Mngdom that shall stand for ewer, — ^and God's law the rule to which all laws ought to be conf onned I The more these things are understood and believed in a land, the happier that land will be. The days when all acknow- ledge these things will be the ''days of heaven upon earth." ,
The second division of the Lord's Prayer respects our own daily wants. We are taught to make mention of two things which we need every d^y. These two things are, one of them temporal, and the other spiritual. One of them is "bread." The other is "forgiveness of sins."
We are taught to ask for bread : "Give us this day our daily bre^d." Under this word " bread," no doubt, is in- cluded everything which our bodids can require. We acknowledge our entire dependence upon God for life, and breath, and all things. We ask Kim to take charge of us, and provide for us in all that concerns this world. It is the prayer of Solomon under another form, " Feed me with food convenient for me." (Prov. xxx. 8.)
We are taught to ask, in the next place, for forgiveness : "Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us." In so saying, we confess that we are fallen, guilty, and corrupt creatures, and in many things offend daily. We make no excuse for ourselves. We plead nothing in our own behalf. We simply ask for the free, ftdl, gracious mercy of our Father in Christ Jesus. And we accompany the petition by the only profession which the whole Lord's Prayer contains. We profess that wa " forgive every one that is indebted to us."
The combined simplicity and richness of the second divi- sion of the Lord's Prayer can never be sufficiently admired.
LUKEy CHAP. XI. VBH. 1 4. 5
How soon tlie words are spoken ! And yet how much the words take in ! Daily bread and daily mercy are by far the first and principal things that mortal man wants, fie is the rich man who possesses them. He is the wise man who is not ashamed to pray for them every day. The child of God, no donbt, is fully justified before God, and all things are working for his good. But it is the life of true faith to apply daily for fresh supplies of all our wants. Though the promises are all ours, our Father likes His children to remind Him of them. Though washed, we need daily to wash our feet. (John xii. 10.)
The third division of the Lord's Prayer rejects our daily dangers. We are taught to make mention of two things which we ought to fear every day, and which we must expect to meet with a^ long as we are in this world. One of these things is "temptation." The other is "evil."
We are taught to pray against temptation : "Lead us not into temptation." We do not mean by this expression that God is the author of evil, or that He tempts man to sin. (James i. 13.) But we entreat Him who orders all things in heaven and earth, and without whom nothing can happen, so to order the course of our lives, that we may not be tempted above what we can bear. We confess oar weakness and readiness to fall. We entreat our Father to preserve us from trials, or else to make a way for us to escape. We ask that our feet may be kept, and that we may not bring discredit on our profession and misery on our souls.
We are taught, lastly, to pray against evil : " Deliver us from evil." We include under the word evil, everjrthing that can hurt us, either in body or soul, and especially every