7 - Glorifying God in our Prayer (Ps 115.1)
Glorifying God in the Church by our Prayer (Psalm 115:1)
Psalm 115
1 Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.
This one little verse can change your life. In some ways it has already changed the way I think and pray but I hope it will continue to do so more and more. This verse changed the direction of the life of Adoniram Judson, the missionary, when he was wrestling with the Lord’s call on his life. It was essentially the truth of this verse, the same principle that affected the direction of a young Charles Spurgeon as he was contemplating pursuing formal education and examining his heart as to his motive for seeking great things for himself.
This one verse might turn your whole world upside down, if you let it (and if God might be so gracious).
“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory because of your lovingkindness, because of your truth”
At seminary, one of the very moving chapel services we would have was the service where graduating seniors would give about a 5 minute testimony before the student body. One testimony of a South American brother stands out to me. He began by reading our text “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.” And then he proceeded to share his testimony of God’s grace in His life, of God’s amazing provision, of God’s providence in remarkable circumstances, in his conversion, in meeting and marrying his bride, in God taking care of him every step of the way and preparing his future place of ministry.
- I don’t remember the details of what he said but what stuck with me was as he discussed each of those things, he kept saying “All I can say in response is ‘not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.’”
- As he spoke of his conversion by God’s sovereign grace, he again said “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”
- As he shared about God’s provision and providence in his life and through seminary, he again said “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”
- As he spoke of his wife and family and God’s blessing in the past and God’s plan for his future, he again said “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”
- I don’t even remember this classmate’s name, but what I will always remember was he kept saying to the Lord “to YOUR NAME give glory” (and I think that’s what he desired and I think that’s what the original psalmist desired. Interestingly, the writer’s name of Ps 115 is not recorded but God’s name is what v. 1 wants to be glorified)
- Walking away from that testimony, the focus was not on man, it was on God and that’s what I left with, and I suspect many others were refreshed and revitalized and refocused on God’s glory. Everyone in that chapel had that verse memorized before they left by repetition and I had that phrase echoing blessedly in my mind for many days.
My prayer today is that the same great God who worked through this passage on that day would work in mighty ways through this text today, and that we would walk away not focused on man or us or anything other than God’s name and glory and that our prayers would glorify God as we often pray from the heart “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.”
This verse has meant a lot to Christians through the ages. Through at least the 19th century, Spurgeon records that a part of the Latin version of this Psalm was frequently sung after grace at public dinners as a constant reminder to guide against pride and remind them of their dependence on God. Even as God gives us each day our daily bread, it was a reminder to pray first and foremost to honor and hallow his name.
On September 11, 1683, Vienna was under siege by the Turks as Islam seemed poised to overrun Christian Europe. By one account, the followers of Mohammed were conquering the followers of Christ and much of Europe had fallen already to their advances in Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, and Serbia. Wherever the Muslim armies went, they plundered cities, took slaves, turned churches into mosques, and converted many thousands of captives to Islam at the point of a sword. Vienna was a strategic location for the advance of Islam, because the fall of that city would open the way into the heart of Austria and therefore the rich principalities of Southern Germany.
It was on September 11 of that year that an alliance of armies from Christian nations arrived at the gates of Vienna. On September 12, 1683, John Sobieski, King of Poland, defeated the immense army of Turks besieging Vienna. It has been described as “a turning point in history, the final great Eastern invasion which has thundered at that gate of Europe; and … the Turkish power and [Muslim] faith [declined – perhaps not coincidentally why radical Muslim terrorists used the anniversary of Sept. 11 to stage their attempt to reverse this great defeat of Islam in the 17th century. When the Muslim army was defeated on that day] there was indescribable enthusiasm as the psalm [115] was sung” (John Ker, The Psalms in History and Biography, 136)
History records that King Henry V was given this Psalm and this verse as a motto to guide his life and his battles. In 1415 at Agincourt on St. Crispin’s Day (October 25) the English army overwhelmingly conquered the French army in King Henry’s quest to unite Christendom against the advancing Turks. French historians put the deaths at 1,600 English to nearly 10,000 losses on the French side. Shakespeare’s version put the English losses as far less, but whatever the exact number, it was a crushing victory by England. (Boice, 935). ‘After the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the English army fresh from battle, chanted on bended knees by the order of Henry V, the opening verse of the Psalm “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy Name give the praise.”’ (Lockyer, Psalms, 491.)
