“Your word above all your name” What is Psalm 138:2 really saying?
Recently, I was sharing with someone the true name of our Savior… Yahshua.
He told me, in essence, he believed the Almighty’s name is really not that important. He then said, “even scripture says He puts His word above His name” referring to Psalm 138:2.
Time did not permit us to discuss this matter further, so I sent him this letter.
“Hello Neal,
I didn’t know when we would next meet, so I thought I would send you this letter.
I wanted to get back to you regarding Psalm 138:2. You shared with me that you believed Psalm 138:2 was saying that the Almighty exalted His word above His name.
The scripture is as follows:
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.
Psalm 138:2
My friend, with respect, I believe this scripture is saying something completely different. In fact, I believe it is saying the exact opposite of what you advocate.
Let me explain.
You are looking at this verse as if it were saying …
“…Your word above Your name”.
But this verse doesn’t say that. This verse says,
“…Your word above all Your name”.
I will explain why this is important to understanding the true meaning of this verse.
But first…
The Almighty Father tells us in both the Old and New Testament…
“In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” Deuteronomy 19:15; Corinthians 13:1
Neal, are you able to provide “two or three” Scriptural ‘witnesses’ which confirm your point of view regarding this verse?
Now let’s look at what this verse is actually saying.
We must first understand that the original Hebrew scriptures DID NOT use punctuation marks.
Why is this important to know in correctly translating this verse into English? Here’s why…
In the English language the use of punctuation, or the lack of it,
can greatly affect the meaning of a sentence.
As you know, correct punctuation is crucial to understanding the true meaning of the author. Without accurate punctuation we may easily miss, or misunderstand entirely, the actual meaning of what the author is saying.
Let’s look at these examples:
Let’s eat, Grandma.
Let’s eat Grandma.
I especially like an English professor’s example on punctuation.
On the chalkboard he wrote:
“A woman without her man is nothing.”
He then asked his students to punctuate it correctly.
All of the males wrote:
“A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
While all the females in the class wrote:
”A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
I make this point because I believe the actual meaning of this verse is this:
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.
Now, the scripture is saying that above all, He has magnified His name! That is why David is praising His Name!
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.
Psalm 138:2
I believe this is what David in Psalms 138:2 is saying. Furthermore, this meaning perfectly aligns and agrees with the totality of Scripture.
Sincerely”,
YahshuaMinistries.com
yahshuaministries@icloud.com
