3. Constantly and unweariedly. Thus do the angels in heaven. The devils they abode not in the truth ; but angels, they do it with- out weariness ; they rest not day nor night, but are still lauding, praising, and serving God, and are never weary. God in communion is ever new and fresh to them ; the face of their heavenly Father is as lovely as at the first moment ; no weariness or satiety creeps upon those
Mat. VI. 11.] THE lord's PKAYER. 119
good spirits. Thus should we do it without wccarincss. and then we shall reap if we faint not.
4. Faithfully, not picking and choosing : ' They hearken to the voice of his word,' whatever it be, be it to ascend or descend. So we, if it be to go backward for God, though it be against the bent of our hearts. David is said to be ' a man after God s heart,' because he did ' all God's will,' Acts xiii. 22 : all which should be a pattern for us, and we should strive to come up to it.
Give us this day our daily bread.
We are now come to the second sort of petitions, that concern our- selves, as the former did more immediately concern God. Now you may observe the style in the prayer is altered. It was before, Thy name. Thy kingdom, Thy will ; now it is, Give ws, and Forgive us, &c. Before, our Lord had taught us to speak in a third person, ' Thy will be done ;' and now in a second person, ' Give us this day : ' which is not so to be understood as if we were not at all concerned in the former part of the Lord'^s Prayer. In those petitions, the benefit is not God's, but ours. When his name is sanctified, his kingdom cometh, and his will is done ; these things do not only concern the glory of God, but also our benefit. It is our advantage when God is honoured l>y the coming of Christ's kingdom and the subjection of our hearts unto himself. But these latter petitions do more immediately concern us. Now, among these, in the first place, we pray for the necessary provisions of the present life. Some make a scruple why such a prayer should be put in the first place. Surely not to show the value of these things above pardon and grace ; but this is the last of the suppli- cations. The Lord's Pi'ayer may be divided into supplications and deprecations. Among the supplications, there we prayed, first, for the glory of God ; next, for the kingdom of God ; next, for our subjection to that kingdom ; and, in the last place, we pray for daily bread, or sustentation of the present life. But the other two are de])recations ; and that either of evil already committed, and so we i)ray for pardon of sin, ' Forgive us our trespasses; ' or deprecation of evil that is likely to be admitted, and so we pray against temptation, ' Lead us not into temptation :' so that this request is put into a fit order. First, we seek God's glory as the end ; his kingdom as the primary means ; our subjection to that kingdom as the next means ; and last of all, our comfortable subsistence in the world as a remote subservient help, that we may be in a capacity to serve and glorify God.
In this petition there is : —
I. The thing asked, and that is bread, by which is meant all things necessary for the maintenance of this life.
Now this is set forth : —
1. By a note of pro])riety, our bread.
2. By an adjunct of time, daily bread.
II. The manner of asking, give ; we ask it as a gift of God. III. The persons for whom we ask, Give us; as many as are
150 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 11.
supposed to be in a family together. Those that can call God Father by the Spirit, they may come with most confidence to God about daily supplies.
IV. The renewing of our request, ai][iepov, ' this day : ' there is very much in that ; we ask but from morning till night : ' Give us this day our daily bread.'
Before I come to explain these circumstances, let me observe in general : —
Doct. 1. That it is the Lord which doth bestow upon us freely and graciously the good things of this life.
It is bread we ask, and we ask it of God, and to God we say, ' Give.' All which circumstances do fully make out the point.
This point again must be made good by parts : —
1. That God giveth it.
2. That he freely and graciously giveth it.
First, I shall show you how God is interested in the common mercies we do enjoy ; and how every one, high or low, rich or poor, full or in a mean condition, of what rank soever they be, even those that have the greatest store and plenty of worldly accommodations, they must come from morning to morning and deal with God for daily bread.
Those common mercies which we do enjoy : —