The Name of the Lord: What It Means in Scripture
When I call on the name of the Lord, I am asking the living God for help and acknowledging my dependence on Him. His name identifies the God who has made Himself known. I am trusting Him to hear me, rather than relying on a particular combination of sounds. That is also why I cannot attach His name to dishonesty or use it to manipulate another person. Doing so would claim God’s authority for something He condemns.
The Name God Reveals
The Hebrew word shem means “name.” In context, it can also refer to someone’s reputation, known identity, or revealed character. We use similar language when we say a person has a good name: people know him to be trustworthy because of how he has lived. Scripture gives that connection far greater weight when it speaks of the Lord’s name, because He reveals His own character and authority.
In the NKJV, the all-caps LORD usually represents God’s Hebrew covenant name, commonly written with the consonants YHWH. God chose to reveal that name, and we should speak of Him reverently. But if someone tells me God will not hear a prayer unless I recover one exact pronunciation, I want to know where Scripture makes that requirement. Neither salvation nor prayer is presented as depending on that discovery. A person may pronounce a name accurately and still refuse to trust the God it identifies.
Genesis 4 gives an early example of people calling on the LORD. Cain had rejected correction and murdered Abel before departing from the LORD’s presence. He built a city, and his descendants developed skills in raising livestock, music, and metalwork. Those accomplishments did not stop the violence and pride spreading after Eden. The chapter then turns to Seth’s family.
And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.
I read this as a contrast with the sin spreading around them. Worship of the true God had not disappeared, though the verse does not say everyone had become faithful. These people were calling on Him for help and openly identifying with Him. Abraham later built altars and called on the LORD’s name in the same dependence.
When God commissioned Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt, Moses asked, “Who am I?” God’s answer was, “I will certainly be with you.” Moses would have to rely on the God sending him to accomplish the rescue. Moses then asked what name to give when the Israelites asked who had sent him.
And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was acting to fulfill His covenant promise by sending Moses to bring His people out of slavery. He is self-existent, meaning He depends on no one for His existence, and He is not a creature within the world He made. His name identified the living God who had promised to be with Moses. It gave Moses reason to trust Him, without giving him a means of controlling Him.
His Name Reveals His Character
After God rescued Israel from Egypt, the people worshiped the golden calf, breaking the covenant almost as soon as they received it. Moses shattered the first tablets, judgment fell, and he interceded for the LORD to remain with them. He also asked to see God’s glory. God commanded new tablets and proclaimed His name as He renewed the covenant.
And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty…”
These were guilty people receiving mercy. God’s patience did not mean the calf had been harmless or that their rebellion no longer concerned Him. He described Himself as gracious and slow to anger, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving sin without giving up justice. I cannot define Him according to whichever part of His character I happen to find easiest to accept.
Exodus goes on to describe the judgment of iniquity, or wrongdoing, across generations. Entrenched rebellion can bring covenant consequences upon a family, and children may continue the sins they have learned. But suffering the repercussions of a parent’s conduct is different from bearing that parent’s personal guilt. Ezekiel 18:19–20 expressly distinguishes the son’s guilt from the father’s. Exodus does not teach that an innocent child is eternally condemned for someone else’s sin.
I cannot claim God’s mercy for myself while dismissing His judgment, or speak so harshly of judgment that I conceal His tenderness toward sinners. The sacrifices He gave Israel taught that sin requires blood and pointed ahead to the forgiveness Christ would accomplish. God did not overlook our guilt in order to forgive us.
Jesus is the eternal Son who took on real human flesh, was born of a virgin, and lived without sin. He willingly gave Himself to be slain as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and wicked men tortured and killed Him on the cross. The Father did not punish, curse, abandon, strike, bruise, or pour wrath on Jesus; Father and Son remained united in redemption. Through His innocent blood and death for the whole world, Jesus completed the atoning work by which God righteously forgives sinners. He was then buried and rose bodily from the dead.
