7. They are said to do the will of God with constancy: Thus we read of them as serving him day and night in his temple, chap. vii. 15. and the angels, which are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister unto the heirs of salvation, are said always to behold the face of God in heaven, Mat. xviii. 10. that is, they never give out, or are weary of his service: We have herein an excellent example set before us, and are exhorted to pray, that in our measure we may yield the like obedience to God, though we fall very short of doing it, as they do who are in a perfect state. We are therefore herein taught to lift up our hearts to God, in a way of adoration, confession, and supplication, q. d. “We acknowledge, O Lord, that thou hast a right to the obedience of all creatures, and hast been pleased to give them thy law as the rule thereof. It is our glory, as well as our happiness, to be thy servants; for thy law is holy, thy commandment holy, just and good: But we acknowledge and confess before thee, that we have rebelled against thee, and have refused to yield obedience to thy commands: And when we behold the universal corruption of human nature, we blush and are ashamed to think how little glory is brought to thy name, by the service and obedience of thy creatures here below. In heaven thy will is done perfectly, by those who serve thee with the greatest delight and pleasure; but on earth thou hast but little glory; it is an instance of condescending goodness that thou hast not, long since, abandoned and forsook it, and thereby rendered it like hell: But, we beseech thee, take to thyself thy great power, and reign in the hearts of men; subdue their wills thyself, that they may cheerfully and constantly obey thy commanding will, and submit to thy providential will, as being satisfied that all thy dispensations are right, and shall tend to thy glory, and the welfare of all that fear thy name.”
Quest. CXCIII.
Quest. CXCIII. What do we pray for in the fourth petition?
Answ. In the fourth petition, [which is, Give us this day our daily bread,] acknowledging, that in Adam, and by our sin, we have forfeited our right to all the outward blessings of this life, and deserve to be wholly deprived of them by God, and to have them cursed to us in the use of them; and, that neither they of themselves are able to sustain us, nor we to merit, or by our own industry, to procure them, but prone to desire, get, and use them unlawfully; we pray for ourselves and others, that both they and we, waiting upon the providence of God from day to day, in the use of lawful means, may, of his free gift, and, as to his fatherly wisdom shall seem best, enjoy a competent portion of them, and have the same continued and blessed unto us in our holy and comfortable use of them, and contentment in them; and be kept from all things that are contrary to our temporal support and comfort.
In order to our understanding this petition, we must first consider what is meant by bread. Some have thought that our Saviour hereby intends spiritual mercies, as denoting that bread which is suited to the necessities of our souls, and particularly that we may have an interest in Christ, who is called, The bread of life, John vi. 35. The living bread which came down from heaven, ver. 51. But though it must be allowed, that this is a blessing far exceeding all those that are of a temporal nature, as much as the happiness of the soul is preferable to that of the body; and it is, doubtless, to be made the subject of our daily and importunate requests to God, q. d. give me an interest in Christ, or else I can have no delight or pleasure in any of the enjoyments of life: Yet this does not seem to be intended by our Saviour in this petition; but that bread which we pray for has a more immediate respect to the blessings of this life, which, according to the scripture-mode of speaking, are often set forth by bread. Thus God tells Adam, after his fall, In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, Gen. iii. 19. by which we are to understand, that he should take a great deal of pains to provide for himself the necessaries of life. So when God promises outward blessings to his people, he tells them, that bread shall be given them, and their waters shall be sure, Isa. xxxiii. 16. And elsewhere, I will abundantly bless her provision; I satisfy her poor with bread, Psal. cxxxii. 15. This is what we are taught to pray for in this petition; in which we may observe,
I. That there are some things supposed, namely,
1. That, by our sins, we have forfeited a right to the outward blessings of this life. This was the consequence of the forfeiture of life itself; and it was a part of the curse, that we were exposed to by our rebellion against, and apostacy from God. If he should deprive us of all the conveniences of life, and thereby imbitter it to us; so that we should be almost inclined to make that unhappy choice that Job did, of strangling and death, rather than life, Job vii. 15. there would be no reason to say, there is unrighteousness with God.
2. It is farther supposed, that outward blessings are God’s free gift to us. Whether we have a greater or a smaller portion thereof, they are to be acknowledged as the fruits of divine bounty: It is God that spreads a table for us; to some he gives a small measure, and to others a larger share of temporal good things; but, whatever we enjoy, it is to be owned as the effect of his providential goodness. This, indeed, does not exclude the use of those means that are ordained for the preserving of life, and our obtaining the good things thereof; but we must, at the same time, acknowledge, that all that wisdom, industry, and success that attends our endeavours, is from God; it is he that giveth power to get wealth, Deut. viii. 18. or, as it is elsewhere said, The rich and poor meet together; that is, they both agree in this, that the Lord is the Maker of them all, Prov. xxii. 2. that is, whatever be their circumstances in the world, it is he that provides, what they have, for them. And if what we enjoy is sweetened and sanctified to us for our good, so that we have not only the conveniences of life, but a blessing with them, and are enabled to make a right use and improvement of them, to the glory of God and the advantage of ourselves and others; this must also be reckoned an instance of divine favour, or the gift of God.
3. It is farther supposed, that temporal good things may lawfully be prayed for. As the providence of God does not, as was before observed, exclude the use of means; so it is not inconsistent with, but rather an inducement to prayer; and, indeed, prayer is an ascribing glory to God, as the fountain of all we enjoy; without which, it would be an affront to the divine Majesty, to expect any blessing from him. This is applicable to prayer in general, and, in particular, to our making supplication for outward blessings.
I. We shall consider the subject-matter of the petition, or what we are to understand when we say, Give us this day our daily bread.