Do You Really Know the Name of the LORD?

By Jean Wilund

---

Really, David?

Have you ever read King David’s words and thought, “Really, David?”

When I first read Psalm 9:10 where David said of the LORD, “And those who know Your name will put their trust in You,” I raised my eyebrow.

Does knowing someone’s name really instill trust? Let’s try it.

Lawrence Michael Wilund

There. Now you know my husband’s name.

And, since you know his name, you trust him, right?

Will you now hand over all your passwords and let him drive off with your kids?

Perhaps not. But if I asked his best friends this question, I know what they’d say. “Yes!”

They know his name—Lawrence Michael Wilund, AKA Larry—means a trustworthy, godly man of utmost character. Not perfect, but practically perfect. 

I’ve been trusting Larry with all my passwords and our kids for almost 34 years. And not because I know the letters of his name. But because I know the depth of his character.

Now let’s consider a different name—a much different name.

Adolf Hitler

Would you have let Adolf Hitler drive off with your kids?

All together now: NO!

His heinous acts displayed his character for the world to see.

The smell of 4,000 shriveled shoes fills the room in the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. They once adorned the feet of men, women, and children Hitler killed. Now they lie in an overflowing pile as a testimony to his evil.

Those who know Hitler’s name shudder with horror.

Let’s consider one more name.

The LORD

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
~ Psalm 9:10 NASB

King David penned these words because he knew the LORD’s name. He didn’t just know it in the spelling-bee-winner kind of way, the four sacred Hebrew letters YHWH, he knew the fullness of the LORD’s name—the fullness of the His character.

David knew the power of the LORD from serving as a shepherd. The LORD empowered David to kill a bear and a lion with his own hands when they attacked his father’s flock (I Samuel 17:34-17).

David knew the wisdom of the LORD from his encounter with Goliath. God led David to kill that giant from a safe distance with a single stone in a slingshot (I Samuel 17:40, 49-50).

David knew the protection of the LORD from inside a dark cave. Every time King Saul attempted to kill David, the LORD protected him and foiled Saul’s murderous schemes (I Samuel 23, 24, 26, 34).

David knew the omniscience of the LORD from the prophet Nathan. The LORD sent Nathan to confront David with his secret and grievous sins—adultery with Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and the orchestration of Uriah’s death (2 Samuel 12:1-10).

David knew the mercy of the LORD when He forgave David rather than rightly judge him for breaking His laws. Some of David’s sins carried the penalty of death by stoning (Deuteronomy 22:22, Leviticus 20:10, 2 Samuel 12:13, 2 Samuel 24:10-14).

David knew the grace of the LORD through the birth of another son with Bathsheba, the future King Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24-25).

And David knew the love and faithfulness of the LORD through His promises. David received the promise of an enduring kingdom through Jesus Christ, our LORD (2 Samuel 7:8-16).

How Well Do You Know the Name of the LORD?

Do you know the name of the LORD, or do you just know the letters that spell His sacred name?

Have you come to know He’s your Comforter and Helper? Have you fully grasped He is who He says He is in all His fullness?

David knew the LORD in as much of His fullness as possible on this side of heaven because he devoted himself to the Scriptures and understood his need to know the LORD.

Those who truly know the LORD know He’s fully worthy of all our trust.

We’ll know the LORD as David did when we, too, devote ourselves to His Word and need for Him to be all His name tells us He is: the LORD, our God.

Prayer to the LORD

O LORD our God,

Teach us Your name so we may know You as well as David, the man after your own heart.

Draw us to Your Word as the sun rises in the sky each morning. Open our eyes as we read so we may behold the wonder of who You are. Give us discernment to recognize and wisdom to understand the greatness of Your work in our lives.

May we proclaim, as David did, that those who know Your name will trust in You, for You have never forsaken those who seek You. In the precious and strong name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.