As Fr. Piotr Kot emphasizes, Psalm 91, sung on this Sunday, “is described by biblical commentators as a prayer recited by pilgrims entering the courtyard of the Jerusalem Temple. The Temple serves as a place of refuge and shelter from all that threatens human life. Salvation is promised to everyone who ‘knows the Name of God.’”

The Hebrew verb yada (“to know”) signifies an intimate relationship between persons from which life emerges. As Fr. Kot reminds us, God’s Name, ehje asher ehje (“I Am Who I Am”), expresses the mystery of a God who is, was, and will be. As long as God ‘is,’ life continues in the created world, for He sustains all existence.

The revelation of God’s Name to Moses was a preparation for leading the Jewish people out of Egyptian slavery. “‘Knowing the Name’ was not merely about pronouncing the four letters (since in Judaism the sacred Tetragrammaton JHWH is not uttered), but about a particular kind of ‘seeing’—recognizing that God is continually engaged in human life. He simply IS,” notes Fr. Piotr Kot.

God’s presence is unique, and “knowing His Name frees a person from fear when faced with the monstrous idols of pagan deities. Stone can be shattered. Wood burns in the fire.” Fr. Kot concludes: “Yet God YHWH is—He has no beginning and no end. Maimonides, the 12th-century Jewish philosopher, said: ‘God is true existence.’ If so, there is no better refuge than to dwell ‘in the shadow of the Most High.’”