Chapter 5 – The Fourth Petition – “Give us this day our daily bread”
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). We turn now unto those petitions which more immediately concern ourselves: we must labor to promote the manifestative glory of God, advance His kingdom, and do His will before we are permitted to supplicate for our own needs. These petitions which more immediately concern ourselves are four in number, and in them we may clearly discern an implied reference unto each of the Persons in the blessed Trinity. Our temporal needs are supplied by the kindness of the Father, our sins are forgiven through the mediation of the Son. We are preserved from temptation and delivered from evil by the gracious operations of the Holy Spirit. Let us carefully note the proportion which is observed between these last four petitions; one of them concerns our bodily needs; three relate to the concerns of the soul—teaching us that in prayer, too, temporal things are to be subordinated unto spiritual.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Perhaps it will be helpful if we begin by raising a number of questions. First, why does this request for the supply of bodily needs come before those petitions which concern the soul’s? Second, what is signified by and included in the term “bread”? Third, in what sense may we suitably beg God for our daily bread when we already have a supply on hand? Fourth, how can bread be a Divine gift if we earn the same by our own labors? Fifth, what is inculcated by the request being restricted to our “daily bread”? Before attempting to answer these queries let us say that, with almost all of the best of the commentators, we regard the prime reference as being unto material “bread,” rather than unto spiritual.
Matthew Henry has pertinently pointed out that the reason why this request for the supply of our temporal needs heads the last four petitions is, “because our natural being is necessary in order to our spiritual well-being in this world.” In other words, God grants to us the outward things of this life as helps unto the discharge of our spiritual duties: because given by Him, they are to be employed in His service. What gracious consideration does God here show unto our weakness: we are unapt and unfit to perform our higher duties if deprived of the things needed for the sustenance of our bodily existence. May we not also suggest that this petition comes first in order to promote the growth of faith from strength to strength: perceiving the goodness and faithfulness of God in supplying our temporal needs, we are encouraged and stimulated to ask for higher blessings—compare Acts 17:26-28.
“Our daily bread” refers, primarily to the supply of our temporal needs. With the Hebrews, “bread” was a generic term signifying the necessities and conveniences of this life (Genesis 3:19; 28:20), such as food, clothing, and housing. Yet there is an emphasis in the specific term “bread,” rather than the more general “food,” teaching us to ask not for dainties or for riches, but for that which is wholesome and needful. “Bread” here includes health and appetite, apart from which food serves us not. It also takes into account our nourishment, for this is not from the food alone, nor does it lie within the power of man’s will: hence God’s blessing on it is to be sought. “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” (1 Timothy 4:4, 5).
In begging God to give us our daily bread, we ask that He would graciously provide us with such a portion of outward things as He sees will be best suited to our calling and station: “Give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: lest I be full, and deny You, and say, Who is the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal” (Proverbs 30:8, 9). If God grants us the superfluities of life, we are to be thankful, and must endeavor to use them to His glory; but we must not ask for them: “Having food and clothing let us be therewith content” (1 Timothy 6:8). “Our daily bread”: not by theft, not by taking by force or fraud what belongs to another—but by our personal labor and industry. “Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread” (Proverbs 20:13); “She looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness” (Proverbs 31:27).
How can I sincerely ask God for this day’s bread when I already have a goodly supply on hand? First, because our present temporal portion may speedily be taken from us, and that without any warning: a striking and solemn illustration of this is found in 1 Samuel 30:16, 17. Fire may burn down your house and everything in it: so by asking God for the daily supply of our temporal needs, we acknowledge our complete dependency upon His bounty. Second, because what we have will profit us nothing unless God designs to also bless the same unto us. Third, because this petition is more comprehensive than my own personal needs: it is not simply “give me,” but us, thereby inculcating charity and compassion to others. God requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves; to be as solicitous about our fellow-Christians as we are of our own needs.
How can God be said to give us our daily bread if we ourselves have earned it? Surely such a quibble scarcely needs reply. First, because our right to the creature was forfeited when we fell in Adam. Second, because everything belongs to God: “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1); “The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine, says the LORD of hosts” (Hag. 2:8); “Therefore will I return, and take away My corn in the time thereof, and My wine in the season thereof” (Hosea 2:9). Therefore we hold in fee from Him the portion which He bestows. We are but stewards: God grants us both possession and title. Third, because all we have comes from God: “These wait all upon You, that You may give them their meat in due season. That You give them they gather: You open Your hand, they are filled with good” (Psalm 104:27, 28 and cf. Acts 14:17). Although by labor and purchase things may (relatively) be said to be “ours,” yet it is God who gives us strength to labor.
What is inculcated by the request being restricted to our “daily bread”? First, it reminds us of our frailty: we are unable to continue in health for twenty-four hours and are unfit for its duties unless constantly fed from on High. Second, it emphasizes the brevity of our mundane existence: none of us knows what a day may bring forth, and therefore we are forbidden to boast ourselves of the morrow (Proverbs 27:1). Third, it teaches us to suppress all anxious concern for the future: to live a day at a time—”Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” (Matthew 6:34). Fourth, it inculcates the lesson of moderation: we are to stifle the spirit of covetousness by forming the habit of being contented with a slender portion. Finally, observe that “give us this day” is to be prayed each morning, whereas “give us day by day” (Luke 11:3) is to be our request every night.
This petition, then, teaches us, first, that it is permissible and lawful to supplicate God for temporal mercies. Second, that we are completely dependent upon God’s bounty for everything. Third, that our confidence is to be in Him alone: and not in secondary causes. Fourth, that we should be grateful and return thanks for material blessings as well as for spiritual ones. Fifth, that we should practice frugality and discourage covetousness. Sixth, that we should have family worship every morning and evening. Seventh, that we should be equally solicitous of others as of ourselves: “Give us.”
