And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Luke 11:2
WHY IS THIS PETITION PUT BY OUR SAVIOUR FIRST INTO
OUR MOUTHS?
Hallowed be Thy Name
WHY IS THIS PETITION PUT BY OUR SAVIOUR FIRST INTO
OUR MOUTHS?
Hallowed be Thy Name
The reason is, because the glory of God or honor of His name is the chief end of our being and of all others. And therefore it should lie nearest our hearts (Rom_11:36). Inferences--
1. The dishonour done to God by one’s own sin and the sins of others must needs go near the heart of a saint (Psa_51:4).
2. Habitual profaners of that holy name are none of the children of God, whose main care is to get that name hallowed.
3. Holiness is the creature’s glory, and its greatest glory, for it is God’s glory, and therefore unholiness is its disgrace and dishonour. (T. Boston, D. D.)
What the first petition implies
I. We must pray that God will enable us to sanctify Him in our hearts, in our words, and in our actions.
1. In our hearts. We must pray that holiness to the Lord, the holy Lord God, may be engraved there. We must pray further: that we may always maintain in our hearts a reverent esteem of God, as a Being of infinite, unblemished purity.
2. We must likewise pray, that we may sanctify the name of God with the tongue.
3. We are here directed to pray, that we may sanctify the name of God by practical obedience.
We must likewise pray, that God by His providence will dispose of all things for His own glory, as the universal Lord and Ruler, of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things, and whose throne is for ever and ever; who has the hearts of all in His hand, universal nature at His command, from the meanest worm or insect to the highest of all the angelic orders in heaven; and who has wisdom and power sufficient to govern all in the best manner and to promote the best end. [John Whitty]
THE TERMS OF THE PRAYER. To implore that God’s name may be hallowed, is to ask that it may be treated with due reverence, as befits the holy. In heaven it is so treated (Isa_6:3). But what is God’s “name”? It stands for His character, and includes all those signs and deeds by which God makes known to us His moral essence;—all the manifestations which He has given of His nature and purposes;—as well as in the narrower sense of the titles and appellations which He has chosen to proclaim as His own. As His Scripture, or His Word, is a fuller and clearer manifestation of His character than is contained in this material structure—the handiwork of God, the visible Creation; so, consequently, this volume of Divine Scripture and the revelation there made are an important part of His name. As the Son, in His incarnation, yet more clearly” and yet more nearly manifested God, He, the embodying Messiah, is called the Word of God.
[Biblical Illustrator]
1. The dishonour done to God by one’s own sin and the sins of others must needs go near the heart of a saint (Psa_51:4).
2. Habitual profaners of that holy name are none of the children of God, whose main care is to get that name hallowed.
3. Holiness is the creature’s glory, and its greatest glory, for it is God’s glory, and therefore unholiness is its disgrace and dishonour. (T. Boston, D. D.)
What the first petition implies
I. We must pray that God will enable us to sanctify Him in our hearts, in our words, and in our actions.
1. In our hearts. We must pray that holiness to the Lord, the holy Lord God, may be engraved there. We must pray further: that we may always maintain in our hearts a reverent esteem of God, as a Being of infinite, unblemished purity.
2. We must likewise pray, that we may sanctify the name of God with the tongue.
3. We are here directed to pray, that we may sanctify the name of God by practical obedience.
We must likewise pray, that God by His providence will dispose of all things for His own glory, as the universal Lord and Ruler, of whom, and through whom, and to whom are all things, and whose throne is for ever and ever; who has the hearts of all in His hand, universal nature at His command, from the meanest worm or insect to the highest of all the angelic orders in heaven; and who has wisdom and power sufficient to govern all in the best manner and to promote the best end. [John Whitty]
THE TERMS OF THE PRAYER. To implore that God’s name may be hallowed, is to ask that it may be treated with due reverence, as befits the holy. In heaven it is so treated (Isa_6:3). But what is God’s “name”? It stands for His character, and includes all those signs and deeds by which God makes known to us His moral essence;—all the manifestations which He has given of His nature and purposes;—as well as in the narrower sense of the titles and appellations which He has chosen to proclaim as His own. As His Scripture, or His Word, is a fuller and clearer manifestation of His character than is contained in this material structure—the handiwork of God, the visible Creation; so, consequently, this volume of Divine Scripture and the revelation there made are an important part of His name. As the Son, in His incarnation, yet more clearly” and yet more nearly manifested God, He, the embodying Messiah, is called the Word of God.
