ture, and reproach to God! Go, and if thou canst, hide thy self-even in hell-from the face of the Lord! Learn, therefore, to give and forgive-and never turn away thy face from any poor man, so the face of God shall never be turned away from thee.

THE SIXTH PETITION.

And lead us not into temptation, ver. 13.

The word paσμov, may be here rendered sore trialfrom xg, to pierce through, as with a spear, or spit; used so by some of the best Greek writers. Bring us not into sore trial, i. e. do not suffer us to be thus tried-this is a mere Hebraism, where God is represented as doing what He only permits to be done; the word not only implies violent assaults from Satan, but also sorely afflicting circumstances, none of which we have yet grace enough to bear. This place was so understood by several of the primitive fathers, who have added some such words as these, quam ferre non possimus, " which we cannot bear."

St.

The word temptation is generally taken to express a strong excitement to sin; but if the leading of God be considered literally here, this sort of temptation cannot be meant. James settles this point; Let no man say, when he is tempted, πειραζόμενος, I am tempted of God, (απο του Θεου πειραζομαι ;) for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth He any man. Jam. i. 13. Therefore trials and difficulties must be here intended, things which may come in the ordinary course of providence, and which the petitioner has not fortitude to meet, nor strength to bear; and which God can either turn aside, or give extraordinary strength to support. Taking the word in its common acceptation, and that lead us not is to be understood, do not permit us, to be overthrown by any devices of our adversaries, whether men or devils ; we are to observe, that the prayer is not do not permit us to be tempted. This God will not answer to any man, for temptation is a part of our Christian warfare; and Jesus, our Lord and Pattern, was tempted, and sorely tempted too; and has, by His temptation, shewed us how we may foil our adversary, and glorify our God in the day of such a visitation. The original is very emphatic, και μη εισενέγκης ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασ pov, and lead us not in, into temptation. The word soLVÈYKNÉ,

comes from depa, to bring or lead in, and this is compounded of us, into, and Pepa, to bring, or lead; taking this kind of double entry into consideration, there is room enough for the criticism that states, "into is more than in ;"—a man may be tempted, and in a state of temptation, without entering into it: entering into it, implies, giving way, closing in with, and embracing it. That man has entered into a temptation, who feels his heart inclined to it, and would act accordingly, did time, place, and opportunity serve. Christ was tempted even to worship the devil; but He entered not into any of the temptations of His adversary;-the prince of this world came and found nothing in Him-no evil nature within, to join with the evil temptation without. Now, a man may be on the verge of falling by some powerful and well circumstanced sin-he may be in it; but the timely help of God may succour him, and prevent him from entering into it;—and thus a brand is plucked from the burning. He was heated, yea scorched by it, but was saved from the desolating and ruinous act. This may be one meaning of this most important peti

tion: and thus the poet,—

"O, do thou always warn
My soul, of danger near:
When to the right or left I turn,

The voice still let me hear,
Come back! this is the way;
Come back! and walk herein;
may I hearken and obey,
And shun the path of sin."

We see the progress of temptation in the case of Achan, and his entering into it. 1. He saw a rich Babylonish garment, and a wedge of gold.-There was no sin in simply seeing it. 2. When he saw it, he coveted it. Here he felt the temptation, it began to gain possession of his heart. 3. He took it. Here he entered fully into it, but conscious of his iniquity, and afraid of exposure and punishment; he, 4. hid it among the stuff,-hid it in such a way that it could not be found out, but by God himself. We see from this, and many other cases, that temptation may come,

1. As a simple, evil thought.

2. A strong imagination, or impression made upon the imagination by the thing to which we are tempted.

3. Delight in viewing it, with the opinion that, if possessed, it would be useful.

Jam.

4. Consent of the will to perform it. Thus lust is conceived, sin is finished, and death is brought forth. i. 15.

Our Lord's advice to His disciples, Matt. xxvi. 41. may be an illustration of this petition-Pray that ye enter not into temptation, the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. "Ye may be tempted; do not enter into it: for though your hearts may be now right with God, and ye are willing to go even unto prison or death for my sake, yet the flesh is weak: it may be overcome-my power only can save you: but this cannot be expected where the means are not used: therefore watch and pray, or your fall is inevitable." O Lord, let us fall into no sin! Amen.

THE SEVENTH PETITION.

Deliver us from evil, ver. 13.

Ρυσαι ήμας απο του πονηρου-Deliver us from the devil, or wicked one.

