Matthew 6: The Sermon on the Mount (25)
Pray Psalm 40.11-13.
Do not withhold Your tender mercies from me, O LORD;
Let Your lovingkindness and Your truth continually preserve me.
For innumerable evils have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up;
They are more than the hairs of my head;
Therefore my heart fails me.
Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me;
O LORD, make haste to help me!
Sing Psalm 40.11-13.
Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth
Keep Your mercy not from me; let Your love and truth prevail.
Evil and iniquity make my trembling heart to fail.
LORD, be pleased to rescue me! Let my shelter with You be.
Read Matthew 6.1-12; meditate on verses 11 and 12.
Meditate on the words “give” and “forgive”.
Prepare.
1. What does “our daily bread” represent?
2. What are our “debts”, and what must we seek concerning them?
Meditate.
With the Father in focus and His will our aim (vv. 9, 10), we’re now ready to present our requests. All our “daily bread”—all our material provision—is from the Lord. We must not be so foolish as to think that by the work of our own hands we provide for our needs. God expects us to work, so that we can care for ourselves and those entrusted to us. But He is the ultimate Giver of every good and perfect gift (Jms. 1.17); thus, we seek for each day the provision we need to serve the Lord and further His Kingdom on earth, as it is in heaven.
But we must also remember that Jesus is the Bread of life (Jn. 5.35), and we need Him as our daily Bread every day, all day long. Our daily bread includes all the spiritual fortifying we will need for the work ahead of us each day, together with a continuous awareness of the Presence of Immanuel with us.
Linger over the need to confess your sins in prayer (v. 12). Our sins are often hidden from our immediate sight. We must wait in silence for the Spirit to search us, convict us where needed, and lead us into repentance (Ps. 139.23, 24; Jn. 16.8-11). Don’t rush past this part of your prayer by mouthing some trite request for forgiveness. Name your sins. Hate them, and repent of them. Seek the Lord for a new course of life, one that leads in the paths of righteousness, for His Name’s sake (Ps. 23.3).
Keep focused on Christ as you pray; if we see Jesus, we will have seen the Father (Jn. 14.9). In each successive stage of your prayers, wait and listen so that you sense yourself being drawn closer to Him.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Let’s talk about food:
We need it to live; along with water.
It is delicious and reminds us with each bite of God’s provision for us.
It is a sign of God’s tender loving care.
Eating allows abundant opportunities to give thanks to the One Who created the idea of it,
and Who provides it for us.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies…my cup runs over” (Ps. 23.5).
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matt. 6.11).
God’s Word also daily sustains us.
“Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4.4; Deut. 8.3).
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you.
And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day,
that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not” (Ex. 16.4).
In the same way that God provided manna for His people in the wilderness; so He provides our daily bread both physical and spiritual—we just need to go out and get it—both the food and the Word.
God expects an effort on our part—Christianity is not a lazy man’s sport.
Now let’s talk about forgiveness:
If we want it from God, we must give it to others.
“Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6.12).
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5.7).
“One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov. 28.9).
Jesus told a parable about an unforgiving heart that ended like this:
“You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.
Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant,
just as I had pity on you?” (Matt. 18.33). And the unforgiver in the story was punished.
Then Jesus summed up the parable:
“So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses” (Matt. 18.35). And the unforgiver, in real life, will get the deserved punishment.
So, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4.32).
Be thankful. Be forgiving.
Let’s talk about the conclusion of the whole matter:
“Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment,
including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 12.13, 14).
Reflect.
1. What evidence in your life indicates that you are “well fed” on the Word of God?
2. Make a brief list of all your “daily bread”. Keep it handy and pray with gratitude for these things every day.
3. What does it mean that your sins are forgiven? What does it mean for you to forgive someone who has sinned against you?
“Daily bread” may be understood both spiritually and simply, because both meanings help us to understand salvation. For Christ is the bread of life; and this bread is not the bread of all, but it is our bread. And as we say “our Father,” because he is the father of those who understand and believe, so too we say “our bread,” because Christ is the bread of us who touch his body. Cyprian (fl. 248-258), Treatises, On the Lord’s Prayer 18.
Pray Psalm 40.1-10.
Praise the Lord for His many wonderful works, and commit yourself this day as a living sacrifice, delighting to know and do His will, and to proclaim His righteousness in your Personal Mission Field.
Sing Psalm 40.1-10.
Dix: For the Beauty of the Earth
I waited patiently for God; He inclined and heard my cry,
lifted me up above the sod, set me on a Rock on high!
New songs in my mouth He gave; may He through me many save.
Blessed are all who trust in You, turning both from lies and pride.
Countless wonders, LORD, You do, and Your thoughts with us abide.
LORD, Your worth who can declare? None with You can e’er compare.
Off’rings You do not require—open now my ears, O LORD.
What from me do You desire? Firm delight to do Your Word.
Take my life in ev’ry part; write Your Law upon my heart.
LORD, Your truth will I proclaim to Your people gathered ’round,
nor will I my lips restrain—let Your precious ways resound!
Of Your saving grace and Word I would speak, most loving LORD.
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
Other columns of interest: This week: The Read Moore podcast continues readings from our book, The Kingdom Turn. Our Crosfigell teaching letter presses ahead in a series on the state of the Church in Europe at the time of the Celtic Revival. The ReVision column looks at people in ministry. Check out our other excellent writers. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
