Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

We are now come to the second sort of petitions, that concern ourselves, as the former did more immediately concern God. Now you may observe the style in the prayer is altered: It was before, Your Name, Your Kingdom, Your Will; now it is, Give us, and forgive us, etc. Before, our Lord had taught us to speak in a third person, Your Will be done; and now in a second person, Give us this day. Which is not so to be understood, as if we were not at all concerned in the former part of the Lord's Prayer. In those petitions, the benefit is not God's, but ours. When his Name is sanctified, his Kingdom comes, and his Will is done; these things do not only concern the glory of God, but also our benefit. It is our advantage, when God is honored by the coming of Christ's Kingdom, and the subjection of our hearts to himself. But these latter petitions do more immediately concern us. Now among these, in the first place, we pray for the necessary provisions of the present life. Some make a scruple, why such a prayer should be put in the first place? Surely, not to show the value of these things above pardon and grace; but this is the last of the supplications. The Lord's Prayer may be divided into supplications and deprecations. Among the supplications, there we prayed, first, for the glory of God; next, for the Kingdom of God; next, for our subjection to that Kingdom; and in the last place, we pray for daily bread, or sustentation of the present life. But the other two are deprecations; and that either of evil already committed; and so we pray for pardon of sin, Forgive us our trespasses: Or deprecation of evil that is likely to be admitted; and so we pray against temptation, Lead us not into temptation. So that this request is put into a fit order: First, we seek God's glory, as the end; his Kingdom, as the primary means; our subjection to that Kingdom, as the next means; and last of all, our comfortable subsistence in the world, as a remote subservient help, that we may be in a capacity to serve and glorify God.

In this petition there is,

1. The thing asked, and that is bread, by which is meant all things necessary for the maintenance of this life.

Now this is set forth, 1. By a note of propriety, Our Bread. 2. By an adjunct of time, Daily Bread.

2. The manner of asking, Give; we ask it as a gift of God.

3. The persons for whom we ask, Give us; as many as are supposed to be in a family together. Those that can call God Father by the Spirit, they may come with most confidence to God about daily supplies.

4. The renewing of our request, [illegible], This day: There is very much in that; we ask but from morning till night. Give us this day our daily bread.

Before I come to explain these circumstances, let me observe in general:

Doctrine 1. That it is the Lord, which does bestow upon us freely and graciously the good things of this life.

It is bread we ask, and we ask it of God, and to God we say, Give: All which circumstances do fully make out the point.

This point again must be made good by parts.

- 1. That God gives it. - 2. That he freely and graciously gives it.

First; I shall show you how God is interested in the common mercies we do enjoy; and how every one, high or low, rich or poor, full or in a mean condition, of whatever rank they be, even those that have the greatest store and plenty of worldly accommodations, they must come from morning to morning, and deal with God for daily bread.

Those common mercies which we do enjoy,

1. God gives us the possession of them; for he is the absolute Lord of all things, both in heaven and in earth; and whatever is possessed by any creature, it is by his indulgence; for the primitive and original right was in him. (Psalm 24:1) The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. It is all God's, we hold it in fee from him; for he is the great landlord, who has leased out all these blessings to the sons of men. The earth is first the Lord's, and then by a grant he has given it to men to enjoy. (Psalm 115:16) The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's; but the earth has he given to the children of men. He has given it to men, partly, by a general grant, and leave given to enjoy and occupy it, as the place of our service: But that is not all; he does not only give the earth in general to men, but he makes a particular allotment; the particular designation of every man's portion of what he shall enjoy in the world, it is of God. And so it is said, (Acts 17:26) He has determined the bounds of their habitation. God has not only appointed in general, the earth to be the place of our service for a while; but he has determined how much every one shall possess, what shall fall to his share. These things come not by chance, or by the gift of others, or by our own industry, but by the peculiar designation of God's providence. However they come to us, God must be owned in the possession; whether they come to us by donation, purchase, labour, or by inheritance; yet they are originally by God, who (by these means) bestows them upon us. If they come by donation, or the gift of others; the hearts of men are in God's hands, and he it was that disposed them to be bountiful to us, that appointed them to be instruments of his providence, to nourish us. He that sends a present, he is the giver, not the servant which brings it: So, though others be employed as instruments, it is the Lord which made them able and willing to do us good. If they come to us by inheritance, it is the providence of God that a man is born of rich friends, and not of beggars: (Proverbs 22:2) The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all: He that has cast the world first into hills and valleys, it was he that disposed of men, some into a high, and some into a low condition. If they come to us by our own labour and purchase, still God gave it to us: (Deuteronomy 8:14, 18) Take heed that your heart be not lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God; for it is he that gives you power to get wealth. He does not leave second causes to their own power and force, as if he were only an idle spectator in the world: No, he gives the skill and industry to manage affairs, and success upon lawful undertakings; the faculty, and the use of it is all from God: Though a man has never so many outward advantages, yet unless the Lord concur with his blessing, all would be to no purpose.

