and to be prayed for;

tended in this petition,

as by John, Rev. xxii. 20. and seems to be chiefly insince it is so closely connected with,

The third petition; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven; which as ¿ yet has never been done in the full sense of it, by any man on earth, excepting our Lord Jesus Christ, but will be done by all the saints in the personal reign of Christ. The will of God is either secret or revealed; the secret will of God is the rule of his own actions, in creation, providence, and grace, Eph. i. 11. This is unknown to men, until it appears, either by prophesies of things future, or by facts and events that are come to pass; it is always fulfilled; Who hath resisted his will? it cannot be resisted, so as to be null and void. There is no counter-acting the will of God; whatever schemes contrary to it, formed by men, are of no avail; the counsel of the Lord shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure, Isai. xlvi. 10. The providential will of God, or what appears in the dispensations of his providence, are a guide to us in our actions; we should say, as James directs us, we will go here and there, do this or that, if the Lord will, James iv. 14, 15. and even as this will of God appears in adverse dispensations, it should be acquiesced in and submitted to, without murmuring and repining; with respect to every event it should be said, The will of the Lord be done, Acts xxi. 14. in imitation of Eli, Job, David, Hezekiah, and others, and even of our Lord himself.

The revealed will of God is either what is made known in the gospel, and which expresses the good will of God, his grace and favour, declared in the way and method of saving sinners by Christ, or what is signified in the law, which is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God; the matter of it is good, and when a right use is made of it, and when rightly and truly obeyed, is acceptable to God, through Christ, and is a perfect rule of life, and conversation to men. To the doing of which will the knowledge of it is requisite, Col. i. 10. Faith in God; without which it is impossible to please him, Titus iii. 8. The grace and spirit of Christ; without which nothing can be done to any purpose; this may be expected, since it is promised, and may in faith he prayed for, Ezek. xxxvi. 27. and when it is done aright, it is done with a view to the glory of God, and without any dependence on it; acknowledging, that when we have done all we can, we are unprofitable servants.

The rule of doing the will of God, as expressed in this petition, is, as it is done in heaven; meaning not the starry airy heavens, though the inhabitants of them do the will of God, in their way, in a perfect manner; the sun knows, and punctually observes, its rising and setting, and the moon its appointed sea. sons of change and full, of increase and decrease; the planetary orbs keep their stated courses; sun, and moon, and stars, praise the Lord, as they are called upon to do, and even the meteors in the air, Psalm cxlviii. 3, 8. But rather the third heavens are meant, the inhabitants of which are glorified saints, the spirits of just men made perfect, and are perfect in their obedience, and the holy angels, who may be chiefly designed; these readily, cheerfully, and volun

tarily do the commandments of God, hearkening to the voice of his word, at once to fulfil it; so in this petition it is desired, that saints do the will of God, not by constraint, but willingly; at least not by any other constraint but that of love; angels are thought by some to be called seraphims from their flaming love and burning zeal for the glory of God; saints are desirous of being fervent in spirit, serving the Lord, and that in sincerity, in singleness of heart; angel do the will of God speedily, and without delay, hence wings are aseribed unto them, and Gabriel is said to fly with the Lord's message to Daniel; so saints desire, with David, to make haste, and not delay to keep the commandments of God; and not some of them only, but all; not a part, but the whole will of God, angels do the will of God constantly, they always behold the face of our Father in heaven, and serve him incessantly, day and night; and saint would, as they should, be stedfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; and though they cannot, in the present state, do it perfectly, a the angels do, yet they are desirous of it, and reach towards perfection; and when the kingdom of Christ comes on earth at his appearing, then will this petition be fulfilled.

