and events, which the petitioners, antecedent to their prayers, knew
would certainly be accomplished. We have a decisive and remarkable
instance of this in David, the king of Israel, in the following words:
“And now, O Lord God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy
servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, _and do as
thou hast said_. And let thy name be magnified forever, saying, The
Lord of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant
David be established before thee. For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of
Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, _I will build thee an
house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this
prayer before thee_. And now, O Lord God, thou art that God, and thy
words be true, and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant.
Therefore now let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant,
that it may continue forever before thee; for thou, O Lord God, hast
spoken it, and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be
blessed forever:” [_2 Sam._ vii. 25-29.] Here David not only prays God
to do that which at the same time he knew and acknowledges God had
promised to do; and therefore it was established as firm as the throne
of the Almighty, and decreed that it should take place; but he says
that this promise of God, making it certain, was the reason, motive,
and encouragement to him to make this prayer: “Thou, O Lord, hast
revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house. And now,
O Lord God, thou art that God, _and thy words be true, and thou hast
promised this goodness unto thy servant_; THEREFORE HATH THY SERVANT
FOUND IN HIS HEART TO PRAY THIS PRAYER BEFORE THEE.” We hence are
warranted to assert that it is reasonable and proper to pray for that
which God has promised; and that the certainty that it will be
accomplished is a motive and encouragement to pray for it. How greatly
then do they err, who think that if every event is made certain by
God’s decree, there is no reason or encouragement to pray for any
thing!
Our Saviour, in the pattern of prayer which he has dictated, directs
men to pray that God would bring to pass those events which are
already fixed and decreed, and therefore must infallibly take place;
“Our Father, who art in heaven, _hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come, thy will be done_,” &c.
Christ himself, in the 17th chapter of John, prays for those whom the
Father had given to him, that he would keep them through his own name,
and that they might be _one_, as the Father and Son were one; might be
kept from the evil in the world, and be sanctified through the truth;
that they might be with him in heaven forever, and behold his glory.
At the same time he knew that all this was made certain to them; for
he had before said, that all that were given to him should come to
him, and he would raise them up at the last day; that he would give
unto them eternal life, and not one of them should perish, as none
should be able to pluck them out of his hands, or his Father’s. He
prays, “Father, glorify thy name;” not because this event was
uncertain, but to express his earnest desire of that which he knew was
decreed, and could not but take place, and his willingness to give up
every thing, even his own life to promote this. Again, Christ prays in
the following words: “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine
own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”
The event for which Christ prays in these words was decreed from
eternity, and the decree had been long before published, in the 2d and
110th Psalms: “I will declare the decree: The Lord hath said unto me,
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I will
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for thy possession. Sit thou at my right hand, until I
make thine enemies thy foot-stool.” And he had declared the certainty
of that for which he here prays, since his incarnation. He had said,
that all power in heaven and earth was given unto him; that “the
Father had committed all judgment unto the Son; that all men should
honour the Son, even as they honour the Father.” St. Paul, when
speaking of God, often introduces the following words: “To whom be
glory forever, Amen;” which is not to be considered as a mere
doxology, by which glory is _ascribed_ to God; but it is rather a
_wish_, or _desire_, that God may be glorified forever; and the _Amen_
corroborates it: as if he had said, “Let it be so; this is the most
ardent desire of my soul, including the sum of all my petitions.” Here
then the Apostle utters a desire and petition for that which he knew
was decreed, and would take place.
The last words of Christ to his church are, “Surely I come quickly.”
Upon which promise the following petition of the church, and of every
friend of his, is presented to him: “Amen, even so come Lord Jesus.”
Here is a petition, in which all Christians join, praying Christ to do
what he has promised; and which therefore was as certain as a declared
decree could possibly make it; and the petition is grounded on this
promise and decree published by Christ, in which the petitioners
express their hearty approbation of the coming of Christ, and earnest
desire of this important and happy event. And if it be reasonable thus
to pray for an event which is fixed and made certain by an
unchangeable decree, and cannot be altered, as in the instance before
us; then it is reasonable and proper to pray for any thing or any
event which appears to us desirable and important, though we know God
is unchangeable, and that all things and every event are fixed by an
unalterable decree.
The apostle John says, “And this is the confidence that we have in
him, that if we ask any thing _according to his will_, he heareth us.