2. As God gives us the possession, so he gives us a right and title to them. There is a two-fold right to these common blessings; a providential, and a covenant-right: Dominium Politicum fundatur in Providentia, our civil right to things is founded upon God's providence: But Dominium Evangelicum fundatur in Gratia; our gospel-right to things is founded upon God's grace. (1.) He gives the providential right; and thus all wicked men possess outward things, and the plenty they enjoy is as the fruits and gifts of God's common bounty, it is their portion, he has given it to them; (Psalm 17:14) Which have their portion in this life: whatever falls to their share in a fair way, and in the course of God's providence; they are not usurpers merely for possessing, but for abusing what they have. They have not only a civil right by the laws of men, to prevent the encroachment of others; but a providential right before God; and are not simply responsible for possession, but for their ill use and administration. (2.) There's a covenant-right to these blessings: so only believers have a right to creature-comforts by God's special love; and so, (That a little that a righteous man has, is better than the treasures of many wicked: (Psalm 37:16)) as the mean fare of a poor subject, is better than the large allowance of a condemned traitor. Every wicked man is a traitor to God, and has only an allowance until he be destroyed. But that little which a man has, seasoned with God's love, is better than all the mighty increase of wicked men. Now this covenant-right we have by Christ, who is heir of all things; (Hebrews 1:2) Christ has the original right to them, and we by him come to have a covenant-right: So it is said, (1 Corinthians 3:23) Things present, and things to come, all are yours. As things to come, the day of judgment is theirs; so things present is theirs by a new title from him: So it is said, (1 Timothy 4:5) Marriage, meats and drinks, and all creatures are made for them that believe. They that believe have only a gospel-right to them. To draw it to the present thing; we do not only beg a possession of these things, but a right; not only a providential, but a covenant-right, that we may enjoy them as the gifts of God's fatherly love and compassion to us; that we may take our bread out of Christ's hands, that we may look upon it as swimming to us in his blood, and all our mercies as wrapped up in his bowels; and then they will be sweet, and relish much better with a gracious soul, because he cannot only taste the creature, but the love of God in the creature.

3. He gives the continuance of our blessings, that we may keep what we have; for unless the Lord does daily support us, we cannot keep our comforts for one day. How soon can God blast them? It's at his pleasure to do what he will with you: He gave Satan power over Job's estate (Job 1:12): Behold all that he has is in your power. Our life is continued to us by the indulgence of God, and by his providential influence and supportation. For as the beams of the sun are no longer continued in the air than the sun shines; or, as the water retains the impress and stamp no longer than the seal is kept on it; so when God takes off his providential influence, all vanishes into nothing. Thus he is said (Hebrews 1:3) to uphold all things by the word of his power: As a weighty thing is upheld in the hand of a man, when he loosens his hand all falls to the ground: So it is said (Job 12:10), In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind. God by his almighty grasp holds all things in his own hands, and if he should but let loose his hand, all would fall to nothing, and disappear (Job 6:9). For it is from the intimate support and influence of his providence that we have our lives. So our comforts, they are continued to us by God; alas, in themselves they are poor fugacious things! Haman was today high in honor, and tomorrow high upon the gallows. Riches make themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle towards heaven (Proverbs 23:5). The Holy Spirit seems there to compare riches to a flock of birds, which pitches in a man's field tonight, but tomorrow they are gone: Who is the richer for a flock of wild fowls, because they pitch in his field now? So all these outward things are so fleeting, that they are soon gone by many accidents, unless he preserves them, and continues our possession of them. For God can give a charge and commission to the fire, to the fury of men, one way or other to deprive us of these things. Behold, all he has is in your hands (Job 1:12). When a man has gotten abundance of worldly comforts about him, and seems to be entrenched and provided against all hazards; the man is taken away, and cannot enjoy what he had heaped together with a great deal of care and solicitude.