The Fourth petition is, Give us this day our daily bread; by which is meant, either spiritual or corporal food: some understand it of spiritual food; as the word read, preached, and heard, which is that to the soul as Dread is to the body, refreshing, nourishing, and strengthening; and the ordinances, called the good ness and fatness of the Lord's house, particularly the Lord's supper, the bread of the eucharist; but that was not instituted when this directory was given; and when it was, was not to be administered daily; rather Christ, the bread of life, with respect to which the disciples made a request to Christ similar to this petition; Lord, ever more give us this bread! but it seems best of all to understand it of corporal food, which sense the order of the prayer directs to; and which, if not intended, would be imperfect; since then there would be no petition in it for temporal mercies, which yet is necessary. Bread, with the Hebrews, includes all the necessaries and conveniences of life; see Gen. iii. 19 and xxviii. 20. the epithets of it are, our bread and daily bread: ours, not by desert, for we are not worthy of the least mercy; not what we have a natural right to, and a claim upon; Adam had a grant of all good things, sinning, all were forfeited; men in common now enjoy them, through the indulgence of providence; only believers in Christ have a real and proper right unto them; which they have through interest in him, and by being co-heirs with him: ours, what we have in a lawful way, by inheritance from our parents, by legacies from our friends, by our own labour and industry, and in a way of lawful trade and commerce: ours, and not another's not what is got from others, neither by fraud, and is the bread of deceit; nor by force and rapine, and is the bread of violence and oppression; nor by theft, and is the bread of wickedness; nor enjoyed in sloth, and is the bread of idleness; such bread is not ours, another's; and, indeed, to live upon alms, is to live on another's bread; and

but

though lawful, is not desirable, but to be deprecated; Give me neither poverty, &c. and when we are directed to pray, give us our bread, we are taught to pray for others as well as for ourselves; that our fellow-creatures and fellow-christians might have bread as well as ourselves; even the congregation of the Lord's poor, Psalm lxxiv. 19. the other epithet, daily bread, the word used for it is only in this place, and differently rendered; in the Syriac version, The bread of our necessity, or indigence, what is necessary for the day, as the Persie version; and seems to be the same Job calls his necessary food, what is ne» cessary for the support of life, and what our heavenly Father knows we haye need of; food that is fit to eat, such as a father will give to a son; not a stone, nor a scorpion, but proper food; as every creature of God, designed for that purpose, is good; so 2010 may signify, that which is fit for our nature, substance, and being, as a learned Lexicographer & interprets it; what is fit for the sustentation of our bodily substance, and the preservation of our life and being; and is what Agur calls food convenient, suitable to our nature, condition, and circumstances; and as much of it as is sufficient. The manna of the Israelites might with great propriety be called their daily bread; since it was rained about their tents every morning, and was gathered by them every day, and that by every one, according to his eating; that is, as much as he could eat, or was proper for him to eat.

The petition is, Give us our daily bread; which shews it is'to be prayed for, and to be expected as the gift of God, from whom every good gift comes; and it may be expected, because promised; Bread shall be given him: and though it is our bread, gotten by our labour and industry, yet it is to be ascribed to the bounty and blessing of God, and acknowledged a gift of his; for it is the blessing of the Lord upon the diligent hand that maketh rich, Prov. x. 4, 22. and when we pray that this may be given, we pray for other things to be given with it, or it will be of no avail; as that God would give us health and appetite; for if our bones are chastened with strong pain, and our bodies filled with diseases, we shall be like the sick man, whose life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat; and likewise that God would give nourishment with it; for this is not from food itself alone, nor at the option and will of men, but is of God; and therefore a blessing is to be asked upon our food, or otherwise how can we expect it should be nourishing to us? see Deut. viii. 3. 1 Tim. iv. 5. yea, a power to eat of what we have is to be asked of God; for some are so unnatural and cruel to themselves, as to withhold from themselves what is meet, as well as from others; for a man to eat of the fruit of his labours in a sober way, is the gift of God, Eccles. v. 18, 19, and what we ask, and God give us, is for our use, and not to be abused by us; which is neither for true pleasure, nor profit, nor honour; and since what we have is by gift, we should be content with such things as we have, and be thankful for them: and this petition teaches us, that we should be daily dependent on God, and his providence, and not trust in 10 thi Ty main quraquer, Suidas in voce, INCIOS.

the gift, but in the Giver; and not think to set our nest on high, out of the reach of providence and as if delivered from the power of evil; but remember, that he that gives can take away, 1 Tim. vi. 17. Hab. ii. 9. The time when food is to be prayed for is, this day; which may teach us the brevity and uncer tainty of life, since we cannot boast, promise and assure ourselves of a to-mor row; and may instruct us to depress all anxious and immoderate care of what we shall eat, and drink, and wear on the morrow, since we know not what a day may bring forth; and sufficient for the day is both the evil and good of it: and we may learn by it, that our wants may be expected to return on us daily; the food of yesterday will not suffice for this day, nor the food of this day for the morrow; it must be asked for every day: and from hence it appears, that we should pray daily, always, and without ceasing; as the word of God directs.

