which we behold, or with reference to those exalted spirits, called angels, who constantly fulfil all his pleasure. 1. With reference to the heavenly bodies. As man is frequently sent to the beasts of the field, to the fishes of the sea, and to the fowls of the air for instruction; and also to many of the works of God in nature, that he may see how obedient all things are to him who gave them existence; so we may here view him as sent for the same end to the sun, the moon, and the stars, and to all the host of heaven, which have kept an invariable motion for almost six thousand years, serving the Lord and bringing glory to his wonderful name; and among which, from the greatest to the least, and from the nearest to the most distant, nothing takes place but what is appointed by him who made them. A valuable example set before us all! But, 2. With reference to the angels in heaven; in which light the explanation given above principally views the text. If, then, we ourselves would do the will of God, and wish others to do it, we must pray that we and they may be enabled to imitate the holy angels, who perform the will of the Most High with humility,- Isa. vi. 2, and Mic. vi. 8; with cheerfulness, Psal. ciii. 20, and c. 2; with faithfulness,-Isa. xxxviii. 3; with diligence and zeal,-Psal. cxix. 4, 5, xix. 5, and Rom. xii. 11; universally,-Psal. ciii. 21, and cxix. 6; most readily,—Isa. vi. 2, and Psal. cxix. 60; constantly,— Psal. cxix. 112; and with sincerity,—Psal. cxix. 80. INFERENCES. From this subject we learn,—1. That it is the duty of all to study the revealed will of God, and to submit to his providential will. 2. The danger of disobedience. 3. The necessity of the grace of God to enable us to understand and to do his revealed will, and to submit to his providential will. 4. That it is the duty of all to send the revealed will of God to all those who have not yet received it; seeing it is inconsistent to pray that his will may be done, without endeavouring at the same time to make it known to those who are ignorant of it. Of the Fourth Petition in the Lord's Prayer. In the fourth petition, [which is, "Give us this day our daily bread,] we pray, that, of God's free gift, we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life, and enjoy his blessing with them. ANALYSIS AND PROOFS. We are here taught,— 1. That the fourth petition in the Lord's Prayer is, "Give us this day our daily bread."-Matt. vi. 11. 2. That temporal good things may be made the subject of prayer. Gen. xxviii. 20.-"If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and raiment to put on 3. That every good thing which we enjoy is undeserved by us, and is a free gift from God. Gen. xxxii. 10.-"I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant.” 4. That we are to seek only what may be necessary for the present day, and not to be over-anxious for the future. Matt. vi. 34. "Take no thought for (or be not over-anxious about) the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." 5. That we are to ask for such a portion of the good things of life, as God in his wisdom sees to be best for us. Prov. xxx. 8.—“ Give me neither poverty nor riches ; feed me with food convenient for me." 6. That we must ask God's blessing on what we receive, which alone makes temporal good things valuable. Prov. x. 22.-"The blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it." EXPLANATION. Obs. 364.-By the fourth petition in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," we are taught to pray, that, of God's free gift, we may receive a competent portion of the good things of this life. We may here observe, that spiritual mercies are not at all intended by bread in this petition. Jesus Christ, indeed, calls himself the bread of life which came down from heaven; but for this we pray in the second petition. If we consider how perfect this prayer is, we shall see that the good things of this life must be included; for it would be absurd to imagine, that Christ, who knows that his people require these things, should have given them no place in this directory. And as it is but short, we cannot suppose that he would have spoken of spiritual mercies in every petition. We find that the other petitions are full of them; and we may well believe, that he has appropriated the fourth solely to temporal mercies. By bread, then, we are here to understand all the necessaries and conveniences of life. And bread may be particularly specified, because it is the most common support of life; because it is the most necessary; because it is called the staff of bread, -Isa. iii.; because by it both the rich and the poor are maintained; and because it is found to be that kind of provision, which of all others is least loathed by mankind in general. This petition, "Give us this day our daily bread,” naturally implies the following things : 1. That all mankind depend upon God for the support of life, and for all its comforts and conveniences. Were not this the case, there would be no propriety whatever in presenting to God this petition; for we do not generally ask any thing from those on whom we have no dependence, or who we think have nothing to bestow. 