It is said that William Wilberforce meditated thankfully on this psalm when the bill to abolish slavery went through the British parliament. About a year ago, an excellent movie on his life came out called Amazing Grace
THE HALLEL HYMNS
This psalm throughout history had a great place of importance for the Jews as well. Psalm 115 belongs to a cluster of Psalms the Jews called the Hallel psalms (Hallel is Hebrew for “praise”), beginning with Psalm 113 through 118 were referred to as the Egyptian Hallel.
Hallel-ujah means “praise the Lord” (jah is short for Yahweh) and in the Hebrew it is the last phrase in Psalm 113, 114-115 (one psalm in LXX and Vulgate), Psalm 116, and Psalm 117
The Psalter summarizes the message of Psalm 115:1-11 this way:
Not unto us, O Lord of Heav’n,
But unto Thee be glory given;
In love and truth Thou dost fulfill
The counsels of Thy sovereign will;
Though nations fail Thy pow’r to own,
Yet Thou dost reign, and Thou alone.
The idol gods of heathen lands
Are but the work of human hands;
They cannot see, they cannot speak,
Their ears are deaf, their hands are weak;
Like them shall be all those who hold
To gods of silver and of gold.
Let Israel trust in God alone,
The Lord Whose grace and pow’r are known;
To Him your full allegiance yield,
And He will be your Help and Shield;
All those who fear Him God will bless,
His saints have proved His faithfulness.
PASSOVER BACKGROUND
Psalms 113-114 were recited or sung before the Passover meal, and then after the meal at the fourth and final cup they sang Psalm 115-118. According to Matthew 26:30, Jesus and His disciples after the last supper, sang a song together before going to the Mount of Olives, probably beginning with the line of this Psalm. It was very fitting, because Christ’s prayer to the Father before this time was that His name would be glorified as He came to complete the work God had called Him to, for the glory of His Father.
Traditionally, the Jews would finish singing Psalm 115-118 and would also say these brief prayers:
‘All Thy works shall praise Thee, Jehovah our God. And Thy saints, the righteous, who do Thy good pleasure, and all Thy people, the house of Israel, with joyous song let them praise, and bless, and magnify, and glorify, and exalt, and reverence, and sanctify, and ascribe the kingdom to Thy name, O our King! For it is good to praise Thee, and pleasure to sing praises unto Thy name, for from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God.’
‘The breath of all that lives shall praise Thy name, Jehovah our God. And the spirit of all flesh shall continually glorify and exalt Thy memorial, O our King! For from everlasting to everlasting Thou art God, and besides Thee we have no King, Redeemer, or Saviour’[1]
They knew how to pray well from the Old Testament, and we would do well to learn in the church to pray as they did in the O.T. assembly.
This part of Passover service for the Jews began and ended with the note of God’s glory, not only the first line of their concluding hymns but in their closing prayer saying essentially again “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your Name give glory”
The great Puritan hymnwriter Isaac Watts summarized the Psalm’s intro this way:
Not to ourselves, who are but dust,
Not to ourselves is glory due,
Eternal God, thou only just,
Thou only gracious, wise, and true.
NOT TO US
This is a great way to start. And starting there is not enough, he says it again. The repetition puts great emphasis. It’s NOT about us. It’s not about us. It’s all about you, God. This is a great mantra to say, this is a great manner of prayer. O that God would write this indelibly on our hearts and lives and that we would pray more this way!
Henry Law wrote: Man's utter nothingness is here acknowledged. In God alone all power resides. The idols of the heathen are the vanity of vanities. Let all confidence be placed in God!
… [A godly believer] shudders at the thought of the assumption of any power by man. We cannot sink too low. We cannot raise our God too high. There is no depth from which we may not look up to Him. Let the assurance be always ours that His mercy and His truth will certainly befriend. (Daily Prayer and Praise)
YOUR NAME
Bullinger’s Figures of Speech cites Ps 115:1 as an example of “The NAME of a person for the person himself; or the name of a thing for the thing itself”[2]
To say “Your Name” is a more powerful way to say “You” (and all that you are).
