"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." But with such prayers as this there are mingled awful imprecations, and curses, terrible and enduring, are called down from heaven upon the enemies of the people Israel or of the individual worshipper. Such opposite desires as these could not exist together in the same mind, except in a people in whom the religious principle was but imperfectly developed. The Jews had, in fact, a strong but not a deep religious feeling, a feeling directed but imperfectly to its true end, yet directed to that end as far as they were able to bear it. When, therefore, life and immortality, previously but dimly seen, were brought to light by the Gospel, a new spirit was infused into prayer, and a new form was needed to give it adequate expression. The first converts to Christianity seem to have felt the inadequacy of their old Jewish forms to express their new Christian ideas; for the disciples of Jesus came to Him, through one of their number, saying, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." In answer to this appeal Jesus delivered to them that which is deservedly known as the Lord's Prayer. "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. dom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." Dictated by Him who is both the Author and the Answerer of prayer, this form of words must contain all that is essential in Christian worship, however varied or amplified.

Thy king

Our prayers must bear a certain relation to our duties, which implies that the Lord's Prayer has a certain relation to His precepts. The Lord's will is expressed in His commandments; and our confidence is that if we ask anything according to His will He heareth us (1 John v. 14). It is promised, indeed, that whatsoever we ask in prayer believing, we shall receive; but no true disciple of Christ can ask in faith what is not according to his Lord's will. In the Lord's Prayer there is nothing which the Christian is taught to ask but what is in evident accordance with the Divine will. It is therefore a sure guide to us in our petitions to the throne of grace. Let us briefly consider what its several petitions and ascriptions include in their concise form and frequent meaning.

First of all we are taught to address God as our Father. This most endearing relation, in which we are directed to approach and address the Object of our worship, is peculiarly inspiring and encouraging.

The very name of Father is expressive of love and tenderness, not only of willingness to hear but eagerness to grant all that the child can ask, which the Father's discriminating love can bestow. The Fatherhood of God has been portrayed by no less perfect a hand than that of the Master who taught His disciples how to pray. The parable of the prodigal son delineates the character of the Divine Father; and shows the confidence which it may inspire in the penitent, however far they have wandered from their Father's house, and spent in riotous living the bounty which His paternal beneficence has bestowed upon them. "I will arise and go to my Father" is full of expression, when uttered by one who is conscious that he is no more worthy to be called a son. But the extinction of filial affection does not imply quenching of paternal love. Our sins may separate between us and our God; but as soon as a sense of sin produces sincere repentance, our sins, like a thick cloud, are blotted out, when the sun of Divine love, which, though hidden, had known no change, shines forth in all its splendour.

It has been said that the invocation of the Lord's Prayer contains a sentiment which marks the prayer as belonging to the New Testament; for though Isaiah exclaims, "Doubtless Thou art our Father," yet that must be owned as a momentary illumination of the higher spirit of the New Testament. A more certain conclusion is, that in the New Testament God is addressed as our Father, because the Fatherhood of God was so perfectly manifested in the character and work of Christ. Moses as well as Isaiah speaks of Jehovah as the Father of His people; and it is remarkable that in both cases the Fatherhood of God is connected with His redeeming work. Moses says, "Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father that hath bought thee?" (Deut. xxxii. 6.) And Isaiah exclaims, "Doubtless Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: Thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; Thy name is from everlasting" (Isa. lxiii. 16). As Jehovah, so Jesus, as the Redeemer, is called by the name of Father. "Unto us a Child

is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 6). The reason of this is obvious. The Fatherhood of God is more fully manifested in the work of redemption than in the work of creation. Through that Divine work the Lord entered into a new and spiritual relationship with His people. Begotten and born anew of Him, He becomes their Father, and they become His children. One reason why

the Fatherhood of God is connected with His character of Redeemer is, that the name of Father is more expressive than any other of the love of God; and the Divine love was more especially manifested in the work of Redemption. "In His love and in His pity He redeemed them" (Isa. lxiii. 9). "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John iii. 16). Men generally think of redemption as the work of the Son, offered to satisfy the justice rather than the love of the Father. Jesus Himself teaches otherwise. "The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works" (John xiv. 10), a statement which Paul echoes when he says, "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (1 Cor. v. 19). It was the Father in the Son, God in Christ, that redeemed the world and reconciled it to Himself. The Father is in the Son, God is in Christ, still. Jesus Christ, whom all the angels of God worship (Heb. i. 6), is the Being whom we are to address as our Father in heaven. He is our heavenly Father, whose ear is

