Q. What is required in the third commandment?
A. The third commandment requireth the holy and reverent use of God’s names, titles, attributes, ordinances, Word, and works. —Westminster Shorter Catechism
This morning’s service centers around God’s name—its power, its glory, and the reverence that it is due. Our Call to Worship from Psalm 34 invites us to “exalt His name together,” and we respond with Come Thou Almighty King, asking the Lord to “help us Thy name to sing.” The Gospel Invitation from Proverbs 18 calls His name a “strong tower,” to which the righteous can run and be saved. This sentiment is echoed later in the service by the hymn How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds, where we refer to Jesus’ “dear name” as “[our] shield and hiding place.” Similarly, There Is A Redeemer recalls the Scripture reading from Philippians 2, in which the Father highly exalts the Son by giving Him the “name above all names.” Psalm 21 mentions the “unwavering confidence” we can have in “the name of Jehovah most high,” while Psalm 8 declares ecstatically that His name is “majestic in all the earth.” Given all this majesty, glory, and exaltation associated with the name of the Lord, we conclude each half of the service with a hymn expressing awe and reverence: in The God Of Abraham Praise, we “bow and bless the sacred name,” while we fall at His feet in All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name. —Henry C. Haffner