The psalmist says “to your name give glory”
Adoniram Judson, the famous missionary was once full of ambition, seeking a great name for himself. He came face to face with this text, and initially rebelled against it; but he says that all his bright visions for the future seemed to vanish as these words sounded in his soul, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory.”
This is a great grid a great framework for which to give us practical direction in our life. In seeking God’s will for decisions we make and for our future, we must ask what situation would give opportunity for the glory of His name, rather than the advancement of our pleasure or comforts.
This is also a good principle in theology. If you come across a teaching that gives man a good name, that gives man some glory or credit in salvation in his own ability, if any teaching in any way takes some of the glory away from God, have none of it.
Ex: man’s responsibility and God’s sovereignty, I’m going to lean on the side of God’s glory, not man’s goodness or ability. I can’t imagine God saying to me on the day of judgment “You gave me too much credit” but I do think many theologians give man too much credit in assuming fallen sinners are not totally depraved and dead in their trespasses and sins, etc.
GIVE GLORY
Can be translated “to your name bring honor” (NET Bible)
Glorifying God’s name is often paralleled with the honor of God, with the praise of God, with the exaltation of God, with the lifting up of God and His name and fame and reputation and renown.
Is this truly how we pray? Do our prayer requests even carry a note of this? Are they spiritual in nature? Are they focused on God’s name being glorified or what we want?
We need to make sure even in the way we pray and minister that we are not communicating the opposite of this principle. We need to make sure we are not seeking the applause or approval of man, but only the glory and honor of the Lord and His name.
Spurgeon says:
Suppose, in preaching the gospel, a man has, even as a small part of his motive, that he may be esteemed an eloquent person … it is lamentably true that this mixture of motives may steal over the preacher’s soul. Ah! but we must fight against this evil with all our might … Satan is a great adept in teaching us how to steal our Master’s glory … we are far too apt to attribute at least some little power to ourselves. But a true servant of the Lord Jesus Christ loathes himself when he finds that this evil habit has fastened itself upon him; and he cries, “No, Lord; not unto me, not unto me, but unto thy name give all the glory and praise.” We are to preach so as to glorify God, not to glorify ourselves; and the man who occupies the pulpit merely that he may manifest his own cleverness, ought to be hurled from it forthwith, for he has no right there whatsoever. “Glory be to God,” should always be the preacher’s motto.
And as it should be so with our preaching, do you not think that the same thing is true concerning our praying? Are there no petitions, presented at prayer-meetings, in which there is at least some idea that we are saying very proper things, and very pretty things, and that people will think we have a great gift of prayer? Did you never have such a feeling as that steal over you? Yet, my brother, the only prayer of the right kind is that which is offered for the glory of God. If I turn from your public prayers, and look into your private supplications, shall I not see self there?
The right spirit in which to do everything is to do all to the glory of God. In [our giving] … is it not possible to do it simply to get rid of the applicant, or to satisfy your own conscience, or that you may be thought generous? That is not right; we must give … to God alone. Let not our right hand know what our left hand giveth, for it is not to man that we are giving it, but as unto the Lord. Let our thanks offering be dropped into the box, and nothing be said about it. Let us get as far as possible from the spoiling glance of the human eye, that the whole act may be as a spring shut up, a fountain sealed, something done for Jesus, and for Jesus only, that he may have it, and have all the glory of it.
And in any service that you may render, do you not know that it must be done simply and only for Christ’s sake if it is to be acceptable to him? Yet, often, you can scarcely set a man to open pew doors, or to give out a hymn, or to teach a Sunday-school class, but “great I” will be sure to lift its head unless it is constantly kept under. Pride grows apace, like other ill weeds. Yet remember that, whatever we do in order that we may make ourselves the end and object of it, is spoiled in the doing, and is not pleasing to God. Indeed, we are not offering it to God; we are offering it to ourselves. May we never be swayed by the fear of man, or the wish to win human approbation! May we do that which we believe to be right, because it is right, and because we wish to honor and glorify God in doing it; and when we are rendering any service to the Master, let us never even wish for human eyes to see it.