And if we know that he heareth us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we
have the petitions that we desired of him:” [_1 John_ v. 14, 15.] To
ask for any thing _according to his will_, is to ask for those things
which it is agreeable to his will to grant; and this is to be known
only by what he has revealed. When we ask him to do what he has
declared he will do, then we know we ask for that which is according
to his will; and consequently that we have our petitions. But it will
be asked, What are these things? I answer, that God will glorify
himself in all things, and make the brightest display of his
perfections and character forever; that he will promote and effect the
greatest possible good of the universe; that he will make his church
and kingdom perfectly happy and glorious forever; that he will
accomplish all his designs and predictions, and fulfil all his
promises to his church and people: and cause all things to work for
the good of those who love him; and give his holy Spirit to all who
ask him. These, I think, must be the things we ask, when we know that
we pray for any thing _according to the will of God_, and consequently
know that he heareth us, and that we have the petitions that we
desired of him. But in all these instances we ask for that which God
has said he will do, that is, has decreed that he will do them. And as
it has been said before, if a decree in these instances does not
render it unreasonable or improper to pray for their accomplishment;
then, if God has decreed _whatsoever comes to pass_, this is not in
the least inconsistent with our praying for whatever appears to us
desirable and good, and may not be contrary to the will of God to
grant. But here it must be observed, that when we ask for any
particular things or events which, though it may not be contrary to
the will of God to grant, yet he has in no way revealed that it is his
will to grant our petitions; when we ask for any such thing, we must
do it with an express or implicit reserve—_If it be according to the
will of God_. Otherwise, or if it be not according to his will, we
must withdraw our petition, and not desire to have it granted.
Resignation to the will of God, whatever it may be, in all such
instances, is essential to the pious petitions of a benevolent friend
of God. And by thus referring to the will of God, and resigning to
that, desiring it may be done in all cases, whatever petitions we may
make, we do refer to the decrees of God, by which he has determined
what he will do in every particular instance; for his will and his
decrees are in this case one and the same, being fixed and
unchangeable.
_Fourthly._ It is not only proper and important that the worshippers
of God should express their desires of those things which they want,
in praying for them; but were this not true, and were not asking for
them the means and way of obtaining them; yet the pious friends of God
would esteem it a privilege and enjoyment to be allowed and invited,
“by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, to make known their
requests unto him.” To them prayer is not a _task_, from which they
would be glad to be excused, but they practise it with pleasure.—They
have great support, enjoyment and happiness, in casting their cares
upon God, and expressing the desires of their hearts to him. While
others restrain prayer before God, and say, “What is the Almighty,
that we should serve him? and what profit should we have if we pray
unto him?” the benevolent friend of God would pray, were it only for
the enjoyment which he has in the exercise; and says in his heart, “I
will call upon God as long as I live. And though he is certain that
God is unchangeable, and that nothing is done, or will come to pass,
which is not foreordained by him, this does not tend to prevent or in
the least abate the pleasure and enjoyment he has in making known his
requests to God, or his desire constantly to practise it: but this
truth gives him support and consolation, and increases his delight in
calling upon God, and renders it more desirable and pleasant unto him:
yea, were not this a truth, he could not find any reason for making
his requests known to him, or any delight in doing it; and would not
have any encouragement, or even _dare_, to ask for any thing, as has
been observed and shewn.”
And now this matter is to be left to the judgment of every one who
will attend to it. It is hoped that it appears evident, beyond all
dispute, from the light in which this subject has been now set, that
the doctrine of God’s decreeing whatsoever comes to pass is not only
consistent with all the exercises of true piety, but is the proper
foundation for this, and is suited to excite and promote these
exercises, and that there can be no real piety which is not consistent
with this truth.
[HOPKINS’S SERMONS.]
Footnote 120:
A kind and wise father, who designs to give his child some particular
favour, will bring the child to ask for it before he bestows it, and
will suspend the gift upon this condition, for the benefit of the
child, that what he grants may be a real advantage to him, and a
greater than if it were given before the child was better prepared to
receive it, by earnestly and humbly asking for it; and that the father
may hereby receive a proper acknowledgment from the child, and be
treated in a becoming manner. And in this case, the petition of the
child is as really regarded, heard and granted, and the child’s
application and prayer to the father is as much a means of obtaining
the favour, and as proper, important, and necessary, as if the father
had not previously determined the whole affair. And when the children
of such a father know that this is his way of bestowing favours on
them, they will have as proper motives, and as much encouragement, to
ask for all they want, as if he had not determined what he would do
antecedent to their asking him; yea, much more.
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_.