4. We beg leave to use them. It is good manners in religion, to ask God's leave in all things. It is robbery to make use of a man's goods, and to waste and consume them without his leave. We must ask God leave upon this account, because, though God gives these good things to men, yet he still reserves the property in himself; for by distributing blessings to the creature, he never intended to divest himself of the right. As a husbandman, by scattering his corn in the field did not dispossess himself, but still keeps a right, and means to have the increase. So when the Lord scatters his blessings, we only receive them as stewards, not as owners and proprietors; God still is the supreme Lord, and only has the property and dominion. In life it is clear, man is not Dominus [reconstructed: Vitae], but Custos, not lord of his life, but only the steward and guardian of it; he cannot live or die at his own pleasure: if a man kills himself, he runs the danger of God's law. What is said of life, is true also of his estate, he is not an owner so much as a steward, that's the notion of our possession; we are stewards, and must render an account to God (Hosea 2:9): I will return and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax. Though God has communicated these things to the children of men, yet he has reserved the dominion in his own hands: So (Haggai 2:8), The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Hosts. He never disposed anything so into the creature's hands, but still he has reserved a right and interest in it; and therefore it is (Genesis 14:19), that the Lord is not only called the Creator of heaven and earth, but Possessor of heaven and earth. He is not only the Possessor of heaven where he dwells, which he has reserved to his own use; but he is Possessor of earth, which he has committed to the use of men. And God will have his right acknowledged from day to day.

5. It is he that gives us ability to use them: We beg, that we may not only have the comforts, but life and strength to use them; for God can blast us in the very midst of our enjoyments. It is the case of many, when they have hunted after a worldly portion, and begin to think, now I will sit down and enjoy it; when the gain is come into his hands, and he thinks to spend what he has got in hunting, death takes him away, and he has not power to use them. Thus it was with the rich fool, when he began to sing lullabies to his soul, and enjoy what he had got, he is taken away by death (Luke 12:20): You fool, this night your soul shall be required of you; then whose shall those things be which you have provided? And it is said (Numbers 11:33), when those people had gotten quails: That while the flesh was yet between their teeth, before it was chewed; the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord struck them with a very great plague. And that nobleman who saw plenty in Samaria, but could not taste of it (2 Kings 7:19). So (Job 21:23), One dies in his full strength, being wholly at ease and quiet: When he has gotten abundance of worldly comforts about him, death seizes on him of a sudden.

6. God yet is further interested in these mercies, so as to give us a sanctified use of them, that we may take our bread out of God's hands with prayer, and thanksgiving, and due acknowledgments of God: In (1 Timothy 4:5). Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. Then are the creatures sanctified to us, when we enjoy God in them; when our hearts are raised to think of the donor, and can love him the more for every gift. Carnal men, like swine, raven upon the acorns, but look not up to the oak from where they drop. In the Canticles, the spouse's eyes are compared to dove's eyes. They which make the allusion, say this is the meaning; look as a dove pecks, and looks upward; so upon every grain of mercy, we should look up to the God of Mercies: It is not enough to taste the sweet of the creatures, but also to own God, his love and bounty in them, so to have them sanctified to us. This is the privilege we have as men, that we can know the first cause, and who is the benefactor: All creatures subsist upon the first cause, but are not capable of knowing it. And this is our privilege, as Christians, to have this capacity reduced into act. It is of the Lord's grace to give us a sanctified use of these things.

