[5.] It is he thatgiveth us ability to use them : we beg that we may not only have the comforts, but life and strength to use them; for God can blast us in the very midst of our enjoyments. It is the case of many, when they have hunted after a worldly portion, and begin to think, now I will sit down and enjoy it; when the gain is come into his hands, and he thinks to wasted that which he hath got in hunting, death takes him away, and he hath not power to use them. Thus it was with the rich fool ; when he began to sing lullabies to his soul, and enjoy what he had got, he is taken away by death : Luke xii. 29, ' Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee ; then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?' And it is eaid, Num. xi. 33, when those people had gotten quails, that ' while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people ; and the Lord smote them with a very great plague.' And that nobleman which saw plenty in Samaria, but could not taste of it : 2 Kings vii. 19. So Job xxi. 23, ' One dieth in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet : ' when he has gotten abundance of worldly comforts about him, death seizes on him of a sudden.
[6.] God yet is further interested in these mercies, so as to give us a sanctified use of them, that we may take our bread out of God's hands* with prayer and thanksgiving, and due acknowledgments of God. In 1 Tim. iv. 4, 5, ' Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.' Then are the creatures sanctified to us, when we enjoy God in them ; when our hearts are raised to think of the donor, and can love him the more for every gift. Carnal men, like swine, raven upon the acorns, but look not up to the oak from whence tlie}^ drop. In the Canticles, the spouse's eyes are compared to dove's eyes. They which make the allusion say this is the mean- ing : look, as a dove ])ecks, and looks upward ; so upon every grain of mercy, we should look up to the God of mercies : it is not enough to taste the sweet of the creatures, but also to own God, his love and bounty in them, so to have them sanctified to us. This is the privi- lege we have as men, that we can know the first cause, and who is the benefactor. All creatures subsist upon the first cause, but are not
» Qu. "taste?"— Ed.
154 AN EXPOSITION OF [MaT. VI. 11.
capable of knowing it. And this is our privilege as Christians, to have this capacity reduced into act. It is of the Lord's grace to give us a sanctified use of these things.
[7.] We beg of Grod the natural blessing upon the holy use of out- ward comforts, so as they may continue us in health and vigour for the service of God ; for nothing will prosper with us but by his bless- ing : Ps. cvi. 15, ' He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls ; ' that is, they had no natural comfort by that which they had obtained. God may give a man meat, yet not an appetite ; he may not give him the comfortable use of it, a blessing with it. And therefore the apostle makes it to be an argument of God's bounty to the heathen, that as he gave them food, so he gave them gladness of heart : Acts xiv. 17, ' He gave them rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness ; ' that is, gave them a comfortable use, a blessing upon the use of outward things. And Lev. xxvi., you will find a distinction between ' bread,' and the ' staff of bread.' We may have bread, yet not the staff of bread. Many have worldly comforts, but not with a natural blessing: Eccles. iii. 13, ' That every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour ; it is the gift of God : ' not only that he should have increase by his labour, but enjoy good ; to have the comfortable use of that increase.
[8.] Contentation is one of God's blessings that we ask in this prayer, * Give us this day our daily bread ; ' that is, such provisions as are necessary for us, contentment and quiet of mind in the enjoyment : Joel ii. 19, 'Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall be satisfied therewith.' It is not only a blessing we should look after, but contentment, that our minds may be suited to our condition, for then the creature is more sweet and comfortable to us. The happi- ness of man doth not lie in his abundance, but in the suitableness of his mind to his estate : Luke xii. 15, ' A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.' There is a twofold war within a man, both which must be taken up before a man can have comfort ; there is a war between a man and his conscience, and this breeds trouble of mind ; and there is a war between his affections and his condition, and this breeds murmuring and envious repining. Say, Yea, Lord, and let us be contented with thy gift. This for the first thing, how God is concerned in these outward comforts.