1. The thing prayed for, is _bread_; whereby our Saviour intimates, that
we are to set due bounds to our desires, when we are pressing after
outward blessings. He does not order us to importune with God for the
great things of this life; but rather for those things which are
necessary, in the enjoyment whereof, we may the better be enabled to
glorify him: He does not put his followers upon asking for crowns and
sceptres, as though his kingdom were of this world, as some, who were
influenced by carnal motives, fondly imagined, being ready to expect
that many worldly advantages would accrue from their adhering to him;
and, when they found themselves mistaken, shamefully deserted his cause,
and relinquished the profession that they once made of him: But Christ
never gave his people ground to expect that their secular interest
should be promoted by embracing the gospel: Accordingly, when any one
seemed desirous of being his disciple, he generally put this trying
question to him; whether he was content to leave all, and follow him, or
to lead a mean life in the world, and be hated of all men for his name’s
sake? His disciples, indeed, were sometimes filled with too great
solicitude about their future circumstances in life; but he encourages
them to hope for necessary provisions, when he says, _Your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things_, Matt. vi. 32. and
it is always found, that where there is the greatest degree of faith, it
tends to moderate our affections as to the things of this world; and if
at any time, they are apt to exceed their due bounds, it gives a check
to them, as the prophet says to Baruch: _Seekest thou great things for
thyself? seek them not_, Jer. xlv. 5. We have an admirable instance of
this in Jacob; who, when he was in a most destitute condition, flying
from his father’s house, to Padan-aram, did not know what entertainment
he should meet with there. The principal thing which he desires,
together with the divine presence and protection, is, that he might have
_bread to eat, and raiment to put on_, Gen. xxviii. 20. He does not ask,
that people and nations might bow down to him; or that God would take
away the life of his brother Esau, whose malicious design against him,
occasioned his present hazardous journey; he is not anxiously concerned
for the great things of this world, but only desires that he may have
the necessaries of life. And Agar’s prayer is not unlike this, who says,
_Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for
me_, Prov. xxx. 8. Such a frame of spirit our Saviour supposes them to
have, who thus address themselves to God in prayer for bread, or the
outward accommodations of life.
2. It is called, _our bread_; the meaning of which is, that there is a
distinct property which every one has, by the allotment of providence,
in those outward blessings which God has given him, whatever be the
measure or proportion thereof: This we are taught to acknowledge with
thankfulness, _q. d._ Thou didst not design that one man should take
possession of the whole world, or engross to himself all its stores, and
that the rest should starve and perish for want of the necessaries of
life; herein thy wisdom and sovereignty appears, and to this it is
owing, that there are some things which we have a right to, distinct
from others: not without, but by the gift and blessing of providence.
And therefore, whatsoever God thinks fit that we should receive, we call
our own, and as such, pray for it; otherwise we are not in the least to
desire or covet it, inasmuch as we are taught to pray only for that
which we may call ours, as having a natural or civil right to it, which
we have not to that which belongs to another.
Now there are two ways by which we are said to receive outward
blessings, which we may call our own from the hand of God, which are
more especially included in this petition.
(1.) As God, by his distinguishing hand, gives us that measure of
outward blessings which he sees convenient for us, and that either, by
succeeding our endeavours, or by supplying our wants in some way which
was altogether unexpected by us, and thereby making provision for the
comfort of our lives.—There is sometimes a chain of providences
concurring hereunto; as God speaks of his _hearing the heavens_, Hos.
ii. 21, 22. that, when they want store of water, he may furnish them
therewith, and _they may hear the earth_, so as to moisten it with
showers, when parched, and becoming unfruitful; and _that the earth may
hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil_, so as to produce them; and
that _these may hear_, that is, may be distributed among God’s people,
as he sees they want them; and the Psalmist says, _He watereth the hills
from his chambers: The earth is satisfied with the fruit of thy works.
He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of
man; that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh
glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread
which strengthened man’s heart_, Psal. civ. 13-15. So that there are
various causes and effects, subservient to each other, which are all
owing to the blessing of providence, whereby we come to possess that
portion of the good things of this life, which are allotted for us.
(2.) The outward blessings of this life may be called ours when God is
pleased to make them blessings to us, and give us the enjoyment thereof.
He must add his blessings to all the mercies he bestows, or else they
will not conduce to our happiness; nor can the general end, designed
hereby, be answered; without this, the bread we eat, would no more
nourish us, than husks or chaff; our garments, without this, could no
more contribute to our being warm, than if they were put upon a statue;
and the air we breathe, would rather stifle than refresh us. Thus it is
said, _Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word which
proceedeth out of the mouth of God_, Deut. viii. 3. that is, not barely
by second causes, or the means we use, in order to the maintaining life
and health, or any of the comforts thereof; but, by the blessing of God,
or his power and providence, that these ends are answered.
And it is he alone who can give us the comfortable enjoyment thereof:
This all have not; their tables are plentifully furnished, but they want
that measure of health which is necessary for their taking in, or
receiving advantage from them; as it is said of the sick man, that _his
life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat_, Job xxxiii. 20. Such
do, as it were, starve in the midst of plenty. And there are others,
who, though they have a great deal of the world, and are not hindered
from the enjoyment of it by the weakness or decays of nature; yet they
are made unhappy by the temper of their minds; as there are some that
abound in riches, who may, nevertheless be said to be poor, because they
want an heart to use what they have, which is God peculiar blessing:
Thus the wise man says, _Every man to whom God hath given riches and
wealth, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to take his
portion, and to rejoice in his labour, this is the gift of God_, Eccl.
v. 19. For these things we are dependent on him; and this is what we
intend, when we pray that God would _give us our bread_.