Satan is expressly called ovnpos, the wicked one, Matt. xiii. 19 and 38; compare with Mark iv. 15., Luke viii. 12. This epithet of Satan, comes from ovos, labour, toil, sorrow, misery, because of the drudgery that is found in the way of sin, the toil and sorrow that accompany and follow the commission of it, and the misery which is entailed upon it, and in which it ends. This is a good description of him who seeketh rest and findeth none-who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; of him who can truly say-"Where'er I go is hell; myself am hell." And all they who are his children partake of his nature, and of his restless wretchedness-the wicked are like the troubled sea that can never rest, but is always casting up mire and dirt. To be delivered from the paw of this lion, is no small mercy; to have him bruised under our feet, is a great triumph. Rabbi Judah was wont to pray thus: "Let it be thy good pleasure to deliver us from impudence and impudent men: from an evil man, and an evil chance from an evil affection, an evil companion, and an evil neighbour; from Satan, the destroyer, from a hard judgment, and a hard adversary!" I have remarked among the simple, honest inhabitants of the counties of Antrim and Londonderry, in Ireland, that the common name for the devil or Satan, was The Sorrow: a good sense

of the original word, woimpos, the wicked one, the evil one, the SORROW. He who is miserable himself, and whose aim is to make all others so. Where sin is there is sorrow. Deliver us from the evil, toil, labour, sorrow, and misery of sin! Lord, hear the prayer!

Deliver us-poodi hugs, a very expressive word-break our chains—loose our bands snatch, pluck us from the evil and all its calamitous issues. The word deliver seems to imply that we are already in the hand, or less or more under the power of the adversary. It is an awful thing to be either under the power of evil, or in the hand of Satan. How earnestly should we offer up this petition to God, that we may be saved from a danger so imminent; that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we may serve God in righteousness and true holiness before Him, all the days of our life! Amen.

Some make but one petition of the two latter; they appear to me to be sufficiently distinct—the former leads us to pray against excitement to sin—the latter, against the consequence of having given place to the devil. It is a different thing to pray against solicitations to sin-and to pray to get the thoughts of our hearts cleansed by the inspiration of God's holy Spirit: the first says, May we sin against thee no more! -the second says, Deliver us from the power, condemnation, and pollution of the crimes which we have already committed! They are very different petitions: and this considered, there are doubtless seven petitions in the Lord's Prayer.

THE DOXOLOGY.

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. ver. 13.

The whole of this Doxology is rejected by Wetstein, Griesbach, and the most eminent critics, as being omitted by many ancient MSS., versions, and fathers. The authorities on which it is rejected, may be seen in the above writers. Gries bach seems perfectly convinced that it never made a part of the sacred text, originally.

Now, as this Doxology is at least very ancient, and was in use among the Jews, as well as all the other petitions of this excellent prayer, it should not, in my opinion, be left out of the text, merely because some manuscripts, ancient versions,

and ancient ecclesiastical Greek writers, have omitted it; and because those which retain it, write it variously.

It may be considered as giving a reason for the preceding petitions. Thou canst do all that we have requested; for Thine is the kingdom—that kingdom, the coming of which thou hast commanded us to pray for. See this explained

under the Second Petition.

And the power;—that energy by which this kingdom is raised up, governed, and maintained-the power that rules over all, and can do all things.

And the glory;-honour and praise shall redound to Thee in consequence of having established the kingdom of grace, by the gospel, upon earth, in sending thy Son to bless us, by turning us away from our iniquity, and setting up the kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in the hearts of them who believe. To THEE alone all this shall be ascribed, for THOU art the universal King, in the universal kingdom,-THOU art the almighty Ruler in heaven, earth, and hell. To THEE appertains the glory of having made both worlds, of sustaining them by the word of thy power, and of having redeemed mankind by the blood of thy Son.

For ever;- TOUS alavas, to the for evers, or, as some authorities have it, νυν και αει και εις τους αιώνας των αιώνων, now, and for ever, and for ever and ever,—or, to ages of ages,—or, to the evers of evers. In such cases we often use for ever and ever,—or, for evermore. The first ever, taking

in the whole duration of time; the second ever, all the eternity that is to come. The original word, aa, comes from a, always, and wv, being, or existence. This is Aristotle's definition of it.

There is no word in any language that more forcibly points out the grand characteristic of eternity,--that which always exists. It is often used to point out a limited time, the end of which is not known. But this use of it is only an accommodated one; and it is the grammatical and proper sense of it, which must be resorted to in any controversy concerning its scriptural meaning.

We sometimes use the phrase for evermore- -i. e. for ever and more; which signifies the whole of time, and the more, or interminable duration beyond it.

Amen. This word is Hebrew, aman, and signifies