The Fifth petition is, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; by debts are meant sins, as appears from Luke xi. 4. where the same petition is, Forgive us our sins; these are called debts, no: as owing to God; it is obedience we owe to God, and in case of sin, satisfaction to his law; and in failure of obedience, and not making satisfaction, we owe a debt of punishment, and become liable to the curse of the law, to eternal death, which is the wages and demerit of sin; and these debts are numerous, we owe ten thousand talen's or more, and cannot answer to one debt of a thousand: men are incapable of paying their debts themselves, nor can any creature pay them for them; and so are liable to a prison. Christ only is the surety of his people, he has undertook to pay their debts, and has blotted out the hand-writing against them. And when we are directed to pray for the forgiveness of these debts, or sins, it supposes a sense of sin, and of the guilt of it, chargeable upon us; and likewise an acknowledgment of it, which God requires, and we are encouraged to give; since if we confess our sins, God is just and faithful to forgive them; also a sense of our inability to pay our debts, and of others paying them for us: and by application to God for the forgiveness of sins, it shews that we believe that God can forgive sin; and he only, as indeed none can but himself; and he for gives sin freely and fully; we not being able to pay, he frankly forgives, and even all trespasses, and that for Christ's sake, on account of his blood shed, and satisfaction made: and therefore there is encouragement to pray for the forgiveness of sin, as David, Daniel, and other saints did, and as Christ's disciples and followers are directed to; that is, for the manifestation and application of pardoning grace; which is all that can be meant, and we want; it is not a request that Christ may be sent again to pay our debts for us, and his blood be shed again for the remission of sins, or a new act of pardon pass in the mind of God; but that we may have a fresh application of pardon, already procured and passed; and this we are to pray for daily, since we are daily sinning, in thought, word, and deed; and therefore forgiveness is to be prayed for, as ficquently as we pray for our daily bread, with which petition this is joined.

The reason or argument made use of to enforce this petition is, as we forgive our debtors; or, as Luke has it, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us; pecuniary debts are to be forgiven when the debtor is unable to pay; and criminal debts or sins, and injuries committed by one christian against another, are to be forgiven, as Christ has forgiven them: not that our forgiveness of others, is the cause of God's forgiveness of us; for the moving cause of God's forgiveness is his free favour, grace, and mercy; it is according to the multitude of his ten let mèrcies, and according to the riches of his grace; and not the deserts of men: the meritorious cause of it is the blood of Christ, shed for the reinission of sins; and the satisfaction of Christ, for the sake of which they are forgiven. Nor is our forgiveness of fellow-creatures the model of God's forgiveness of us; there is no perfect comparison between them, much less an equality. God forgives as Lord of all, and who has an absolute power so to do; but men forgive those who are their equals, and sinners like themselves; God forgives for Christ's sake, and upon a satisfaction made; but men without, and at most upon repentance, God forgives great sins, and, indeed, all manner of sin; but what man forgives are trivial offences, injuries to their persons or properties but not sins committed against God. But this is an argument taken from God's own grace, in the hearts of his people, and as an evidence of it; that if he has given them such grace as to forgive their fellow-creatures and christians, then they may hope and expect, that he who is the God of all grace, and from whom they have received theirs, will forgive their sins, of his rich grace, and for Christ's sake; the reasoning is much the same with that in Luke xi. 13. Nor is it to to be expected, that God should forgive us our sins without our forgiving the sins of others; nor can we put up such a petition without forgiving others.

The sixth petition is, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, which some make to be a sixth and seventh; but they seem to be two parts and branches of the same.

1. Lead us not into temptation. There are various sorts of temptation. 1. Some are of God, as, by enjoining things hard, difficult, and trying; so God tempted Abraham, by ordering him to take and offer up his son, on one of the mountains he should shew him, whereby he tried his faith in him, his love and obedience to him, and his fear and reverence of him, Gen. xxii 1-12. and sometimes by laying afflictions upon his people; which, though they cause heaviness, should be accounted joy; because they try and prove faith and patience, whereby they become more illustrious and precious, 1 Pet. i. 6, 7. James i. 2, 3. but not by soliciting any to sin, James i. 13. yet there is a sense in which God inay be said to lead into temptation, or there would be no occasion to deprecate it; and that either providentially, as Christ himself was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil, Matt. iv. 1. and as when things occur in providence, and objects are presentedǝ