Say My Name (18)

Some 11 years ago a girl group from Houston Texas too the radio airways by storm with these words Say my name, say my name If no one is around you Say baby I love you If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name You actin' kinda shady Ain't callin' me baby Why the sudden change Say my name, say my name If no one is around you Say baby I love you If you ain't runnin' game Say my name, say my name You actin' kinda shady Ain't callin' me baby

Why was this song such a big hit? It resonated with the audience because everyone know the feeling when you are being discounted. Women especially know when something is up. See when a man is saying one thing and then doing another the challenge is Say my Name. Can you use terms of affection with who you with? If not something is up. I wonder if the Lord is saying the same thing to us? Say my name! Yes maybe we have lost the ability to say the Lord’s name.

Here in the prophet said, I am the LORD; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. The Lord make it plain I am the Lord that is my name! Yahweh This name is translate multiple ways in the Old Testament El indicating( Divinitiy) El-Elyon (God Most High) El Olam (Everlasting God) El Shaddai (Almighty) Elohim (God) just to name a few. Yet its the significance of Isaiah establishes who is this servant The Lord Isaiah reminds us in

But you, Israel, my servant,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

the offspring of Abraham, my friend. ().

You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,

“and my servant whom I have chosen,

nor my praise to carved idols.

that you may know and believe me

and understand that I am he.

Before me no god was formed,

nor shall there be any after me. ().

Yes Isaiah identifies our Lord as a chosen servant. He describes in Chapter 52:13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. ().

he shall be high and lifted up,

and shall be exalted.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Yes the Lord our God comes as God’s chosen servant. and we are reminded he will bring forth Justice! I sure this confounds some how can God chose his Servant and he comes as Lord and he will bring justice!

Its God’s sovereign! Human comprehension of the concept of the Sovereignty of God is not possible. We are not told in the Scriptures that we are held responsible for comprehending it. However, we are called upon to trust the Sovereignty of God. Why? Because God has revealed Himself through His written word and His works that He is love. He can be trusted because He loves His creation. God calls upon humanity to return His love. The impact of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in us and over shadows us, is One in whom we experience the love of God.

God is number one. Nothing or no one is above Him. God acts alone. He does not share His glory with anyone. He does not depend upon the arm of flesh to bring salvation to His creation.

If God is sovereign and rules alone, then what role does the believer have in the works of God? Our works are designed by Him, but we have a choice as to whether we want to follow Him, love, rejoice, and praise Him.

We can make plans. However, it is the Lord who disposes those plans . They don’t always work out the way we planned, but they do work out. Who would have imagined that we would not be able to attend church freely. Who would have predicted that a invisible virus would bring the world to its knees. Its clear that James was right 4:13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”. (). We are at the Lord’s mercy! We are in a new era. We have a new normal. We can’t go the mall, baseball game, basketball playoff. Our actions have been limited with this Sheltered in Place. We have to set up a new way to have worship. Many are at home obeying the Governor’s and Mayor orders to stay home. Yes and dont get it twisted we need to stay home. This Covid -19 is not playing and its attacking and killing black folks at a disproportionate rate! We are dying faster than everyone else. Part of it is we are on the front line and must work at supermarkets, drive buses, and other professions that we come in contact with people. Yes its clear that we already have underlying illnesses such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, cancers and other abnormalities in our community. Then some of the problem is our own ignorance. We are defiant! We still at the park playing basketball. We still having parties and social gatherings like nothing is wrong. I just shake my head.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Today we must depend on God The Lord as the one who will bring justice. So I wonder now will you say my name. In today’s Sunday School lesson we are introduced to this Servant for All. He is described in three ways:

First as a Righteous Gentle Judge

The first 4 verses of chapter 42 we see him as a gentle judge. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my Spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

2  He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

3  a bruised reed he will not break,

and a faintly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

4  He will not grow faint or be discouraged

till he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his law.

It this unassuming servant that would be reject because people did not want a servant leader they wanted a warrior. Yet all scripture points to the our Lord coming as a humble servant. He did not come needing to lift his voice. He would not come to hurt the weak but to lift up the oppressed. The good news is that he will not grow weary until justice is come in the earth. He will right every wrong. He will be relentless in bringing of justice! ().

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Secondly he will be a Righteous Liberator

Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6  “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

7  to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness. ().

As

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

As Jesus said during his Inaugural sermon

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives

and recovering of sight to the blind,

to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” ().

Jesus come to bring liberation. Freedom. He frees us from our past. He frees of our sin. He frees us guilt, He opens our blinded eyes.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Finally he will our Righteous HOPE!

I am the LORD; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9  Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.” ().

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Yes all will say his name. As Paul said every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord! Yet the Isaiah said the old things have past away. The Lord is doing new things! He is allowing us to see that if we are going to worship him it wont be tied to a building. He will remove every dependency every thing that has tried to still his glory and our focus will be back on him! We will turn to him and he will be our God and we will be his people. We had lost our focus. We needed some refocus! Yes there is hope after Covid-19. The hope is that we will get serious about God. He will not be our side God. We will learn to say his name! We will say his name in our homes, We will say his name on our jobs, we will say his name in our communities, we will say his name in front any and everyone. We will say that the Lord is his name.

Have ye not known? have ye not heard?

Hath it not been told you from the beginning?

Have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22  It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,

And the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;

That stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain,

And spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:

23  That bringeth the princes to nothing;

He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity

).

Verse 25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. 26  Lift up your eyes on high, And behold who hath created these things,

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

26  Lift up your eyes on high,

And behold who hath created these things,

The Holy Bible: King James Version. (2009). (Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version., ). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.