Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

justly claim the title of our Father; but the same endearing appellation is due to him on account of our daily preservation: he watches over us, with the care of a Father, and we are constantly made sharers in the benefits of his paternal tenderness and protection. But there is still another and more emphatical sense, wherein God is the Father of his people: it is by the almighty power of his spirit, that they are regenerated; and this great work is frequently, in the New Testament, styled being born of God: by this it is, that, poor, lost, undone sinners, are formed anew, so that partaking of his divine nature, they become his children indeed, and are permitted to lift up their eyes to the great King of the universe, and call him their Father. In the former sense, God is the Father of the creation, and a parent to all his creatures, good or bad: but in the latter sense, he is a Father only to his own people, who are converted by his almighty power and spirit, enabled to believe in his Son, and to live such lives as are consistent with the rules of his gospel. Father, is the most grand and magnificent title which can be found in the whole compass of nature, and it conveys the most honorable and lovely idea that can be formed in the human mind: it is particularly happy in marking the essential character of the true God, who is the great Father of the universe. This noble and tender appellation not only displays him as the first cause of all things, but gives us a beautiful and lovely idea of his tenderness and care, which he extends over all his creatures, whom he nourishes with an affection, and protects with a watchfulness and care, vastly superior to an earthly parent. We are permitted and encouraged to call the eternal God our Father, to encourage our hope in his goodness, and mercy, in granting us every request that is not improper to be bestowed: for a father would not deny a petition to a child, if it was in his power to give, and the petition was fit to be granted: and at the same time, our being permitted to call God our Father, should raise in us an holy emulation, by exciting us to

consider what sort of children we ought to be, who claim so high and honorable a relation And our being exhorted to call God our Father, in the plural number, ought to put us in mind that we are all brethren, the children of one common parent, and that we should love one another in sincerity, and sincerely and fervently pray for the good of each other.

Which art in heaven. By these words, we are commanded to express the glory, majesty, and power of the great God: his presence is not confined to the heavenly worlds; the heaven of heavens cannot contain him; the whole universe lies open to his eye: his presence extends itself through the infinitude of space: at one vast comprehensive view, he beholds the whole creation, past, present, and to come; heaven is his throne, and earth is his foot-stool; the night and the • day, the darkness and the light, are equal to him: he sees all things both in heaven and in earth; even hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering. But, by God's being in heaven, we are to understand, that this is the place where his glories are plainest seen, and where he is best worshipped.

Hallowed be thy name. By the name of God, the Hebrews understood the divine Majesty himself, all his attributes, and his works; and therefore, we are to understand by this petition, a desire in the worshipper, that the honour, dignity, glory, and majesty of the Great Creator, may be displayed and exalted amongst men; as much as though we should pray, may thy existence be universally believed, thy supremacy over all things acknowledged, thy goodness believed and confided in, and may all men think well, honourably, and worthily of thee, of all thy works, and all thy ways, and all thy dealings towards them.

Thy kingdom come. May thy glorious gospel, and the spiritual kingdom of thy Son, be extended over the whole earth; and may all ignorance, superstition,

idolatry, and iniquity, be driven before the glorious rising of the Sun of righteousness.

Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. May the sons of men be turned from darkness to light, and from sin and Satan to the knowledge of thyself, and by the divine aids of thy Spirit, may they be enabled to do thy will, as steadily and sincerely, though not with such perfection, as it is done by the angels of light in the heavenly world.

Give us this day our daily bread. Be pleased, O thou great parent of the universe! who suppliest all "thy creatures from the rich fountain of thy fulness, to give us day by day, such a portion of thy creature-comforts, as may enable us to serve thee with cheerfulness. and satisfaction of mind.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. God being the supreme and righteous governor of the world, he hath a right to punish those who break his just and equitable laws. The suffering of punishment is therefore a debt, which sinners owe to supreme justice: and when we are commanded to pray, that God will forgive us our debts, the meaning is, that he will remit that dreadful punishment due to our sins. This enormous debt, the great king of the universe, on account of the satisfaction which his justice has received, in the blood and righteousness of his Son, is ready to forgive to all that believe in him, with such a lively and powerful faith, as produces a steady and prevailing obedience to his gospel. But the infinite mercy of God in forgiving our transgressions, ought at all times to be remembered by us, in such a manner as to soften our minds, and inspire them with a readiness to forgive those who have transgressed against us. We give but a poor evidence, that by a sincere and influential faith, we are become partakers of divine forgiveness, if we indulge an unforgiving temper of mind,

and pursue with inexorable and implacable resentment, those who have transgressed against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Deliver us, O thou eternal Father of our spirits! thou great maker and supporter of the feeble frame of our bodies! from such temptations as thou knowest will be too hard for us. Preserve us, O Lord! from such temptations as are too powerful for human nature, either by removing them from us, or granting such a measure of thy grace, and such assistance from thy holy Spirit, as may enable us to overcome. Make us

sensible, O our God! how weak and frail we are; may we never presume on our own strength, but depending on thy grace, may we, in thy might, be enabled to overcome all our spiritual foes, and be preserved to thy heavenly kingdom.

For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Thou, O God! art the eternal, universal monarch, thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion extendeth over all: the government of the universe is thine, and thou reignest the great independent King of the creation: thou, by thine infinite power, first didst establish, and now preservest the stupendous frame of nature: all power in heaven and earth is in thine hand, thou canst do what thou pleasest, and none can stay thine hand, or say unto thee, What doest thou? Thou art able, by thine almighty power, to protect and defend all thy faithful servants; and thou holdest omnipotence in thine hand to crush thy daring foes. Thou art all perfect and all glorious; thou art possessed of every attribute and every perfection which justly renders thee the object of supreme adoration and the delight of the whole rational and intelligent creation. We adore thine almighty, thine irresistible power; we venerate thy boundless, thine unsearchable wisdom; we reverence thine impartial, thine inflexible justice; we rejoice in the glories of thine all-supporting goodness: and ex

ult in the contemplation of thine immutable mercy. Open our eyes, O Lord! that we may see thy glory. May we be enabled at all times to bless and praise thy holy name, and may we be of the number of those, whose delightful employment will be to do thy will, and sing thy praises for ever and ever.

Such was the prayer which the Son of God himself delivered to the multitude who surrounded him; from which it may be learned, that the great King of the universe, who is seated on the exalted throne of heaven, surrounded by angels and archangels, and constantly adored by all the holy and happy inhabitants of the upper world, is so kind and condescendingly good, as to hear the cries, and attend to the petitions of sinful men. What an animating, heart-reviving thought it is, that poor, frail, sinful creatures, are permitted to stand before the throne of the eternal God, and call him our Father! The glimmering light of the dimwinking taper, which sleeps in its socket, is not more exceeded by the splendor and glory of the sun shining in his strength, than the brightness of the throne, the extent of the dominions, the power, glory, and majesty of the great King of the creation, exceeds the most exalted prince on earth. Earthly princes are so proud, and their ministers and attendants so covetous and haughty, that they are rendered inaccessible to the greatest part of their subjects; but the great Monarch of the universe, the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, is easy of access; he calls upon sinners to seek his face, and the meanest of mankind may at all times have free access to his exalted throne. How blind and stupid, how regardless of their best interest, how cruel to themselves are those men who will not pray! We are poor necessitous creatures; we stand in need of various blessings; God hath all things to give; and God hath said, ask and ye shall receive: he hath erected a throne of grace, and is at all times ready to hear and answer our prayers; and shall we be so very deficient as not to pray? Shall we, when in distress, and

« AnteriorContinuar »