Question: Why do you shorten the sacred name to “Yah”? It just seems so disrespectful. Surely it wouldn’t be too hard to say “Yahuwah” every time. Being so casual with Yahuwah’s holy name seems to defeat the purpose of using His actual name.
Answer: You are right that Yahuwah’s name, like the Father Himself, is holy and sacred, and should be treated with the same reverential care as anything pertaining to the Almighty.
Using “Yah” instead of “Yahuwah,” however, is not some casually disrespectful nickname we use because we are too lazy to say “Yahuwah.” As a proper name for the Father, Yah is used 49 times in Scripture.
In English, in the New King James Version, “Yah” appears only once, and that is in Psalm 68:4:
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds,
By His name Yah,
And rejoice before Him.
This is the more phonetic spelling of the name. The traditional King James Version retains the older English spelling of Jah: “Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, and rejoice before him.” This older form of spelling “Jah” can still be seen in “hallelujah” which means, “Praise ye Yah.” The New International Version does away with this version of the sacred name entirely, substituting “the LORD,” instead:
Sing to God, sing in praise of his name,
extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him—his name is the Lord.
When you look up Jah in Strong’s Concordance, it appears thus:
JAH (jah) See JEHOVAH. A shortened form of Jehovah.
The reference number for Jah, #3050, states: “Yâhh, yaw; contraction for 3068 and means the same; Jah, the sacred name:--Jah, the Lord, most vehement.”
Number 3068, of course, is the reference number for the sacred name in its entirety: Yahuwah or, as Strong’s Concordance writes it, Yehôvâh. The abbreviated form of the name is the one that was most frequently used when Israelite parents named their children. It can still be heard in names such as Jeremiah, Obediah, Hezekiah, Zechariah, etc. The older English spelling of Yah, Jah, is still seen in the name of Elijah which means “My God is the Lord.” Or, more properly, “My el is Jah.”
Most of the time Yah (#3050) appears in Scripture, it is hidden under the phrase, “the Lord,” the same generic title used to obscure Yahuwah (#3068). Interestingly enough, although Strong’s admits that Jah/Yah appears in the Bible, it only lists a single time. The rest of the instances where Yah is used are actually listed under #3068, since “Lord” is the typical substitute for Yah. It requires deeper digging to find the actual Bible verses that use Yah in Hebrew.
In the original Hebrew, however, Yah appears repeatedly: “The Lord [Yah] is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2)
Sometimes, Yah is used in conjunction with Yahuwah, as in Isaiah 26:4: “Trust ye in the Lord [Yahuwah] for ever: for in the Lord [Yah] Jehovah [Yahuwah] is everlasting strength.”
Most occurrences where Yah, instead of Yahuwah, are used in Scripture are found in the psalms: “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord [Yah]. Praise ye the Lord [Yah].” (Psalm 150:6, KJV)
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord [Yah].
The Lord [Yah] hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the Lord [Yah]. (Psalm 118:17-19)
Far from being a disrespectful, lazy abbreviation of the divine name, Yah is a perfectly acceptable version of the holy name of our Creator.