THE HALLOWED NAME
‘Hallowed be Thy name.’
If the highest reach of prayer is to approach as near as we can to the worship of heaven, how can we get nearer to the ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ than by breathing faintly out of our weaker state, ‘Hallowed be Thy name’? So that indeed we may say that the more we can match the spirit of those words, the closer we come to the anthems of the redeemed, and to the angels’ song.
I. God’s name.—In Holy Scripture the expression ‘name’ means the whole subject for which it stands. Therefore, in God’s name three things are included—God’s being—God’s character—God’s work.
(a) God’s being. It is threefold. And the Bible has been very careful to show, respecting each of the Three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, that the especial characteristic of each is holiness. The Father is ‘the Holy One of Israel,’ ‘the Holy God.’ The Son is ‘the Holy Child Jesus,’ ‘the Holy One and the Just.’ While the familiar and invariable appellation of the Third Person of the Godhead is ‘the Holy Ghost.’
(b) God’s character. God has been pleased to reveal His character even by His name. Moses learns God’s eternal, irresponsible independence and sovereignty at the bush, when he asked, ‘What is Thy name?’ and God said unto Moses, ‘I am that I am.’ Presently, God adds His Divine, infinite power, when He introduced Himself for the first time by that name ‘Jehovah.’ Our blessed Lord declared God’s name: ‘declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them.’ And St. John who records these words carries out the thought in his first epistle, and condenses it all into one idea, one name—‘God is love.’
(c) God’s work. Turn to Psalms 8. It begins, ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!’ That is expanded, it takes its lofty course of thought along the glory of omnipotence to the next glory, the glory of babes. Then, the glory of the heavenly bodies. Then, the glory of the man Christ Jesus. Then, the glory of us in Christ Jesus,—glory in humiliation,—glory and dominion over every creature. And the climax is the beginning again, ‘O Lord our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the earth!’
Have large and worthy views of what you mean when you say ‘Hallowed be Thy name.’
II. What is intended by hallowing?—There are three parts in the word ‘Hallow.’
(a) It means to separate—for holy use.
(b) It means to exalt—dedicate and consecrate to its original purpose.
(c) It means to extend—to honour it among men.
III. The way of holiness.—Lastly, God has taught us that the best and most effectual way to promote our own holiness is to exalt His. The two thoughts are beautifully bound up together in many places,—‘Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.’
The Rev. James Vaughan.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
GOD’S GLORY
This is a petition respecting God’s name.
I. The Divine Name.—By the ‘name’ of God we mean all those attributes under which He is revealed to us,—His (a) power, (b) wisdom, (c) holiness, (d) justice, (e) mercy, and (f) truth.
II. Must he hallowed.—By asking that they may be ‘hallowed,’ we mean that they may be made known and glorified. The glory of God is the first thing that God’s children should desire. It is the object of one of our Lord’s own prayers: ‘Father, glorify Thy name’ (St. John 12:28).
(a) It is the purpose for which the world was created.
(b) It is the end for which the saints are called and converted.
(c) It is the chief thing we should seek, that ‘God in all things may be glorified’ (1 Peter 4:11).
—Bishop J. C. Ryle.