7. We beg of God the natural blessing upon the holy use of outward comforts, so as they may continue us in health and vigor for the service of God; for nothing will prosper with us but by his blessing: (Psalm 106:15). He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their souls: that is, they had no natural comfort by that which they had obtained. God may give a man meat, yet not an appetite; he may not give him the comfortable use of it, a blessing with it. And therefore the apostle makes it to be an argument of God's bounty to the heathen, that as he gave them food, so he gave them gladness of heart: (Acts 14:17). He gave them rain from Heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness: that is, gave them a comfortable use, a blessing upon the use of outward things. And (Leviticus 26). you will find a distinction between bread, and the staff of bread: we may have bread, yet not the staff of bread. Many have worldly comforts, but not with a natural blessing: (Ecclesiastes 3:13). That every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of God: not only that he should have increase by his labor, but enjoy good; to have the comfortable use of that increase.

8. Contentment is one of God's blessings that we ask in this Prayer [Give us this day our daily Bread.] That is, such provisions as are necessary for us, contentment and quiet of mind in the enjoyment; (Joel 2:19). Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be satisfied therewith. It is not only a blessing we should look after, but contentment, that our minds may be suited to our condition, for then the creature is more sweet and comfortable to us. The happiness of man does not lie in his abundance, but in the suitableness of his mind to his estate. (Luke 12:15). A man's life consists not in the abundance of things which he possesses. There's a twofold war within a man, both which must be taken up before a man can have comfort; there's a war between a man and his conscience, and this breeds trouble of mind; and there's a war between his affections and his condition, and this breeds murmuring and envious repining: Say, Indeed, Lord, and let us be contented with your gift. This for the first thing, how God is concerned in these outward comforts.

Secondly; That the Lord does freely and graciously give these good things to us, (that is) merely out of his bounty and goodness. It is not from his strict remunerative Justice, but out of his grace. The very air we breathe in, the bread we eat, our common blessings, be they never so mean, we have them all from grace, and all from the tender mercy of the Lord. (Psalm 136:25). you have there the story of the notable effects of God's mercy, and he concludes it thus: Who gives food to all flesh: for his mercy endures forever. Mark, the psalmist does not only ascribe those mighty victories, those glorious instances of his love and power, to his unchangeable mercy, but our daily bread. In eminent deliverances of the Church we will acknowledge mercy; Indeed, but we should do it in every bit of meat we eat, for the same reason is rendered all along. What's the reason his people smote Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, and rescued his people so often out of danger? (For his mercy endures forever.) And what's the reason he gives food to all flesh? (For his mercy endures forever.) It's not only mercy which gives us Christ, and salvation by Christ, and all those glorious deliverances and triumphs over the enemies of the Church; but it's mercy which furnishes our tables, it is mercy that we taste with our mouths, and wear at our backs. It is notable, our Lord Jesus, when there were but five barley loaves, and two fishes, (John 6:11). He lifted up his eyes and gave thanks. Though our provision be never so homely and slender, yet God's grace and mercy must be acknowledged.

But to evidence this by some considerations; that certainly it is of the mercy of the Lord, that he gives bread to the creature: God gives these mercies.

- 1. To those that cannot return any service to him. - 2. To those that will not return any service to him. - 3. When we are at our best, we cannot deserve them. - 4. We deserve the quite contrary.

1. He gives these mercies to those that cannot return any service to him. The beasts, and fowls of the air, the young ravens: (Psalm 145:16). You open your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living thing. What can the beasts, or fishes, or fowls of the air deserve at God's hand? what honor and service can they bring to him? only they have a bountiful creator, from whom they receive their allowance.

So as to infants, alas, what can they deserve at his hand? When God rocks their cradles, and nourishes them from the breast; what service can they do to God? (Isaiah 46:3-4) By me, says the Lord, You are born from the belly, and carried from the womb, and even to your old age, I am he, and even to hoary hairs will I carry you: mark, not only in old age, when we have done God service, does he maintain us; but from the womb, the belly, before we could do anything for him, we were tenderly handled by him. He alludes to parents and nurses, which carry their young ones in their arms. In infancy we are not in a capacity to know the God of our mercies, and look after him; yet he looked after us then, when we could not perform one act of love and kindness to him. The Psalmist takes notice of this; (Psalm 22:9-10) You are he who took me out of the womb; you made me hope, when I was upon my mother's breast. I was cast upon you from the womb, you are my God from my mother's belly. Christians, before ever you could do anything for him, or yourselves, before you could improve his mercy, when you could not know who was your benefactor, who it was that nourished and cherished you, yet then God rocked your cradles, kept you from many dangers, nursed you, and brought you up, and carried you in the tender arms of his providence.

