“And you shall know that I am the Lord when I deal with you for my names’ sake, not according to your Eva ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O House of Israel declares the Lord God.”
– Ezekiel 20:44
Did you hear that language? It’s all over this chapter, Ezekiel 20, that what is driving God, why God does what he does is ultimately about the glory of his own name. “I will deal with you,” he says to his people, “for my names’ sake.” And if you’ve listened to this podcast very long, we see this all over the Bible, over and over and over again. Just think some of our favorite parts of the Bible, Psalm 23, “He leads me in paths of righteousness for his names sake. Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all to what? The glory of God.”
Ezekiel 20:44 Reminds Us that God Does What He Does for His Glory
In 1 Corinthians, Isaiah 43, when God tells us, “People fear not, I’ve redeemed you have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass the waters, I will be with you. When you pass the rivers, they will not sleep over you. And when you walk through fire, you will not be burned because you’re precious and honored in my side and I love you and I’ve created you for my glory.” The picture here in Ezekiel 20:44 is that God does what he does for his own glory.
And that can initially rub us wrong. We can think, “Well that sounds self-centered of God, we should not do what we do for our own glory.” But that’s the difference between us and God. God is the only one who’s worthy of all glory. Of course, God glorifies himself, he’s God, there’s no one, nothing worthy of glory like God is.
Ezekiel 20:44 Teaches Us about the Beauty of the Gospel
The beauty of the Bible, the gospel is how God chooses to glorify himself by sending his sons a substitute sacrifice for sinners like you and me so we can be forgiven of our sin and restored to relationship with God and live for his glory. And this is where life is found. Oh, get this, be reminded of this in your life today, that life is found in giving God glory.
Life is found in spending it for the spread of God’s glory that the most important thing in your life, my life today, is glorifying God. This is where abundant life is found. This is what God has created us for and this is where all of history is headed. Toward the day when people from every nation, tribe and language are going to be gathered around the throne of God-glorifying him for the life he has given them, with him forever.
We Want Your Glory to Be Known in Our Families
So God, we pray today that your name and your renowned, your glory would be the supreme desire of each of our hearts. God, help us to live today for your glory. Whatever we do, whether we eat or drink in our work, at school, at home, in our interactions with people, God, we pray that in everything we think and desire and say that it would all be done for your glory. God, we want your glory to be made known in our lives.
We want your glory to be made known in our families, in our cities where we live. Glorify yourself, cause more and more people to know that you are glorious, that you are loving beyond comprehension, that you are good, that you are gracious, that you are merciful. God, we pray this where we live. We pray this to the ends of the earth. God, may your glory fill the whole earth. That’s what we want more than anything. We want your glory to be made known among all the nations of the earth.
Praying for the Kachin People of India
We pray for the Kachin people of India today. This people group we’re there are Christians in countries like Myanmar or China, but not in India, where this people group that came where they immigrated about a hundred years ago and they are almost all Buddhist and have little to no knowledge of the gospel. God, we want your glory to be made known among the Kachin of India, please bring it about God, send Kachin believers from other countries, send other believers from nearby in India. God, we pray that you would send believers from the nations to share the gospel with the Kachin of India.
We long for the day when we will experience true, abundant, eternal, perfect life in your presence with every nation, tribe, and tongue as we all give you glory and live for your glory perfectly, for all of eternity. So help us to rehearse that today in our lives. May everything we do today be done, oh God, for your name’s sake. 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.
