What, then, is the force of that name? We do not need, I suppose, to do
more than simply remind you that there are two great thoughts
communicated by that self-revelation of God which lies in it. _Jehovah_,
in its literal grammatical signification, puts emphasis upon the
absolute, underived, and therefore unlimited, unconditioned,
unchangeable, eternal being of God. 'I AM THAT I AM.' Men and creatures
are what they are made, are what they become, and some time or other
cease to be what they were. But God is what He is, and is because He is.
He is the Source, the Motive, the Law, the Sustenance of His own Being;
and changeless and eternal He is for ever. In that name is the Rock of
Ages.

That mighty name, by its place in the history of Revelation, conveys to
us still further thoughts, for it is the name of the God who entered
into covenant with His ancient people, and remains bound by His covenant
to bless us. That Is to say, He hath not left us in darkness as to the
methods and purpose of His dealings with us, or as to the attitude of
His heart towards us. He has bound Himself by solemn words, and by deeds
as revealing as words. So we can reckon on God. To use a vulgarism which
is stripped of its vulgarity if employed reverently, as I would do
it--we know where to have Him. He has given us the elements to calculate
His orbit; and we are sure that the calculation will come right. So,
because the name flashes upon men the thought of an absolute Being,
eternal, and all-sufficient, and self-modified, and changeless, and
because it reveals to us the very inmost heart of the mystery, and makes
it possible for us to forecast the movements of this great Sun of our
heavens, therefore in the name '_Jab Jehovah_ is the Bock of Ages.'

The metaphor needs no expansion. We understand that it conveys the idea