CALL UPON HIS NAME WITH THANKSGIVING
Give thanks to the LORDH3068, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the nations. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all His wonders. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Psalm 105:1-3 (BSB)
H3068 Yᵉhôvâh – (the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jeho-vah, Jewish national name of God:—Jehovah, the Lord.
Strong, James, The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, H3068.
You may recognize these words from a previous devotional written on the passage in Chronicles, “Thank God for His Mighty Deeds.” This time let’s focus on the phrase “call upon His name.” Exactly what name do we call on? It is the name God revealed to Moses when speaking to him from the burning bush, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” This is understood to mean that God has always existed and will always exist. He does not really have a past, a present, and a future: He only has always. He is the One who “was and is and is to come” (Revelation 1:4). We have the privilege of taking our needs, our cares, our fears to the Creator of the universe who is omnipresent (always there), omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing). Once we cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7), we need to be careful to express our gratitude to Him for the way He takes care of us. We need to thank God for the joy and the privilege of being His instrument to bless others in His kingdom. When we truly understand whose Name we are crying out to, we cannot help but be thankful that He takes the time not only to hear our cries, but to answer them with action.
Whatever your need is today, you can call upon the mighty name of the Lord. He will answer you in His own way and His own time. Then, thank Him for all He has done, is doing, and will do in Your life. Be sure to also thank the Lord for the many times He has taken care of a need before you even thought to ask Him! “for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8) and “For the Gentiles of the world strive after all these things, and your Father knows that you need them” (Luke 12:30).
Father, thank You for giving us the privilege to call on Your name in our time of need. Thank You for working mightily for the good of Your children. Thank You for taking even seemingly bad circumstances and using them for our ultimate good and Your glory. We praise Your holy Name!