GOD OUR FATHER. 849 his whole rational creation. Its conveys also a beautiful idea of that boundless charity which links all mankind in one comprehensive brotherhood. The plural us, continued through the whole prayer, keeps up the sentiment with which it sets out, tends to exclude selfishness, and to excite philanthropy, by recom- mending to God the temporal as well as spiritual wants of the whole family of mankind. The nomenclature of the Divinity is expressed in Scripture by every term which can convey ideas of grandeur or of grace, of power, or of affection, of sublimity or tenderness, of majesty or benignity ; by every name which can excite terror or trust, which can inspire awe or consolation. But of all compellations by which the Supreme Being is designated in his holy word, there is not one more soothing, more attractive, more endearing than that of FATHER ; it includes the idea of reconcilement, pardon, acceptance, love.
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