HOW TO MAGNIFY GOD’S WORD

“For You have MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD above all Your name” – Psalm 138:2b

We need to better understand HOW TO MAGNIFY GOD’S WORD: “I will worship toward Your holy temple, and praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; for You have MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD above all Your name” (Psa.138:2). God has magnified His Word, and we must do likewise. His Name is awesome, but His Word is magnified above His name. A person’s name is only as good as his word. I only have a good name when I am a keeper of my word – when I do what I say I will do. That is what it means to have integrity – people know that they can trust me because I always do what I say I will do. My word is my bond; hence my name carries weight. God always keeps His word, and He can be wholly trusted!

This truth has extremely significant implications for how we understand and reverence God’s revealed Word – the Bible. God has exalted His Word above all things. But do we in reality revere His Word in a way that leads to our amazement, worship and adoration of Him? Do we see the supremacy of God’s Word? How is that playing out in our lives? Do we live in ways that exalt His Word? That’s the nature of the Psalmist’s attitude in Psalm 119: lifting up of hands to God’s commands, worshiping His Word as the revelation of His name – the revelation of who He is. We can hardly fathom the depth of intimacy that God has designed for us to experience with Him through His Word.

God’s Word deserves the most prominent place in our lives and our schedules. When we wake up in the morning, we shouldn’t leap into the day apart from acknowledging the supremacy of God’s Word, listening to Him and asking Him to lead us by His Word. Moreover, God’s Word is more than worthy to share with others. It’s supremely important; so much more important than the weather forecast, the score of a football match, or the news headlines. There’s nothing more important to share and talk about than God’s Word. It’s exalted above all things. Blessed is the one who delights in and meditates on God’s Word day and night” (Psa.1:2). It is the secret to the Blessed Life – abundant life and lasting fulfilment.

God’s Word invokes the awe and respect of the great: “All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord, when they hear the words of Your mouth. Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord” (vv.4-5). We can also view the truth of the Magnified Word from the perspective that God’s Word is Christ – the Word made flesh (Jh.1:14). Upon fulfilling the mission of Redemption, the Father magnified His Word (in the form of His Son) to His present exalted status: “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phi.2: 9-11).

God says what He means and He means what He says. The Word of God is just that – the Word of God. It is not the word of man. His Word works effectively in those who believe in its power and integrity: “For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe” (1 The. 2:13). It is this attitude of Magnifying God’s Word that ultimately guarantees Divine Perfection: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands” (Psalm 138:8).