I.
Knowledge of the Name of God.
The name of God stands for His Person, His character. A man's name is often the exact opposite of himself, but God's names are revelations of God. The early patriarchs knew Him by the name Elohim. They knew Him so far, and adored Him with deep awe and absolute trust in His power, righteousness, and good- will. That name raised them out of earthly and debasing associations, delivered them from the fetishism of idolatry, and brought them into near contact with the spiritual world; they trusted in Him according to the measure of their knowledge, and were saved by their faith. A further disclosure of the Divine goodness and love was made by the revelation of the name Jehovah, when the Lord made all His goodness pass before Moses, and proclaimed, " Jehovah, Jehovah Elohim, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth." With that revelation was associated an entire system of typical institutions,
^ Paradiso, Canto xxv. 11. 71-5. 247
248 KNOWING AND TRUSTING
preparing the way for a still more perfect discovery, at once quickening the conscience, making it sensible of the extent of human sinfulness, and indicating the conditions and principles of a future atonement. The forms of the living Word and of the living Spirit gradually disclosed themselves to the prophetic vision, never fully revealed, yet ever approaching nearer to a personal manifestation ; but the Name itself in its highest sense was first suggested, then declared, by the voices which heralded the Incar- nation and by the utterances of the Incarnate Word.
1. God is, of course, the embodiment of almighty power. But we learn that He uses His power for beneficent ends. It was His almighty power that shaped a world into being. At His voice chaos became order, darkness tied, and light and life came. It is by His power that He moves every atom of the globe, expands and beautifies every leaf, erects every blade of grass, builds up every tree, and paints every flower in the garden. His Almightiness flashes in the lightning, rolls in the thunder, guides the light, roars in the volcano, wings the angels, and feeds the sparrows. It is His almighty hand that seizes the curtain of darkness, and swings it across the chambers of the sky every night, and puts tired man to rest, and covers him with His feathers. It is His power that sends the sun every morning to wake us to duty and pleasure.
I sing the almighty power of God, Which made the mountains rise ;
Which spread the flowing seas abroad, And built the lofty skies.
Does this not help me ? Yes. If God is almighty, then He is able to help and keep me. If He is possessed of all power I may put my soul and body and all my concerns into His hands, assured that none shall be able to pluck me out. " Help is laid upon one that is mighty," so I may trust and not be afraid. I am poor and feeble; He is strong. In my pilgrimage I often come into danger, and may fall, but underneath is the omnipotent arm of God.
^ When we have got into our blood for ever the conception of God which crowns Him the King, Holy and Almighty, we are
PSALM IX. lo 249
prepared upon a sound moral basis to receive Him as the loving and merciful Father. One therefore anticipates that the new doctrine will be based on the conception of the Divine Fatherhood — not the Fatherhood that throws away the Judgeship and the Eighteousness of God, but the Fatherhood that gathers these up into a nobler and final unity; and that the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the revelation of the Father and the Head of the human race, will yield more blessed and practical fruit in the life of the race from year to year.^
2. God is also the embodiment of perfect justice; but we must complement this truth by saying that He is the Everlasting Father. We cannot trust an impersonal force, who neither loves nor hates and who hears no prayer. Such a God is only a God in name. He does not care for me ; He does not know what care is, and how then can I care for Him ; how can I bring myself to
trust in Him ? It were a blessing if I could only be like Him
unconscious and careless — like the insect of a summer's day, or the flower by the wayside, or the fish that sport in the sea. My reason, my conscience — these are my curse ! The birds of the air are my superiors. For, with such a God, all that you count best in me is stifled and is a monstrous blunder. The heavens are brass, the earth is iron, and no one is to be pitied as am I, who cry but receive no answer. I can only hate the system which gave me birth, and to talk of trust is to mock me, to add insult to injury.
Truly there is no law but truth; there is
No judge but justice. They who use the sword Shall perish by the sword, for no reward Is there but virtue, nor shall evil miss