thee openly. If never before, at least in that judgment when the secrets of all hearts shall be laid open, and the great question will be, what good deeds we have done to the poor, the sick, afflicted, and friendless. Matt. xxv. 34-36.

5. When thou prayest. The second topic is prayer. He warns his hearers against three errors and sins verse 5, Hypocrisy; verse 6, Distraction of mind: verse 7, Vain Repetitions. Synagogues. There was no harm in praying in a synaHere is gogue. no prohibition against social, public prayer. But praying there to be seen by men, using a public resort for private devotion, was ostentatious and censurable. We learn that such was the practice among the Jews. Corners of the streets. The Scribes and Pharisees had fixed hours of prayer, as the Mahometans have now, and they took care to be in the most conspicuous places at those times, that their devotions might attract notice. In the Jerusalem Talmud is this sentence: "I observed Rabbi Jannai standing and praying in the streets of Trippor, and going four cubits, and then praying the additionary prayer."

ostentation might be avoided; the other, that attention of mind might be secured. It is not to be supposed that Jesus forbade public worship, or family devotion, when he thus rebuked the publicity of Jewish prayers. His command is, that private prayer should be in private. He authorized social prayer by his own example, and that of his disciples. John xvii; Acts i. 24, iv. 24. - Is in secret. Is present, unseen, in your chamber of devotion.

Seeth in secret. A declaration of his spirituality and omniscience. Reward thee. An encouragement to faith and perseverance in devotion. Hundreds of precious assurances like this are scattered throughout the Scriptures.

7. Use not vain repetitions. Or, babbling repetitions, or many idle words. This is expressed by one word in Greek, which is derived from Battus, the name of a Lybian king, who stammered; or from the name of a Greek poet, who indulged in tautologies. The sense is, that the worshipper should not needlessly repeat or amplify expressions. This was done to a great extent, by both Jews and Pagans, and carried the idea, that the Deity required to be informed particularly of their wants, and was induced to supply them by reiterated supplications. Such maxims as these were in the Jewish Schools: "Every one that multiplies prayers shall "The prayer which

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is long shall not return empty." Their practice was in accordance with these sayings. As the heathen do. As specimens of the vain repetitions of the heathen, see 1 Kings xviii. 26; and Acts xix. 34. -They shall be heard. Or, more correctly, shall make themselves heard. Their much speaking. Their error was, that they supposed that the gods were altogether such as themselves; that they must be informed of the necessities of their supplicants, and wearied by importunity until they granted their requests. Our Lord, like Solomon, Ecc. v. 2, says, "Let thy words be few ;" and with the Son of Sirach, Ecc. vii. 14, "Make not much bab bling when thou prayest.' Yet it is vain repetitions he especially discountenances. Repetition may sometimes express a higher fervor of devotion. Matt. xxvi. 39, 42, 44.

8. Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of. Jesus does not by any means mention this as a reason why men should not pray, but as a reason why they should not pray as the heathen did, with long, reiterated, verbose expressions. Prayer is not designed to inform God of any thing; not even of our desires; for they are known to him better than we can express them. But it is communion of spirit with spirit. It is aspiration towards heaven and heavenly things. It is homage, gratitude, confession, supplication from the finite child to the Infinite Father. On this ground it is defensible, and with these views it should be performed. So Christ and his disciples taught and practised. 9-13. For the parallel passage, see Luke xi. 2-4.

The Jewish teachers were accustomed to give their disciples forms of prayer. John the Baptist taught his disciples how to pray. Luke xi. 1. It was natural therefore for the disciples to desire, and for the Saviour to give a model of devotion. This model has usually gone under the name of the Lord's Prayer, because our Lord composed it. The sentences, however, are partly drawn from the public liturgies of the Jews. But the work of selecting, combining, and arranging them exhibits as plainly the wisdom of our Master, as if every word had been original. Here, as upon other occasions, he hesitated not to weave into his instructions the holy sayings, and fitly spoken words, of prophets and priests before him; for they were embalmed in the dearest associations of his auditors. This prayer, rising above the narrowness of Jewish notions, possesses that comprehensiveness and adaptedness becoming a universal religion, and forms an epitome of Christianity. It breathes the spirit of filial faith in God, and fraternal affection for man. It may be viewed as a compend of the leading topics of devotion; suitable in all ages, places, and conditions of the world. Every sentence is a text for a variety of subjects, which might be comprehended under it. From the practice of the disciples, we learn that this form was not given to them or us for exclusive and constant use, but as descriptive of the substance and spirit of true devotion.

