Chapter 4 – The Third Petition – “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”
“Your will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The connection between this petition and the preceding ones is not difficult to trace. First must be our concern for God’s glory, then our desire for His kingdom, and then an honest endeavor to serve Him. The glory of God is the grand object of our desires: the coming of His kingdom is the chief means by which it is secured: our personal obedience makes it manifest that His kingdom is come to us. When God’s kingdom really comes to a soul he must necessarily be brought into obedience to its laws and ordinances, for it is worse than useless to call God our King if His commandments are disregarded by us. Broadly speaking, there are two parts to this petition: a request for the spirit of obedience and the manner in which it is to be performed.
“Your will be done.” This may present a difficulty to a few of our readers: is not God’s will always done? In one respect, Yes—in another, No. Scripture presents the will of God from two main viewpoints: His secret will and His revealed will, or His decretive and His preceptive will. The former is the rule of His own actions: in creation (Rev. 4:11), in providence (Daniel 4:35), and in grace (Romans 9:15)—this is always unknown to men until revealed by prophecies of things to come or by events which transpire. The latter is the rule of our actions, God having made known in the Scriptures that which is pleasing in His sight. The secret or decretive will of God is always done, equally on earth as in Heaven, for none can thwart or even hinder it.
This distinction in connection with God’s will is clearly drawn in, “The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Law” (Deuteronomy 29:29). The same is true of His “counsel.” “My counsel (His eternal decree) shall stand” (Isaiah 46:10). “The Pharisees and lawyers rejected (margin “frustrated”) the counsel (or revealed will) of God” (Luke 7:30). On the one hand we read, “Who has resisted His will?” (Romans 9:19), and on the other hand, “This is the will of God, even your sanctification” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). The revealed or preceptive will of God is stated in the Word, defining our duty, making known the path we should walk in: “that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).
“The will of God,” then, is a phrase which, taken by itself, may express either what God has purposed to do, or what He has commanded to be done by us. With regard to the will of God in the first sense, it is already and always done upon earth as it is in Heaven, for neither human policy nor infernal power can prevent it. The text which is now before us contains a prayer that we might be brought into complete accord with God’s revealed will. We do the will of God when, from a regard for His authority, we regulate our hearts and lives according to His commandments. Such is our bounden duty, and should be our fervent desire and diligent endeavor. We mock God if we present this request and then do not make the conforming of ourselves to His will our main business—ponder the solemn warning in Matthew 15:8.
“Your will be done on earth.” The one who sincerely prays this, necessarily intimates his unreserved surrender to God, and implies the renunciation of the will of Satan (2 Timothy 2:26), his own corrupt inclinations (1 Peter 4:2), and the rejecting of all things opposed to God. Nevertheless, such a soul is painfully conscious that there is still much in him that is in conflict with God, and therefore he humbly and contritely acknowledges that he cannot do His will without Divine assistance, and earnestly desires and seeks enabling grace. Possibly the meaning and scope of this petition will best be opened up if we express it thus: O Father, let Your will be revealed to me, let it be wrought in me, let it be performed by me.
From the positive side, when we pray, “Your will be done,” we beg God, first, for spiritual wisdom to learn His will: “Make me to understand the way of your precepts . . . Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes” (Psalm 119:27, 33). Second, we beg God for spiritual inclination unto His will: “I will run the way of Your commandments, when You shall enlarge my heart . . . Incline my heart unto Your testimonies” (Psalm 119:32, 36). Third, we beg God for spiritual strength to perform His bidding: “Quicken You me according to Your Word . . . Strengthen You me according unto Your Word” (Psalm 119:25, 28). “Draw me: we will run after You” (Song. 1:4). “Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight” (Hebrews 13:21). “Your will be done on earth”: because this is the place of our discipleship, where we are to practice self-denial—and because if we do not His will here, we never shall in Heaven.
“As it is in Heaven”—by the saints and the angels. This is the standard set before us on earth. How is God’s will done in Heaven? Not sullenly and reluctantly, not pharisaically nor hypocritically, not tardily or fitfully, nor partially and fragmentally. But gladly and joyfully: both “the living creatures” (not “beasts”) and the “elders” of Revelation 5:8 are pictured with “harps” in their hands! Yet humbly and reverently: the seraphim veil their faces before the Lord: Isaiah 6:2. With alacrity: “Then flew one of the seraphim” (Isaiah 6:6). Constantly: “therefore are they before the Throne of Grace, and serve Him day and night in His temple” (Rev. 7:15). The angels obey God promptly, wholly, perfectly, with ineffable delight. But we are sinful and full of infirmities; with what propriety, then, can the obedience of celestial beings be proposed as an example for us? We raise this question not as a concession to our imperfections, but because honest souls are exercised by it.
First, to sweeten our subjection to the Divine will: we on earth are set no harder task than those in Heaven. O my reader, Heaven is what it is because the will of God is done by all who dwell there: and the measure in which a foretaste of its bliss may be obtained by us upon earth will largely be determined by the degree to which we perform the Divine bidding. Second, to show us the blessed reasonableness of our obedience to God: “Bless the LORD, you His angels, that excel in strength, that do His commandments, hearkening unto the voice of His word” (Psa 103:20)—then can God require less of us? O my reader, if we are to have communion with the angels in Glory, then we must be conformed to them in grace. Third, to make known to us the standard at which we must ever aim: “That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing . . . That you may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God” (Colossians 1:10; 4:12). Fourth, to teach us not only what to do, but how to do it: we are to imitate the angels in the manner of their obedience, though we cannot equal them in measure or degree.
“Your will be done in earth, as it is in Heaven”: weigh this attentively in the light of what precedes. First, “our Father which are in Heaven”: then should we not do His will? We must, if we are His children—disobedience is what characterizes His enemies. Did not His own dear Son render Him perfect obedience! Second, “hallowed by Your name”: does not a real concern for God’s glory obliges us to make a conformity to His will our supreme quest? We certainly must if we desire to honor God, for nothing dishonors Him more than self-will and defiance. Third, “Your kingdom come”: should we not seek to be in full subjection to its laws and ordinances? We must if we are subjects thereof—it is alienated rebels who despise His scepter.
