The Divine Name and Names.
"For that thy Name is near, thy wondrous works declare." Every god worshipped by a people has his own distinctive name among the people. But this is peculiarly true of the nation of Israel. The Divine Name, Jehovah, was given as the seal of the special covenant made with the nation. So the name Jehovah stands ever for God, God's presence, God's relations. But we can never be wholly satisfied with any one name for God. Besides it, we must have names of our own for him, which find expression for our sense of his gracious dealings with us, and relations to us. Two points are suggested:
1. God has a Name.
2. God has many Names.
I. GOD HAS A NAME. This helps us to realize that he is a Person, not a mere force or influence. The general name for God is El. The specific name for God, as God of Israel, is Jehovah (see occasion of definitely fixing the name, Exodus 3:14). Note that it is the assertion of absolute and independent existence. It works out suggestively in three directions. It asserts
This threefold conception of God lies at the basis of the Mosaic system, and is, therefore, properly gathered up into his Name. But it is striking and impressive to note, that God. was not satisfied with giving his people a name which only dealt with his abstract nature. He added a name which would gather up his relations with his people, and called himself, "The God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." God's Name is said to be "near," when men are specially impressed with his wonderful workings. Past dealings and present dealings bring home to men's hearts the power and justice and grace which are summed up and expressed in his Name (Deuteronomy 4:7; Isaiah 30:27). A remarkable deliverance, such as that from Sennacherib, was poetically spoken of as a "coming near of the Divine Name."
II. GOD HAS MANY NAMES. In families there are often pet names as well as the fixed names. Those pet names express individual feeling. So each person who gains an individual apprehension of God wants to put his special apprehension into a name. Indicate the variety of names: "God of heaven," "King," "Father," etc.; and poetic figures like "my Rock," "Refuge," "Horn," etc. Impress the point that no man really knows God until he finds he can put his own special meaning into the term he uses for him. Each one of us, reading the story of God's wondrous works for us and gracious dealings with us, ought to be able to put our impressions into a name of our own.—R.T.