26. We may mentally supply the thought of motherless children. Widows may be supposed to include widowers. Both sexes are described as widows in some parts of England. All kinds of bereavement are of course included in desolate and oppressed.
27. Just as 19 concluded a section of petitions {169} for our own nation, so 27 concludes a section about the people of all nations. 28 adds a petition which the Lord particularly enjoined (S. Matth. v. 44).
28. enemies, persecutors, and slanderers—in ascending order of malignity. Similarly in the Commandments, where the worst sin of each sort is the one mentioned, we find false witness, or slander, named, in the Commandment which forbids all falsehood.
and to turn their hearts—a nobler prayer even than asking God to forgive them: for when we have asked Him for their forgiveness, we may still long to overcome their hostility, rather than to see it withdrawn. As Christ's disciples we here desire to forego our triumph, and to rejoice over their conversion from evil.
29. Kindly fruits of the earth. 'Kindly' means 'natural'; from an Old English word 'cynd' or 'gecynd,' meaning nature, kind, manner, condition. (Cf. Gen. i. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25.)[7]
30. Although forgiveness is granted through the death of our Lord, repentance is that condition of our souls wherein the forgiveness cleanses them. Repentance is therefore asked for first, then Forgiveness, Grace, and Amendment.
Sins, negligences, and ignorances: cf. General Confession, 'left undone'=negligence; 'done'=sins; 'no health in us' supplying the other defects, which are here set down to ignorance. We are called to a holy life, and therefore faults due to ignorance need {170} amendment and pardon, as well as faults which come of conscious disobedience to God's commands.
At the close of these petitions, the cry becomes more urgent. Our Lord warned us against vain repetitions—repetitions without meaning. The repetitions here are not vain—they express deep feelings, and anxious entreaty.
Section ii. Our cry to the Father in Heaven.
The couplet