9. After this manner therefore pray ye. Take this as the pattern of your devotions. Our Father.

It has been observed that the word our, beginning this prayer, beautifully intimates, that in our private supplications love to man and love to God should be inseparable. In the secret chamber we should not forget our social condition. By the endearing appellation of Father, the infiniteness and awfulness of the Deity are brought down to a level with our finite minds and timid faith. From Jesus we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we can cry, Abba, Father, before the dread majesty of the Sovereign of the universe. Which art in heaven. Boundless, pure, tranquil, glorious, like the spread ing skies above us, is the Being whom we worship. But more than this. He dwells not peculiarly in the material heavens any more than elsewhere. He dwells in the spiritual heaven, of which the sky is but an emblem; the heaven of spirituality, holiness, love, and mercy. Those who imitate him, as dear children, are entering into the same heaven of blessedness.- Hallowed be thy name. May thy name be sanctified, or mayest thou be revered. This is the first petition. It is a prayer that idolatry, profaneness, and blasphemy may come to an end, and that the true worship of God may be established throughout the world. 1 Peter iii. 15; John iv. 21, 23.

10. Thy kingdom come. The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom or reign of the Messiah, are equivalent terms. This second petition means, therefore, May the reign of truth, the sway of the Christian religion, be extended everywhere; may Jesus Christ rule as the moral King, the spiritual sovereign of the globe.

The Jews were accustomed to say: "He prays not at all in whose prayer there is no mention of the kingdom of God."— Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven. Better, on earth. Religion may have spread the knowledge of God everywhere, and yet his will may not be perfectly obeyed. This is a supplication that the diffusion of truth may be followed by the prevalence of a heavenly obedience to the truth, and to God. In using these words, we pray that men, like angels, may submit their wills to the will of God; obey his laws; and yield, and yield cheerfully, to the wholesome chastenings of his Providence. "This comprehensive petition is the most humble, as well as the most prudent, that can be offered up from the creature to the Creator; as it supposes the Supreme Being will do nothing but what is for our good, and that he knows better than we ourselves what is so."

11. Give us this day our daily bread. The first three petitions are for the world; that the true worship of God, the knowledge of his will, and obedience to his commands, may be universal. The last three petitions of the Lord's Prayer relate to the temporal and spiritual wants of ourselves. The first is for temporal good, and decides the question, whether it is right to pray for any such blessing. Bread stands here for food, clothing, and whatever we need in the flesh. This prayer reminds us that our daily blessings, as well as the sublime promises of eternity, descend from the Father on high. The prevalent anxiety and worldliness with which men labor for riches and renown are rebuked here; for only one petition

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relates to temporal favors, and that, to good of the humblest, though most necessary kind, daily bread; whilst the other five requests are for spiritual objects. Prov. xxx. This day. Or, according to Luke, xi. 3, day by day. - Daily. The original word is not used in the Classics, or the Scriptures, except here and in the parallel place in Luke, and its meaning is therefore doubtful. The most probable sense is either necessary or sufficient.

12. Forgive us our debts. Remit our offences. Faults and transgressions are called debts. The same figure of speech in some particulars prevails in our language. One man is said to owe another a favor, or an apology. It is observable here, that our sins are forgiven directly by God, upon the fulfilment of the conditions he has imposed, and that nothing is said, or anticipated, relative to their being forgiven by any intervention of the blood of an innocent being, shed to placate the divine wrath. As we forgive our debtors. This is stated as the condition on which we may trust to be forgiven. Not that repentance and reformation are not necessary for forgiveness, but that a merciful disposition in us qualifies us preëminently for the reception of mercy from God. With what face can a harsh and unforgiving man pray for pardon, when by the very act he becomes, as it were, his own accuser? It becomes us ever to recollect that we stand in the same relation to God as offenders, as those who trespass against us do to us; nay, rather, that none can have offended against us by any comparison so deeply as we have offended against God, and none can have that

Amen.

need of our mercy that we have of the divine mercy.

13. Lead us not into temptation. This is a Hebraism, meaning, suffer us not to fall into trials that will The lead us into transgression. trials of life are the school of virtue. But the spirit of this petition is, that we may not encounter temptations too strong for our virtue; may not be abandoned, unprotected, to the assaults of evil; may not run recklessly and needlessly into any occasion of sin. 1 Cor. x. 13. How beautiful and appropriate is such a supplication for those hemmed in on all sides by moral dangers and difficulties, and liable at every moment to overstep the sacred limits of virtue! The sense of our exposed moral situation will render this a hearty, frequent, and earnest petition. But deliver us from evil. Or, the evil one; as it is customary in the Scriptures to personify evil, and call it a person. This is a prayer that we may be emancipated from sin and its miseries, and that the natural evils of life, sickness, misfortune, bereavement, may redound to our spiritual good. How great a petition! It is that we may attain spotless virtue and perfect happiness. For thine is the kingdom, &c. The for implies, that as God is all-powerful and glorious, the King over all, he is able and disposed to grant the foregoing pe titions. His power can supply every present and future want. His glory is to do good to his creatures. We can therefore approach him in a glad confidence that he hears and answers our prayers. The word Amen signifies so be it, being derived from a Hebrew verb, meaning to be true, faithful. The people

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