2. God gives these mercies to those that will not serve him when they can: (Isaiah 1:2) I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. There are many in the world whom God protects, supplies, and provides them of all necessaries, yet they return nothing but disobedience, contempt, rebellion, and unthankfulness. The sun does not shine by chance, but at God's disposal: (Matthew 5:45) He makes his sun to rise on the evil, and on the good; and sends rain on the just, and on the unjust. Most of those which are fed at God's table, and maintained at his expense and care, they are his enemies: and many times the more men receive from him, the worse they are. Look as beasts towards man, when they are in good plight they grow fierce, and are ready to destroy those which nourish them: so, when [we] are plentifully supplied, we kick with the heel, grow wanton, and forgetful of God. Or, as a froward child scratches the breast which suckles it; so we rebel against God that nourished us, and brought us up, and dishonor our heavenly Father that provides these blessings for us. Parisiensis has a saying, They which hold the greatest farms, many times pay the least rent: so the great ones of the world, they which have most of God's bounty, give him the least acknowledgment.

3. When we do our best, we cannot deserve these mercies, or merit anything at God's hands; for all we do is already due to God, as we are his creatures; and the paying new debts will not quit old scores. The question is proposed, (Job 22:2) Can a man be profitable to God, as he that is wise may be profitable to himself? See the answer, (Job 35:7) If you be righteous, what do you give him? or what does he receive of your hand? and wherein is God profited, if a man's ways be perfect? And therefore whatever God does for creatures, he does it freely, because he cannot be obliged by any act of ours, and pre-engaged. Thus Adam in innocency could not obtain the blessing, but by virtue of the covenant, nor merit anything at God's hands; (that is) put any obligation upon God; and therefore certainly now we cannot. And partly too, not because whatever we do, it will carry a proportion with these common mercies. We are proud creatures, and think of a condignity of works, and to merit from heaven these mercies: but alas! there is no comparison; and if God would deal with us upon merit, and strict commutative justice, we cannot give him a valuable compensation for temporal mercies. (Genesis 32:10) I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies which you have showed to your servant. Though none of God's mercies can simply be said to be little; for whatever comes from a great God should be great in our value and esteem, as a small remembrance from a great person is much prized; therefore no mercy is simply little, but comparatively; now the least mercies some have, and others the greatest temporal things: when we are put into the balance, we, and all our worth and deservings, cannot counterpoise the least mercy, or merit the daily bread we have from God. And then the little good we do, it is merely by the grace that we have received. If one man differs from another, who made him differ? It is but a new gift, he is the more indebted to God.

4. We deserve the contrary. We have forfeited our lives, and all our comforts; we have put ourselves out of God's protection by sin. Death waylaid us, when we were in our mother's womb; and as soon as we were born, there was a sentence in force against us. (Romans 5:12) Death came upon all, for that all have sinned. And still we continue the forfeiture. We provoke God to cut us off. It is a kind of pardoning mercy, by which we subsist every moment. This is sensible in case of sickness, when our lives and comforts slide from us, when there is but a step between us and death, when the old covenant comes to be put in suit, and God seems to be executing the sentence of the law. And that is the reason why the temporal deliverance of the wicked and impenitent, is called a remission; as, (Psalm 78:38) But he being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and destroyed them not. And, (Matthew 18:26-28) Have patience with me, and I will pay you all. And the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and forgave him the debt. Why is it called a remission? Improperly, because it was a reprieve from the temporal judgment for a time; it was, not an executing the sentence which was in force against us: and it was not from anything in the sinner, but from God's pity over his creatures. And a godly man, every time his life and comforts are in danger, has a pardon renewed at that time. (Isaiah 38:17) You have in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back. They are loved out of danger, and loved out of sickness; the pardoning mercy of God is indeed renewed to them.