Call on the name of the Lord

A couple of years ago I became friends with a Winthrop student from Saudi Arabia. He was a devout Muslim and we spent hours discussing Islam and Christianity. For his part, I was never quite sure if he was trying to convert me, truly seeking the Lord, or just enjoying the friendship and conversation. Whichever it was, when he wasn’t saying the Bible was unreliable, he would repeatedly insist that the Bible taught that the earliest faith was Islam. Islam means submission, and it was his assertion that the Bible taught the essence of religion was submission to God.

Is this the essence of Bible religion? No. Oh, there is submission in the Bible, Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! through the greatness of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee (Psalm 66:3). As you can see, this is about enemies and power. Close to the truth, yet wide of the mark.

This is really neat – the essence of biblical religion, both Old and New Testament, can be summed up in seven words: call upon the name of the Lord. I recently looked at every occurrence of this phrase, and it’s kin, call on the Lord. My findings take up five pages! When you add the phrase, cried unto the Lord, you have eight pages of verses! This is the heart of the biblical faith in God.

The very first occurrence of this phrase is in Genesis 4:26

And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.

Amen! What does this actually look like? Psalm 116:4
Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.

So, it’s really simple. To call upon the name of the Lord means to ask Him to help you, deliver you, save you.

Why is this so important? Why would this act be so vital? How can this capture genuine faith? To call upon the name of the Lord means you admit you cannot deliver yourself, save yourself. You are at the end of your rope and you need help. It means you are convinced that God can and will help you, and you are asking Him to do just that.

In other words, to call on the name of the Lord involves repentance and faith. But it speaks of repentance and faith in a most intimate way. It’s not clinical. It’s not theoretical. It’s not intellectual. This is personal. And when you add "the name of the Lord” you have the full picture, for “the name of the Lord” stands for all that He is and has revealed of Himself to us. That’s why the Bible lays such emphasis on the names of God. It’s good to know the names of God, for then you can call upon Him and ask Him to be for you what he has revealed Himself to be. And the name Jesus captures all that. In the New Testament we read, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is, on the name of Jesus. Thus Christians are described as, all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. And again, that means that you see in Jesus all that God is and all that He has promised to do and be for you, and you are asking Him to be and do just that for you. Amen!

A couple of weeks ago I had a problem with the kitchen drain. It would back up and drain very slowly. I looked at it and figured out what I thought was wrong. But I concluded, “Even if my diagnosis is right, I don’t know how to fix this.” So I called a plumber. I said, “I have this problem (I was as specific as I could be). Can you come fix this for me?” We say, “I called a plumber.” In Bible language it is, “I called upon the name of the plumber.” And I called a plumber because his name says this is something he can do.

The message of the Bible is not, “I am God. I am all powerful. Submit to me or die.” It is rather:

Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

and

call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

Amen!

I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: 

so shall I be saved from mine enemies.