Israel had already been commanded to honor the name of the God who showed such mercy. Taking His name in vain includes attaching it to something empty or false, as well as using it profanely. His command therefore governs more than the words we choose when we are angry.
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
A false prophet says, “Thus says the LORD,” when God has said nothing of the sort. A religious leader may invoke God’s name to pressure someone into giving money or to conceal his own greed. A church member can claim allegiance to Christ while deliberately excusing a dishonest life. These people are misrepresenting God while using His name to lend credibility to what they say.
Ordinary conversation is included too. His name should not become filler when I am irritated, a way to shock an audience, or the punchline that gets a laugh. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). I cannot sincerely ask for His name to be honored as holy while defending my own misuse of it. Speaking reverently does not require stiff, artificial language, but it does require treating God with the respect He deserves.
Refuge in the Name of the Lord
At the temple’s dedication, Solomon acknowledged that even heaven could not contain the LORD. The temple could not confine Him, but God had chosen to make His presence known there and receive the worship He appointed. Israel worshiped where He caused His name to dwell. Solomon asked God to watch over the place where He had said, “My name shall be there” (1 Kings 8:29).
Reverence should not make God’s people afraid to ask for help. The Lord who rebukes our careless speech also invites the frightened to trust Him and the guilty to seek mercy.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.
We are appealing to the Creator of heaven and earth. The difficulty that overwhelms us does not exhaust His ability to help, and He knows the circumstances we are facing. When I call on Him, I am trusting the God He has already shown Himself to be.
The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
A strong tower offered protection when an enemy attacked. The proverb uses that familiar refuge to describe the security of trusting the LORD Himself, without promising that believers will escape every hardship. If the thing I fear actually happens, I should not conclude that God has ceased to be faithful. Money and influence may help with a problem, but they cannot prevent every loss or keep our health from failing. The confidence Scripture calls for rests in the LORD even when those other supports give way.
The Psalms show people calling on God with enemies around them, guilt weighing on them, or death approaching. Their prayers could be urgent and anguished. I find encouragement in their honesty, because prayer should not require us to hide what is actually troubling us behind an impressive speech. We can ask plainly for help, with faith and reverence. The study on prayer examines that invitation more fully.
Salvation in the Name of Jesus
Joel promised salvation to whoever calls on the name of the LORD. His prophecy describes the Day of the LORD, the outpouring of the Spirit, and signs in heaven and earth, with deliverance associated with Zion and Jerusalem. At Pentecost, a crowd gathered at the sound from heaven and heard believers speaking languages the Spirit enabled them to speak. Peter quoted Joel to explain what they were witnessing. He then preached Jesus’ crucifixion, bodily resurrection, and exaltation as Lord and Christ.
Paul quotes the same promise in Romans 10 while expressing his concern for Israel. He contrasts trying to establish righteousness through the Law with receiving righteousness through faith in Christ. Calling on the Lord therefore involves believing in the risen Jesus and confessing Him as Lord.
That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”
The same Lord is rich toward all who call on Him. When Paul applies the Old Testament’s language about the LORD to Jesus, he is affirming Jesus’ deity: the Son is fully God. That does not make Him the same Person as the Father, an error called modalism. The one God eternally exists as three co-equal and co-eternal Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The eternal Son became flesh and is our one Mediator, the One through whom we come to the Father.
Peter likewise insisted that salvation is found in Jesus alone. In Acts 4, the rulers questioned him and John after a man unable to walk from birth was healed. The apostles refused credit for the healing. Peter said the man stood whole through the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom these rulers had crucified and God had raised. He then declared:
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Peter directed his hearers to Jesus Himself, rather than endorsing a general interest in spiritual things. An inherited religion cannot save us, and neither can moral effort or confidence in a ritual. Christ accomplished the saving work we could not accomplish. Calling on His name means turning to that living Savior in faith, not relying on the act of saying a religious word.
In Philippians 2, Paul describes how God has highly exalted Jesus and given Him the name above every name. Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This recalls Isaiah 45, where the LORD declares that every knee will bow and every tongue take an oath before Him. Paul applies that universal honor to Jesus while keeping Him distinct from the Father.