… Even the sweet singer among you may be singing a hymn “to the praise and glory of God,” yet be thinking to himself or herself, all the while, “Do not those who are listening to me think that I have a very sweet voice?” Or, possibly, you are in the Sunday-school, and you feel, “Well, now, I really am one of the most efficient teachers here. They must think a great deal of me, or they ought to, at any rate.” Very often, even in the household, when we have done some little thing, we congratulate ourselves upon it, and feel that everybody ought to pat us on the back, and burn a little incense in our honor. Ah, dear friends, if we think anything like this, may the Lord speedily drive it out of us! Such poor creatures as we are, if the Lord would let us be doormats for all his saints to wipe their dirty boots upon, it would be an honor to us.”
BECAUSE OF YOUR LOVINGKINDNESS
Because of who you are. This rich Hebrew word chesed refers to God’s covenant love or lovingkindness and it’s translated “mercy” (NKJV) or “unfailing love” (NLT) or “steadfast love” (ESV) or “faithful love” (HCSB) or “loyal love” (NET)
This is a prayer that appeals to the Lord’s character.
When Charles Spurgeon preached on this text 120 years ago, he urged his listeners to pray this way:
Say, “For Christ’s sake, for God’s name’s sake, for his love’s sake, for the gospel’s sake;”-for all these are mightily prevalent pleas with the Most High … Poor sinner, Laden with guilt and full of fears,”-thou sayest, “How can I plead with God for mercy? I have rejected it for years; I have been often rebuked, and I have hardened my neck; I fear I have no plea with which to urge …” Here is one for thee to use; say to him, “For thy mercy and thy love’s sake, have pity upon me, the least deserving of all thy creatures; for, surely, if thou wilt but save me, it will be an eternal wonder to men and to angels. If thou wilt save me, then will I sing …
I remember one, who said, “Oh, if the Lord Jesus Christ will but pardon me, he shall never hear the last of it!” And this is what all poor guilty souls may truly say, “Should there be mercy for such a sinner as I am,-so old a sinner,-so daring a sinner,-so God-provoking a sinner?
BECAUSE OF YOUR TRUTH
We pray not because of anything reliable about us, but because of the reliable faithfulness of our God.
On this word “truth” - Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of OT, p. 69 defines: 1) firmness, trustworthiness; 2) constancy, duration [cites Ps 115:1 under this as “continual favor”]; 3) faithfulness; 4) truth
Strong’s adds stability, certainty, assured(ly), establish(ment), what is sure, right
Others add reliability, continuance (BDB), dependability, honesty, integrity, enduring (DBL)
Theological Wordbook of OT, p. 51: The various derivatives reflect the same concept of certainty and dependability. The derivative ˒āmēn “verily” is carried over into the New Testament in the word amēn which is our English word “amen.” Jesus used the word frequently (Mt 5:18, 26, etc.) to stress the certainty of a matter. The Hebrew and Greek forms come at the end of prayers and hymns of praise (Ps 41:13 [H 14]); 106:48; II Tim 4:18; Rev 22:20, etc.). This indicates that the term so used in our prayers ought to express certainty and assurance in the Lord to whom we pray.’
This is a great theme of the Bible – the name of God and the glory of God. It is also a great theme in many of the prayers of the Bible.
Psalm 25:11 (NASB95)
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great.
Psalm 31:3 (NASB95)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me.
Psalm 57:5 (NASB95)
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Psalm 57:10-11 (NASB95)
10 For Your lovingkindness is great to the heavens And Your truth to the clouds. [same Heb. Words as in Ps 115:1]
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Psalm 63:1-4 (NASB95)
1 A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory.
3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.
4 So I will bless You as long as I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
Psalm 72:18-20 (NASB95)
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders.
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
*This is the fitting note on which the prayers of David end
Psalm 79:9 (NASB95)
9 Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; And deliver us and forgive our sins for Your name’s sake.
Psalm 102:1-2 (NASB95)
1 A Prayer of the Afflicted when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord! And let my cry for help come to You.
2 Do not hide Your face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Your ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.
… 15 So the nations will fear the name of the Lord And all the kings of the earth Your glory.
16 For the Lord has built up Zion; He has appeared in His glory.
17 He has regarded the prayer of the destitute And has not despised their prayer.
18 This will be written for the generation to come, That a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.
Psalm 109:21 (NASB95)
21 But You, O God, the Lord, deal kindly with me for Your name’s sake; Because Your lovingkindness is good, deliver me;
Psalm 143:11 (NASB95)
11 For the sake of Your name, O Lord, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble.
Joshua 7:8-9 (NASB95)
8 “O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies?