2. That it is a lawful request to pray for bread. And although the bread that perisheth may appear a trifle, when compared with that which endureth to everlasting life; yet, while we are in the body, it is a most necessary concern of ours, to which we ought to give due attention. Spiritual things claim our first and clrief attention; but temporal things ought not to be neglected; for without them we could neither glorify God, nor be of much advantage to our fellowcreatures. And hence we must deem this a lawful request. 3. That it is a lawful request to pray for bread, not only for ourselves, but also for others: "Give us bread." And seeing that we are allowed to extend our request for others, as well as to request for ourselves, we should not in this respect withhold more than is meet-we should not withhold our brother's due; but we should prove that we love our neighbour as ourselves, and that it is our desire that others, as well as ourselves, may be happy. 4. That, whatever we enjoy in this world to make life comfortable and happy, we should seek to have such a right to it as that it may be called ours. "Give us our bread." 5. That we are not at liberty to ask riches from God. "Give us our daily bread." And although there are saints who are very rich in this world's goods, yet it is not in consequence of their prayers; for no saint can, consistently with his character, pray for riches. But we may pray as Agur did, "Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me."-Prov. xxx. 8. 6. That it is unlawful to indulge anxiety about futurity. "Give us this day our daily bread."-Matt. vi. 34. We are here taught to go daily unto God in prayer for what is necessary for us, that, by using the means which he hath appointed, we may show that we continually depend upon him for what is needful for the body. 7. That our bread-our daily bread-the comforts and conveniences of life, are all the gift of God; and that to him we must look for all. "Give us this day our daily bread.” And although men obtain their bread by industry and diligence, yet it is God who "giveth power to get wealth," and who blesseth the labour of the hands. Having forfeited life and every enjoyment with it in Adam, whatever we now enjoy is the unmerited gift of the Most High. We may here remark the difference between prayer for spiritual, and prayer for temporal good things. With respect to spiritual good things, there is no restriction; or the desires of the believer may be as large as he will. Let them be as extensive as the covenant, this is only what is promisedwhat he has reason to expect-and what he shall assuredly receive. But with respect to things of a temporal nature, we must restrict our desires, and pray only for such things as are for the honour of God and our own good. Whatever we ask of a temporal nature, it must be with a desire that God may be glorified; or, in other words, temporal good things must be asked for spiritual purposes.-Prov. xxx. 7-9 ; 1 Sam. i.; James iv. 3. Obs. 365.-By the fourth petition in the Lord's Prayer, "Give us this day our daily bread," we are taught to pray, that we may enjoy God's blessing along with the good things of life. In order that we may have the comfortable use of what we enjoy, it is necessary that we should pray for the blessing of God along with it. Without this, there will always be a worm at the root, without this, our hopes shall never be realized, whatever we promise ourselves,-and without this, outward comforts cannot answer the end which they are designed to serve, and for which they are used. We may here observe the difference with respect to the manner in which the righteous and the wicked hold their outward enjoyments. The title which the wicked have to outward enjoyments is only a common right, there being nothing in it to show that they are the Lord's; whereas the right which believers have is a special right-a title founded upon the covenant, or it is a spiritual right which they have to daily bread. The wicked have their portion in this life; whereas godliness hath the promise, not only of this life, but also of that which is to come.. The wicked have nothing but outward enjoyments; they want the blessing of the Lord on their basket and their store; whereas the righteous have his blessing along with what they enjoy; and this makes their comforts doubly valuable. INFERENCES. From this subject we learn,-1. That the Lord is mindful of all in this life, as well as hereafter. 2. That we ought to be grateful for present mercies. 3. That the Lord hath not left himself without witness, in giving us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 4. That we ought to correspond with him daily in private and in secret. 5. That the Lord can make up to his own people the want of much in this world. 6. That we have more than we deserve. 7. That they who possess much of this world's goods, and do not what they can for the advancement of God's glory in the world, by sending the “Bread of Life" to those who want it, are none of God's people. Of the Fifth Petition in the Lord's Prayer. 66 In the fifth petition, [which is, " And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," we pray that God, for Christ's sake, would freely pardon all our sins; which we are the rather encouraged to ask, because by his grace we are enabled from the heart to forgive others. ANALYSIS AND PROOFS. We are here taught,— |