Hallowed be Thy Name


What do you mean by hallowed? Can you make God holier than he is, or add anything to
God?
No, we cannot add anything to him that gave all to us.
How then do we hallow God’s name?
When we make God’s name to be discovered as a holy thing, the expression of this is that
we would hallow.
How shall we do that?
There was a consultation in heaven, how the Godhead might be manifested, might be
conferred, else none were here to apprehend it from eternity. No, if there had been any,
they could not apprehend it. I will, says God, have my attributes expressed. Therefore
God would have a Word, wherein his goodness should be discovered. Exo 33.23 You
shall not see my face, but my back-parts you shall see. As it is with a torch, carry it from
one place to another, and it will leave a [14] glimpse behind it. So it is in the surpassing
beauty of God. He leaves some beams behind him, that we may say justice and mercy,
etc. have been here. Now we are said then to hallow his name, as when we make this
appear: when we deal with God’s name as a holy thing; and that appears in three
particulars:
First, when we acknowledge the excellency of him, we ought to take notice of the beauty
and glory of God. Men of place1
 think themselves abused if we pass by them and do not
reverence them. So when we come to deal with God’s ordinances, do you know what you
do? God’s name is there; therefore observe it.
Secondly, as we should acknowledge the worth of it, so we should labor to preserve it.
Upon things of great weight and worth, what a price do we set upon them? And how
tenderly do we look to them that no blemish be cast upon them? So we should do with the
name of God. Go to the Isle of Shittim, etc. Jer 2.10-11 They cast the commandments of God
behind their backs. Neh 9.26 The heathen (says God) would not do so; they kissed the
threshold where Dagon was. 1Sam 5.5 So deal with God’s name. Let no blemish betide2
 it,
but deal with it as with a holy thing. The least stain of sinful distemper does not become
the name of God; you respect a holy thing, so do the name of God

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