God’s holy name is kindness revealed in countless benefits.
We have not yet seen the full extent of God’s holy kindness and goodness, though we have seen much (see preceding posts one, two, and three to get the full picture). Let’s explore another Bible passage that reveals much more.
Psalm 103 begins:
“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (verses 1–2).
These verses tell us what the psalm is going to be about. It will reveal (a) God’s holy name, and (b) all the ways God benefits us.
(a) and (b) are one. We saw last week that people in Bible times used the word name not merely as a label but rather as a substitute for self. If I said that you had a good name, I meant that you are good, that your character is good. So, this psalm will describe God’s name, character, ways, identity. But the writer summarizes all the description that follows in verses 3–18 here in verse 1 as “holy.” We should read each verse in the psalm as a facet of God’s holy name.
God’s holy benefits
Those who experience God’s “holy name” experience “benefits.” Holy means good and kind. Holy means God brings good things into our lives, and verses 3–18 provides the heaping list of holy benefits:
God is the one “3 who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel. 8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. 14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.” (Psalm 103:3–18)
All this is God’s holy name. This is who he is in holiness, what he does in holiness, the ways he deals with us in holiness. This is why the writer begins the psalm by saying he wants to bless God’s holy name.
So, when you think about God as holy, this is a major part of what should come to your mind: benefits, kindness, goodness. The writer of the psalm wants to bless our holy God because holy means good.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: We may be more likely to associate only God’s purity or wrath with his holiness, than to associate his kindness with his holiness.
God’s way: God’s holy name is kindness revealed in countless benefits.