open to

our cry, and who is able to do for us more than we can ask or think, The first petition we are taught to address to our Father in heaven is, "Hallowed be Thy name.' If there is any intended connection between the Lord's Prayer and the ten commandments, the second commandment answers to this petition, with this characteristic difference, that in the Law it is negative, in the Gospel it is positive. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" is the command. "Hallowed be Thy name" is the prayer. The Law essentially is," Cease to do evil;" the Gospel essentially is, "Learn to do well." Both are needed to complete the perfect work. But what is meant by the NAME of God, which is not to be profaned but sanctified? More than a word that may be lightly used or solemnly spoken. The name of God means the nature of God. Names were given in old times to express something characteristic of the person to whom they were applied. The Divine names are especially expressive of the Divine nature or attributes. When Moses desired to know the name of the Being who appeared to him in Horeb, the Lord said, “I AM THAT I AM: this is My name for ever, and this is My memorial unto all generations" (Exod. iii. 15). His name, because His nature, is SELF-EXISTENT. When the Lord promised to send His angel before His people to guide them in the way, He said, "Beware of Him, and obey His voice, provoke Him not; for My name is in Him" (Exod. xxiii. 21). When Isaiah predicted the Lord's advent, he said,

"His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace." The Saviour bare none of these names, but His nature included all that they signify, which was all that the prediction meant to express. It was because the name of Jesus expressed all that Jesus was-His saving love, wisdom, and power—that in His name the apostles were able to do all the wonderful works which Jesus Himself had performed. In a supereminent sense Jesus Himself was the NAME of the Father. The Divine Nature found its fullest manifestation and most perfect expression in Him. He was the Brightness of God's glory, and the express image of His person (Heb. i. 3). Those who saw Him saw the Father (John xiv. 9); He and the Father were and are one (John x. 30).

When we address this petition to our Father in heaven, if we pray with understanding, we express to Him our fervent desire that nothing unholy may be associated in our minds with His pure nature and holy character. This is a most necessary prayer, for there is a tendency in our feeble and fallen nature to make God altogether such an one as ourselves. This we do when we ascribe to Him qualities, desires, or acts inconsistent with pure love and perfect wisdom. It is maintained, indeed, by some that we cannot judge of the Infinite by the finite; that we cannot know the nature of Divine goodness and justice by the human qualities which we call by these names. But God is the Author of all human goodness and justice, so that we can see the Divine attributes imaged in their corresponding qualities in man. But we are not left to judge of the attributes of the allperfect God by the qualities of imperfect man. God has been pleased

to manifest Himself in human nature, showing therein the perfect Man —the Man who from His birth was called "that Holy Thing," and who in life was holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. In His human life the Lord exhibited all the Divine attributes, and in and through Him we know our God to be a Being of perfect goodness, justice, and holiness, these qualities in Him differing only in degree from corresponding qualities in man. Jesus was, in the absolute sense, God manifest in the flesh; and we in the highest sense hallow the NAME of God when we worship and serve Him in holiness and righteousness, praying and striving to be perfect, even as He, our Father which is in heaven, is perfect.

The kingdom of our Father, for whose coming we are next to pray, differs from all earthly kingdoms both in substance and form. "My kingdom is not of this world. The kingdom of God is not meat and

drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. xiv. 17). Consistently with its spiritual character, its coming is spiritual, inward, invisible: "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke xvii. 20, 21). How wonderfully do these statements harmonize, and how complete is their combined meaning! The kingdom of God has, it is true, a secondary and visible existence in the Church and in heaven; but this outward and visible kingdom consists exclusively of those who have the kingdom of God inwardly in themselves. In offering up the prayer "Thy kingdom come," we pray that the Lord's love may come into our hearts and govern our affections, and that His truth may come into our understandings and rule our thoughts. And whether in praying we think of ourselves or of others, this must be the object of our prayer if we utter it with a consciousness of its true meaning.

Intimately connected with this petition is that which follows: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." As the Lord's kingdom comes when the government of His love and truth is established in the hearts and minds of men, His will is done when the laws of His kingdom, which are the laws of truth and righteousness, are obeyed in their lives. How much need is there for the daily fervent utterance of this prayer! Men's natural inclinations and interests seem to be in a constant state of conflict with the will and purposes of God. John speaks of the state of the world at the time of the Lord's Advent as one in which men were born of blood, and the will of the flesh, and the will of man, but not of God (i. 13). Violence, sensuality, and self-will are still the inborn and unsubdued lusts of the human heart. Hence war and dominion seem to have become a chronic disease in even Christian nations, who are actuated, not by the love of God, but by the fear of each other.

The Lord does not instruct His disciples by precept only, but directs them to high examples. In giving them His new commandment, He did not tell them simply to love one another, or to measure their love to each other by their love for themselves, but to love one another as He had loved them. So He instructs them to pray, not simply that their Father's will may be done on earth, but that it may be done on earth as it is done in heaven. As this world was intended by the Creator to be a place of preparation for heaven, human life here should be like angelic life there. How else can men hope to become equal unto the angels? When the Lord taught us to pray that the Divine will may be