‘Indeed he is not far from any of us. For in him we live and move and have our being’ – Acts 17:27-28
This past Sunday at the church I serve, I began leading a study of Psalm 23. In our first installment, we focused on the first word of the Psalm. In English, that would make for a tedious study, given that Psalm 1:1 begins, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd.’ But in Hebrew, the first word isn’t ‘the,’ nor is the second word ‘Lord.’ In Hebrew, what we read as ‘the Lord’ is simply God’s personal name, Yahweh.
David could have used any number of names for God in his Psalm. He could have called God Adonai (Lord), El Shaddai (God Almighty), El Elyon (God Most High), El Elroi (God who sees), or countless other Biblical names. But in a Psalm intended to nurture personal intimacy with God, it is not surprising he would use God’s chosen, personal name, the name of God’s own self-revelation.[1]
There are many wonderful things to say about God’s name.[2] But for purposes of this post, I will simply write of how it illustrates God’s nearness. The name, Yahweh, you see, echoes the sound of our breath. We breathe in (yah). We breathe our (weh). It has been said that the name Yahweh is the first word we speak at birth, with our first breath, and the last we speak at death, with our last. The idea is that from beginning to end, all our life, God is near, as close as breath. In the Book of Genesis, we are told that it is God’s breath that gives us life, and with every breath we take, we bear witness to this. Knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or begrudgingly, every person on earth continuously calls out the name of their Creator.
Think of this a little further and you will realize that there is no escaping God. Psalm 139 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. Therein, we read of ‘the Inescapable God:’
‘Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take to the wings of the morning and settle on the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.’[3]
The word for spirit in Hebrew is Ruach, and it means both spirit and breath. We can no more escape God’s presence than we can our own breath. There is nowhere to go, nowhere to run, that will take us beyond his reach. Even in Sheol, that is, even in death, he is there. The very name, Yahweh, speaks to the fact that God is always with us. He never leaves us. He never lets us go. He never gives up on us.
Of course, we don’t always realize this. There may indeed be some reading this who feel as if God is distant. I want to assure you that he is not. Even if you have done all you can to run from him, he is still with you. His breath is in you. His love surrounds you. He is ever close to you, ever willing to be your shepherd and guide.
So let me invite you to do something. Take a few deep breaths. As you breathe in and out, speak God’s name. As you do, think of God, not far above the clouds or beyond the stars, not in some alternate dimension of reality or unreality, but right where you are, surrounding you, providing you with life and breath, loving you, beckoning you toward his heart.
And know that no matter who you are, where you have been, what you have done, or even what you may do in the future, he always will be.
Under Christ’s (Yahweh’s) Mercy,
Brent
[1] See, Genesis 15:7; Exodus 3:14-15.
[2] For those interested in the full message delivered last Sunday, you can watch it here.
[3] Psalm 139:7-10 (NRSV).