Thank you for the question on pronouncing The Name of God, “Rather than speak the Tetragrammaton, some Torah readers substitute Adonai (Lord). Others substitute Hashem (The Name). Are these merely different traditions? What does this distinction reveal about the readers?
As a Christian, I highly commend the Jewish people for their deep, reverence for the name of God.
If I am not mistaken, the name of God is not pronounced to avoid taking the name of the LORD God in vain. It is not to be use tritely in making vows or casually or even recklessly in making statements. To call upon The Name of God is to ask Him to be the witness of one’s words or actions.
Sadly for many Christians when they read the Scriptures or say the name of God in prayer, there is the lack of reverence for God. It has become a mindless address or attachment to their prayers. Worse, some Christians use it in profanity as portray in movies or in cursing someone. They know that they are not to take the name of God in vain, but in our modern culture nothing is sacred anymore. The Woke or Cancel Culture diminishes anything that is sacred. The profanity used with the name of God is common place.
Whether one directly cites The Name of God or some other form for God, it is still referring to the LORD God. Is the name of God too holy for His people to pronounce? God revealed His name to His people. I believe that the Creator God intended for His people to call upon His name.
In I Kings 8, King Solomon’s prayer in the dedication of the Temple, he asks that God to hear and forgive when His people call upon His Name. God invites us to come into His presence in humility and reverence,
Summary: God looks at the heart of the person who calls upon Him.
-Kingston