Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadWilliam Burkitt Notes and Observations - Matthew 6:9 - 6:9
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
As if Christ had said, For preventing these and all other faults in prayer, I will myself give you a complete form of prayer, and an exact pattern and platform for your imitation when you pray.
Note, That the Lord's Prayer is both a perfect form of prayer which ought to be used by us, and also a pattern and platform, according to which all our prayers ought be framed. St. Matthew says, After this manner pray ye: St. Luke says, When ye pray, say,
-"Our father which art in heaven; Hallowed be thy name: 10 Thy kingdom come: Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven: 11 Give us this day our daily bread: 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
The sense and signification of this best of prayers, is this: "O thou our Father in Jesus Christ! who remainest on thy throne in heaven, and art there perpetually praised, and perfectly obeyed by glorious angels and glorified saints; grant that thy name may be glorified, thy throne acknowledge, and thy holy will obeyed, here on earth below, by us thy sons and servants, proportion to what is done in heaven.
And because, by reason of the frailty of our natures, we cannot subsist without the comforts and supports of life, we crave, that such a proportion of the good things of this life may be given unto us, as may be sufficient for us; and that we may be content with our allowance.
And knowing that thy holiness and justice oblige thee to punish sin and sinners, we plead with thee, for the sake of thy Son's satisfaction, to pardon to us our daily trespasses, which we are guilty of in this state of imperfection; as we so freely and heartily forgive others that have offended and wronged us.
And seeing that by reason of the frailty of our natures we are prone to rush upon and run into temptation; we crave that, by the power of thy omnipotent grace, we may be kept from Satan's temptations, from the world's allurements, from our own evil inclinations, and be preserved unblamable to thine everlasting kingdom; which is exalted over all persons, over all places, over all things, in all times, past, present, and to come: and accordingly, in testimony of our desires, and in assurance to be heard and answered, we say Amen; so be it; so let it be, even so, O Lord, let it be for ever."
More particularly, in this comprehensive and compendious prayer, the following severals are remarkable.
Namely, 1. That the learned observe, that this prayer is taken our of the Jewish liturgies, in which it is entirely found, excepting these words, As we forgive them that trespass against us.
From whence Grotius notes, how far Christ the Lord of his Chursh was from affecting novelties, or despising anything because it was a form; a piece of piteous weakness amongst some at this day.
Observe, 2. The person to whom Christ directs us to make our prayers; namely, to God, under the notion of a Father; teaching us, that in all our religious addresses to God, we are to conceive of him, and pray unto him, under the notion and pray unto him, under the notion and relation of a Father. Our Father, &c.
So is he by creation, by a right of providence and preservation, by redemption, by outward and visible profession, by regeneration and adoption; and this relation which God stands in to us, may encourage us to pray unto him; for being our Father, we are sure that he is of easy access unto, and graciously ready to grant what we pray for.
And whereas it is added, which art in heaven; this is not to be so understood as if his essence were included, or his presence circumscribed or confined there, for he fills heaven and earth with the immensity of it: but he is said to be so in heaven, because there is the special manifestation of his presence, of his purity, of his power and glory, and teaches us with what holy fear, with what humble reverence, and not without a trembling veneration, polluted dust ought to make their solemn approaches to the God of heaven.
Observe, 3. That the three first petitions relate more immediately to God.
1. That his name may be hallowed. By the name of God, understand God himself, as made known to us in his attributes, words, and works. This name is hallowed or sanctified by us three wars; by our lips, when we acknowledge his divine perfections, and tell of all his wondrous works; in our hearts, by entertaining suitable conceptions of God; and in our lives, when the consideration of these divine perfections engages us to suitable obedience.
2. That his kingdom may come: by which we are not to understand his general and providential kingdom, by which he ruleth over all the world, that being always come, and capable of no farther amplification; but principally the kingdom of grace, promoted in the hearts of his people by the preaching of the gospel: we pray that God would dethrone sin and Satan in our own and others' souls, and increase grace and sanctification both in us and them, and that the kingfom of glory may be hastened, and we may be preserved blameless to the coming of Christ in his kingdom.
3. That his will may be done; by which the preceptive rather than the providential will of God us to be understood: we are to obey the former universally, and to submit to the latter very cheerfully. It intimates, that it ought to be the prayer and care, the study and endeavour, of every Christian, that the commanding will of God may be so done by men upon earth, as it is by the glorified saints and glorious angels done in heaven; namely, with that alacrity and cheerfulness, with that speed and readiness, with that constancy and diligence, that the imperfection of human nature will admit of; imitating the blessed angels, who execute the divine commands without reluctancy or regret.