9 “For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great name?”
2 Samuel 7:21-26 (NASB95) – Notice the God-centered prayer of David and how many references to “You” there are as opposed to “me”:
21 “For the sake of Your word, and according to Your own heart, You have done all this greatness to let Your servant know.
22 “For this reason You are great, O Lord God; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.
23 “And what one nation on the earth is like Your people Israel, whom God went to redeem for Himself as a people and to make a name for Himself, and to do a great thing for You and awesome things for Your land, before Your people whom You have redeemed for Yourself from Egypt, from nations and their gods?
24 “For You have established for Yourself Your people Israel as Your own people forever, and You, O Lord, have become their God.
25 “Now therefore, O Lord God, the word that You have spoken concerning Your servant and his house, confirm it forever, and do as You have spoken,
26 that Your name may be magnified forever, by saying, ‘The Lord of hosts is God over Israel’; and may the house of Your servant David be established before You.
**This is staggering – God or the Lord is referred to in these 6 verses over times. More than 30 references to God in 6 sentences is a lot! And even when David refers to himself, he does so as YOUR servant. This is a great example of God-centered prayer, God-entranced prayer, God-exalting prayer, God-glorifying prayer.
1 Chronicles 16:35 (NASB95)
35 Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.”
1 Chronicles 29:11-16 (NASB95)
11 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth [is Yours]; Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.
12 “Both riches and honor come from You, and You rule over all, and in Your hand is power and might; and it lies in Your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone.
13 “Now therefore, our God, we thank You, and praise Your glorious name.
14 “But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.
15 “For we are sojourners before You, and tenants, as all our fathers were; our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no hope.
16 “O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours.
Again, God is referred to directly over 20x in 6 verses!
Jeremiah 14:7 (NASB95)
7 “Although our iniquities testify against us, O Lord, act for Your name’s sake! Truly our apostasies have been many, We have sinned against You.
… 20 We know our wickedness, O Lord, The iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against You.
21 Do not despise us, for Your own name’s sake; Do not disgrace the throne of Your glory …
Or Daniel:
Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline Your ear and hear! Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name; for we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.
Daniel 9:19 “O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
This is the common theme of many of the great OT prayers, this is the great motive, the powerful petition of God’s people, and when Jesus was asked by his disciples how he should pray, His answer:
Matthew 6:9-13 (NASB95)
9 “Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
10 ‘Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
11 ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’
It begins and ends with God’s NAME being honored and God’s glory being the culmination and end of all.
It’s appropriate to pray for our needs, even our daily provision, but this is not dominant in biblical prayers. It’s dominant in our prayers, but we are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness ahead of what we eat or drink or wear. We are to pray for His kingdom to come, His will to be done, and His name to be hallowed, then that is the framework through which we can pray for physical things like our daily provision. The prayers in the Bible are overwhelmingly focused on spiritual more than the physical, and focused on God’s glory far more than our good.
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.[3]
John 12:27-28 (NASB95)
27 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. 28 “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
John 17 (NASB95)
1 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You,
2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life.
3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.
5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
Jesus is the only one who can ever pray to glorify Himself, we are to pray “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory.” We ask God to give glory to His own name in however He answers our prayers.
Revelation 15:4 (NASB95)
4 “Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; For all the nations will come and worship before You, For Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
Prayer should be for the purpose and sake of God’s name and glory, not because I deserve it, but because His name and glory deserves and demands it; that should be our prayer motive as well!
APPLICATION – Praying in light of this truth:
God I pray that you would glorify me in this situation.
I pray that your name would become greater in the mind of this person through this difficulty.
I pray that you would help me share the gospel so that your name and fame and renown can spread
I pray in this illness I have that even if it doesn’t go away, that I will be able to glorify you by the way I respond through this trial
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[1]Edersheim, A. (2003). The Temple, its ministry and services as they were at the time of Jesus Christ. (244).
[2]Bullinger, E. W. (1898). Figures of speech used in the Bible (608). London; New York: Eyre & Spottiswoode; E. & J. B. Young & Co.
[3]John MacArthur, Alone With God, Includes Indexes. (Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1995).