The Son did not stop being divine when He humbled Himself, and His exaltation did not turn a creature into God. His exaltation publicly displays the lordship He possesses as the eternal Son. Everyone will finally acknowledge Him. We need to consider whether we will confess Him now in faith or face Him later in judgment.
The Son whom we confess as Lord also makes the Father’s name known. In John 17, He says He revealed that name to the men the Father gave Him and prays that they will be kept through it. Jesus made the Father known through His words and works, His holy love and obedience. He was not giving the disciples a pronunciation they had lacked. If I want to know the Father’s character, I can look to the Son with confidence that He reveals Him truthfully.
Jesus commands baptism “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19). The word “name” is singular, yet He distinctly names all three Persons. Read alongside the rest of Scripture, this identifies the one God we worship, with the Father, Son, and Spirit neither confused as one Person nor separated into three gods.
Baptism follows faith and publicly identifies the believer with the true God and the gospel of Christ. It expresses faith in the Savior; it does not accomplish salvation. The study on baptism explains that confession more fully.
God genuinely offers salvation to everyone, though people can resist Him. When a person repents and believes in Jesus, God forgives him and justifies him, declaring him righteous. He also gives him new birth, and the Holy Spirit indwells and seals him so that his eternal life is secure in Christ. That assurance gives no permission for lawlessness. Someone can call himself a Christian without having experienced regeneration, which means genuine new birth. New life should be evident in how we live, though being born again does not make us sinlessly perfect.
How We Should Bear His Name
If I claim to speak about God, I am responsible to describe Him truthfully. I cannot omit His wrath against sin because an audience finds it offensive, or conceal His love for the world because harshness sounds more forceful. His holiness and mercy belong together, as do His justice and patience. The study on the Word of the Lord in the Old Testament considers how He has made Himself known through His Word.
Ministry can misuse His name while continuing to sound religious. A teacher may become more interested in applause, money, or control than in helping people know God. John the Baptist wanted Christ to increase while he decreased. If I am using Christ’s name to make myself seem indispensable, my ambition is running in the opposite direction.
The same honesty is needed when I tell someone, “Jesus saves.” I should be able to explain what He saves us from and how. Through His shed blood and death for our sins, He saves us from the judgment we deserve. His bodily resurrection is essential to the gospel. Salvation is received by grace through faith in the One who lives and reigns as Lord. I want the person listening to understand whom I am asking him to trust.
Children and new believers also need to know that reverence does not require keeping their distance from God. Through Christ we can draw near confidently to the holy Father whose name we hallow. No sinner can make himself worthy before asking for salvation. Christ is the worthy Savior who died for the whole world, and His invitation to sinners is genuine.
Believers can bring their actual needs to the Father through the Son, helped by the Holy Spirit who lives within them. In John 14:13–14, Jesus connects asking in His name with the Father being glorified in the Son. Adding His name does not make a sinful request acceptable. To pray in His name is to come through Him and acknowledge His authority. What I ask should therefore agree with His character and will.
When I am afraid, I can tell the Father plainly and ask for help. I can thank Him for what He has done and confess sin without trying to sound impressive. Our worship should be truthful as well as heartfelt; religious excitement does not justify claiming promises He never made.
What I do after worship needs to agree with what I have just said about Christ. If I sing about His faithfulness and then cheat a customer or lie to someone at home, I am dishonoring the name I claim to honor. None of us is saved by perfect reverence, but genuine reverence should increasingly affect our private conduct and what we say in person or online. His patience gives me a reason to repent when I dishonor Him, rather than an excuse to carry on.
My Final Thoughts
The Lord has made Himself known so that we can trust Him and call on Him. When I speak about Him, I am responsible to represent Him truthfully, and my conduct should bear out the faith I profess. We can approach Him confidently because He is merciful, while remembering that the One welcoming us is holy. Our hope rests in Jesus Christ Himself, in whose name alone salvation is found.