God says, “But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived and whose sight I had made myself known to them and bringing them out of the land of Egypt.”
-Ezekiel 20:9
So let me read the first part of that verse again, and just answer this question. As you hear it, why is God doing what he’s doing among his people? Why is God disciplining them, judging them? And why is God, even in the midst of his discipline and judgment, promising to restore them? Why is he doing it? Ezekiel 20:9, “But I acted for the sake of my name.” The same language in Ezekiel 20:14, “I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.”
The whole point of our lives is to glorify the name of God.
Ezekiel 20:9 Leads Us to Ask Questions
You get down to Ezekiel 20:22. “I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.” Why is God doing what he is doing? Why has God done what he has done? Why will God do what he will do? For the sake of his name. Oh, listen closely.
This truth is fundamental in scripture and essential for understanding the Christian life. Why has God done what he has done? Why is God doing what he is doing? Not just in Ezekiel but today. Why will God do what he will do in the future? Here’s why, for the sake of his name. That’s direct from his mouth. God does all that he does ultimately for the sake of his own name. For the sake of his glory, specifically among the nations. This is what we see from cover to cover in the Bible.
What Does God Want?
God is zealous for his name to be exalted among all the nations. In case you’re wondering, “Is that really true?” Just look to the end of the Bible where the sovereign God of the universe has orchestrated all things to culminate in what? Every nation, tribe, tongue, and people gathered around his throne, singing praises to his name. That’s the whole point. That’s the whole point of history, and that is the whole point of each one of our lives.
We live for the glory of God’s name. That’s what should drive us from the moment we awake to consciousness in the morning and all throughout the day to the moment we fall asleep at night. And even in that, we’re praying that God would be glorified as we sleep. We exist for the glory of God’s name.
This should drive everything we do in our lives, in our marriages, in our families. Like, How do I love my wife for the glory of God’s name? How do I love my kids for the glory of God’s name? How do I carry out my work? Whatever you do, your job, how do you do it for the glory of God’s names? First Corinthians 10:31 says, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, whatever you have for breakfast, eat breakfast for the glory of God. Do it all for the glory of God.
A Prayer Based on Ezekiel 20:9
And so we pray, God, use our lives today, we pray, to glorify your name. Use our lives every day to glorify your name. Spend our lives for your name’s sake. Not for our name. God, forgive us for our pride. Forgive me for my pride. Forgive us for every desire to promote our own name, for our own name to be seen in this way or that way.
God, rid all desire for the promotion of our names from us. Help us to live for the promotion of your name alone. God glorify yourself in all that we do today, we pray. Help us to point people to you, help us to tell people about you, help us to reflect you with our lives. God, help us to run from sin for your glory. Help us to love other people as ourselves for your glory. God, help us to do everything we do today for your glory, among the nations, among all the peoples. We pray for the hallowing of your name among all the nations.
Exalting the Name of Jesus
Show your great glory. Among the Qazi people in India, got almost a million of them. Many of them are leaders in mosques, and leaders in the Muslim community. God, we pray for the Qazi people. Show your salvation through the name of Jesus among the Qazi people of India, we pray, and among every people group in the world, throughout the world, to the ends of the earth, among all the nations, tribes, tongues, and people.
God, cause the name of Jesus to be known and enjoyed and exalted, we pray. For the sake of your name, we live today. God, for the sake of your name, we pray all these things. For the sake of everything we do. For the sake of your name and everything we do. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
