blessings. Thank Him for faith which He put into your heart. Thank Him for the forgiveness of sins made yours by the blood of Jesus on the cross. Thank Him that heaven is yours now, that it is a present reality.

Praise the Lord as we do in the Post-Communion Canticle, based on 1 Chronicles 16:8ff, “Thank the Lord and sing his praise; tell ev’ryone what He has done. Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear His name. He recalls His promises and leads His people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, alleluia.”

Dear Jesus, forgive me when I misuse Your name. Forgive me also for not using Your name, for not calling on You and for not giving You the praise and glory which are rightfully Yours. Stir in me a thankful heart, one which is ready to give thanks more than to continue to ask for things. For Jesus’ sake I pray. Amen.