“Therefore, thus says the Lord God. Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and I have mercy on the whole house of Israel. And I will be jealous for my holy name.”
– Ezekiel 39:25
What a picture of God’s zeal for the glory of His name, which we’ve seen over and over again in Ezekiel, how God does what he does to exalt his name. Because he is God. There is no one, nothing else worthy of all exaltation. This is the way Jesus just taught us to pray. Hallowed be your name, show the holiness of your great name among all the nations of the earth. Jesus taught us to pray because God is jealous for his holy name. And at the same time, he is committed to showing mercy to all who trust in him. I’ll restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel.
See the beauty of the gospel? Yes, God does all that He does for his own glory. And how does God choose to glorify himself by showing mercy to sinners like you and me. God glorifies himself ultimately by sending his son as a substitute sacrifice for sinners like you and me so that we could be forgiven of all of our sin. So that we can be restored to relationship with him, to enjoy God for all of eternity starting right now. So that we could experience eternal life knowing and walking with and worshiping God. Oh God, we praise you for the holiness of your great name, for the greatness of your character. There is no one like you are majestic and wonderful and beautiful and glorious beyond description. God, we pray in awe of who you are today. Help us to live today in fear, in awe and wonder of who you are.
And God, we praise you for your mercy in our lives. We praise you for sending Jesus to die on a cross for our sins. So that we could be forgiven of all of our sins. So we could right now have communion with you, our fortunes restored to live in your mercy forever. God, thank you for making this possible for us and for all the peoples of the world. Jesus, you dying to ransom people from every nation, tribe, and tongue. So we pray for the spread of your mercy among people all around us. Got we pray help us to share the good news of your mercy with somebody else today. And God, we pray that you’d help us to spread the good news of your mercy to all the nations of the earth, that all of them might receive your mercy and be restored. And even as we read about the whole house of Israel here, God, we pray for Jewish people scattered among the nations from Israel to far beyond Israel.
God, we pray for the salvation of Jewish men and women and children, that they would see Jesus as the Messiah, as the one who has made mercy and restoration possible through his death on the cross. God please cause the gospel to spread among Jewish people, among the nations, we pray. And cause the gospel to spread through your mercy in our lives, we pray. God, we give you glory for the way you have designed. God, we give you glory for your mercy in our lives, and we pray that you would help us to live today with zeal, with jealousy, for the greatness of your name. For your reputation among people around us and peoples around the world. Help us to live with the same zeal and jealousy that you have for your name. In Jesus’ name, we pray. 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.