Observe, 4. The three last petitions respect ourselves, as the three former did Almighty God.
The first of which is a prayer for temporal blessings: give us this day our daily bread.
Where note, The mercy prayed for, bread, which comprehends all the comforts and conveniences of life, and whatever is necessary for the supporting human nature.
Also the qualification; it must be our own bread, not another's, what we have a civil right to as men, and a covenant right to as Christians.
Note farther, The kind of bread we ask and desire; it is daily bread. Hereby we are put in mind of our continual dependence upon God for our lives, and for all the supports of life which we enjoy, and also kept in mind of our mortality. And mark the way and manner of conveying all good things to us, it is in a way of free-gift.
Give us our daily bread, we cannot give it ourselves; and when we have it of God, we receive it not as a debt, but as a free gift.
The next petition is for spiritual blessings, Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
Where note, 1. Some things supposed, namely, That we are all sinners, and, as such, stand in need of pardon and forgiveness.
2. That our sins are debts, willful debts, repeated debts, innumerable debts, inexcusable debts, debts diffcultly discharged, undoing debts.
3. That we are obliged to pray every day for daily pardon, as we do for daily bread, for our sins are many and daily.
4. It is here supposed, that since we are to pray for forgiveness of sin, it is impossible ever to satisfy the justice of God for sin.
Lastly note, The condition or qualification required, forgive as we forgive:
This requires, 1. That our minds be full of charity, free from rancour and ill-will, and all desires of revenge, and a secret grudge against another.
2. That we stand ready to help them, and to do any office of love and service for them that have offended us.
3. That we admit our offending brother into friendship and familiarity, which is called forgiving him from the heart: our heart must be towards him as formerly it was.
The sixth and last petition follows, Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Here note, A double mercy prayed for; namely, preventing mercy, and delivering mercy.
1. Preventing mercy, lead us not into temptation.
Hereby it is supposed, 1. That we are unable to keep our selves from temptation, partly through our natural depravity, partly through carnal security.
2. That it is God that must keep us from Satan's assaults, his traps and snares, which every where he lays in ambush for us.
3. That it is our own daily duty to be earnest and instant with God in prayer, not to suffer us, by the subtraction of his grace, or in a way of punishment for sin, to run into the circumstances which may prove snares to us, but daily to afford us such a measure of his grace as may keep us from falling by temptation, and not leave us falling under the temptation, but recover us speedily by his power, and enable us to stand more firmly for the future.
2. We here pray for delivering mercy, Deliver us from evil: by which may be understood Satan the evil one, but especially the evil of sin. We pray here that God would graciously preserve us from those vicious inclinations of our minds, and evil dispositions of our hearts, which render us so prone to yield to the temptations of Satan.
Here we see the ugly and deformed face of sin: it is evil: evil in its author and original, it is of the devil, the evil one; evil in its effects and fruits, it doth debase and degrade us, pollute and defile us, befool and deceive us, and, without repentance, damns and destroys us.
Observe lastly, The conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, which contains a complication of arguments to urge Almighty God with, for obtaining the mercy prayed for.
1. For thine is the kingdom; thou art the only absolute and rightful Sovereign, and all men are concerned to honour thee, and obey thy laws; thou art the supreme Governor of the world, and King of thy church, therefore let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done.
2. Thine is the power, therefore give us daily bread, and forgive our daily sins; for thou hast power to supply the one, and authority to pardon the other. The power of God is a mighty encouragement to prayer, and faith is the power of God has amighty prevalency in prayer with God.
3. Thine is the glory, that is, thine will be the glory; as if we should say, "Lord! by enabling us to hallow thy name by owning thy kingdom, by doing thy will, and by thy providing for us, and pardoning of us, thou wilt have much glory by us and from us."
It teaches us, that as our prayers in general ought to be argumentative; so an argument in prayer drawn from the glory of God is a mighty encouragement to hope for audience and acceptance.
4. For ever and ever, that is, thy kingdom is eternal, thy power eternal, thy glory eternal; the God whom we pray to is an eternal God, and this attribute of God is improvable in prayer, as an encouragement to expect the same blessings from God which others have done before us; for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
Amen; a word used in all languages, denoting an hearty assent to our own prayers, and an hearty desire to receive the mercies prayed for, and an humble assurance that we shall be heard and answered.