[Biblical Illustrator]
God's Government
IN ONE of those sublime flights with which the Epistles of St. Paul abound, he tells us that the time is coming when the Son shall deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father, when He shall abolish all rule, and authority, and power. From this we are at liberty to infer that the Kingdom was originally the Father's; that by man's sin and fall it has been alienated from His control.
The Lord Jesus became incarnate for the purpose of regaining the Kingdom by His agony, blood, and tears; though it is not as yet His, it is being acquired. When, therefore, we pray: "Father, Thy Kingdom come," we are asking that the complete victory of Jesus Christ may be hastened; that He may speedily triumph over all obstacles and enemies; that truth may reign in government, art, and science; that trade may be free from chicanery and fraud; that tyranny may be extinguished, corruption exposed; that He may send forth His Angels to gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, destroying that last enemy, death, and bringing in the golden age when all men shall know and love the Father, and become His obedient children.
There are many explanations of the Kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps as a rough and ready way of interpreting the phrase, we may say Divine Kingship. When we grasp that idea, it becomes the dominant note of life. It is the master-key which opens every lock. Just to believe, deep down in your soul, that the Father of Jesus—our Father—is King. That the God who is moved by the fall of a little bird from its nest, who is described in the parables of the lost sheep and the lost son, is King of the world and all its forces, and of everything in human life. To know and believe this is to get something which is worth everything else.
Will you not, here and now, place yourself under the government of the King? Let Him govern your heart, that you may love only within the limits which His pure and holy Spirit can permit. Let Him govern your mind, that no unholy thought be allowed to lodge and strike root within you. Let Him govern the books you read, the companionships and friendships you form, the methods of your business, the investment of your money, the way in which you spend your leisure—all must be under the government of His Kingdom, for He will not be King at all unless He is King in all.
[Our Daily Walk]
The Lord Jesus became incarnate for the purpose of regaining the Kingdom by His agony, blood, and tears; though it is not as yet His, it is being acquired. When, therefore, we pray: "Father, Thy Kingdom come," we are asking that the complete victory of Jesus Christ may be hastened; that He may speedily triumph over all obstacles and enemies; that truth may reign in government, art, and science; that trade may be free from chicanery and fraud; that tyranny may be extinguished, corruption exposed; that He may send forth His Angels to gather out of His Kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, destroying that last enemy, death, and bringing in the golden age when all men shall know and love the Father, and become His obedient children.
There are many explanations of the Kingdom of Heaven. Perhaps as a rough and ready way of interpreting the phrase, we may say Divine Kingship. When we grasp that idea, it becomes the dominant note of life. It is the master-key which opens every lock. Just to believe, deep down in your soul, that the Father of Jesus—our Father—is King. That the God who is moved by the fall of a little bird from its nest, who is described in the parables of the lost sheep and the lost son, is King of the world and all its forces, and of everything in human life. To know and believe this is to get something which is worth everything else.
Will you not, here and now, place yourself under the government of the King? Let Him govern your heart, that you may love only within the limits which His pure and holy Spirit can permit. Let Him govern your mind, that no unholy thought be allowed to lodge and strike root within you. Let Him govern the books you read, the companionships and friendships you form, the methods of your business, the investment of your money, the way in which you spend your leisure—all must be under the government of His Kingdom, for He will not be King at all unless He is King in all.
[Our Daily Walk]
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