And foraſmuch as in thee we live, and. move, and have our Lite, fo the means for the upholding, and the preſerving of _ Lives, and the Bleſſing upon them, muſt be irom _— on IG- ſeech thee to give us Food convenient for us, thar whic - Io haſt ordained tor our Nouriſhment and Prefervarion ; and r124i thou wouldſt preſerve it to us, that we may have 1!t from day *- day, whilſt we live in the World, with thy Bleſſing upon ir, mus we may nor be rempred ro rake Bread which is nor Ours, nor be over-ſolicirous and careful for ro morrow, bur by cally __ may obtain daily ſupplies from thee, ſo far as ſhall be neceilary
or convenient for us, 12 And forgive us our debts, as 72 forgive our
debters. | | Our Saviour here doth not teach us the Order in which we
ſhould pray for good things for our {elves ; only in theſe _
tions comprehendeth whatſoever we ſhould ask of God. bondaleſe, be are obliged, according to Mat. 6. 32. firſt ro ſeek the Kinzaom of God, and the Kighteouſneſs thereof. Thar by our Debts, are here meant our Sins, is plain from Luke 11. 4 AS alſo from Verſe 14. of this Chapter, where they are called Treſpaſſes. The Senſe is then, Diſcharge us from rhat Obligation ro Death, which our Sins have laid us under: G1ve us a Pardon for our Sins paſt, and preſent, (for who liveth, and finnerh nor againſt thee? ) [ As we forgive our Debters 3 ] nor as Perfedly, but in like manner, as we, according to the imperte& Stare of our Natures, forgive thoſe who have done us Injury ; nor ſeekingany Revenge upon them, nor bearing them any Malice: So as indeed thoſe who retaining their Malice in their Hearts, pur up this Prayer unto God, do in effe& pray down Divine Vengeance upon their Souls :
Well therefore doth the Apoſtle command, 1 Tim. 2. 8. that we ſhould !ift up pure Hands unto God without wrath, or doubting. SO that not only Faith, but Charity alſo is neceſſary to our praying
acceprtably. - ; : 12 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: * For thine is the kingdom, and the
power. and the Glory, for ever, Amen.
The term Temptation in the general fignifierh a Tryal, and Is ſometimes uſed to expreſs God's Tiyals of his People Ss Faith and Obedience, bur moſt ordinarily ro expreſs Satan's Tryals of us, by Motions to fin, which may be from our own Luſts, Zam. 1. Or, from the Devil, who is therefore called the Tempter, or trom che World. Theſe are the Temptations which we are Commanded eo pray againſt : Not that God leads any Perſons into ſuch Temprarions, unleſs by the Permiſſion of his Providence. | But deli- wer 1s from Evil.} From the Evil one, as ſome read it, becauſe of the Article prefixed; bur others think ir-nor material whether
*1Chr. 29. Il,
we underſtand the Devil, who is the Evil one, or the Evil of.
Temptations, which harm us nor, if we be nor overcome by them. For thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever, _—_ te Words are omitred by Luke, Ch. 11. 4. But many thin thar Lube ſpeaks of another time, when he DiQtated this Prayer : The Words both fhew. us, that the Honour and Glory of God ought to be the End and Scope of all our Prayers; and that we can ex- pet no Audience, but upon the Account of God's Grace and Mercy ; and they likewiſe confirm our Faith, that God 1s able to grant what we ask of him. { Amen. | This, in the cloſe of a Senrence, is a Particle of Wiſhing, and f1gnifierh our Deſire to be heard ; and as its a term thar ſ1znifies Truth and Certainty, it likewiſe ſignifierh our Faith in God that we ſhall be heard.
14 For * if ye forgive men their treſpaſles, your
25. . ., heavenly Father will alfo forgive you. *Ch.18.35, 15 But * if ye forgive not men their treſpaſſes,
Jam. 2.43. neither will your Father forgive you your treſpaſſes.
Not that our meer forgiving our Brethren the Injuries done unto us, is all that God requirerh of us, in order to the Forgive- neſs we expet trom him; (the contrary 1s plain from ſeveral other Texts, John 3. 18, 36. As 2. 38.and 15, 31, 9c.) But that without chis Forgiveneſs of our Brerhren, God will not forgive us, Matth. 18. 35. It is one piece of rhar Obedience which we owe ro God, and alſo of our Gratitude, without the Performance of which ir is vain for us to hope tor Forgiveneſs from God.
* Mar. 11. 25.
16 Moreover, when ye faft, be not as the Hypo-
crites, of a {ad countenance : for they disfigure their faces, that rhey may appear unto men to faſt. Ve- rily I ſay untoyou, they have their reward.
17 But thou, when thou faſteſt, anoint thine head,
and waſh thy face :
St MATTHEW
Cha to thy Father which is in ſecret and thy Father
which ſeeth in ſecret, ſhall reward thee openly.
Our Saviour in theſe Words returns to his former Work caution his Diſciples againſt Aypocriſe, Vain-Glory, and Ofts ” tion 1n their Religious Duties; the doing them to he = Men. What he before ſaid, as to giving Alms and Prayer het wy again applierh, as to private Faſting z which is by this Diſcos of our Saviour confirmed, tho* not as a ated, yer as ano: -y onal Duty of Chriſtians in Order to, and as an Indication G their humbling of cheir Souls for their Sins, or under the mi a Hand of God ; but he requireth that it ſhould be jn Sincerity