If you would turn in the back of the Psalter hymnal to page 62, page 62, Lord's Day 50, and keep that place marked as you also turn to Psalm 146, Psalm 146. We return to our consideration, to the catechism's consideration of the Lord's Prayer, And we have considered together the first three petitions of the Lord's Prayer, which we might say deal with God, asking something about Him or for Him. Hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. But you may recall it's interesting in the Catechism's consideration of that, that with each of those petitions in which we make a request with regard to God, we are asking for something for ourselves. Help us. Help us, in the first sense, to regard your name as holy, to set it apart in our hearts. Help us to submit to your kingdom rule. Help us to desire your will. And now there is a shift, as it were, as our Lord turns His attention to us. Give us this day our daily bread, or as it's recorded in Luke 11, verse 3, give us each day our daily bread. And so first I would like to read together Psalm 146 as background for Luke 11, verse 3 and that petition. Hear now the Word of God. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. Blessed is He whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord His God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them. The Lord who remains faithful forever, He upholds the cause of the oppressed. He gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow. But He frustrates the ways of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever. Your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the Lord. There ends the reading of God's holy Word. Again, tonight we ask that He would bless the reading and the preaching of it. And please turn again to page 62, Lord's Day 50, as we give expression to what we confess concerning the fourth petition. What does the fourth petition mean? Give us this day our daily bread means, do take care of all our physical needs, so that we come to know that You are the only source of everything good, and that neither our work and worry nor Your gifts can do us any good without Your blessing. And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put trust in You alone. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, give us this day, give us each day our daily bread. That is what we pray. But do we really mean it? I mean, really, how practical is this request? How practical is this petition for us today anyway? How many of us have really ever had to worry about what we're going to eat tomorrow? How many of us have ever been reduced to having to go out and collect aluminum cans in the hope of scraping together just enough money to be able to go to McDonald's and purchase one item off of their dollar menu and get a free cup of water with that? You see, this petition seems to have had more relevance for many of those in Jesus' day or maybe some of those who live in third world countries or even some of those in our own community who push the shopping carts around and sleep out under the stars at night. It has more relevance for them. For example, in Jesus' day, the laborers were paid each day for the work that they did on that day. And that pay was so low, so little, that they weren't able to save any of it. It was barely enough for what they needed for that day. And since many of them worked in the farming industry, if disaster wiped out a crop, there was no work, and you guessed it, then there was no pay. And therefore, these words really meant something for them. Well, it's easy to mean it if you have nothing, right? But we might say they had to pray this. They had to trust. But what about us? With all that we have, even those among us who have the least have so much more than for just today. And you see, we depend upon our refrigerators and freezers and our biggest concern is in the summertime if there might be a rolling blackout and we worry about how many hours the electricity might be turned off. We depend on our full pantries and if they get a little bit low, we depend on the grocery store on the corner and that ready supply of cash or at least a credit card, at least enough to buy the essentials. We depend on a fair amount of job security and on steady paychecks and possibly on income from a variety of sources. Do we really mean it? Is it really for us? Yet Jesus' words are timeless, you see. And they are for us too. As He teaches us this request, He teaches it that we too today, especially with having so much, that we might be reminded daily that no matter what the circumstances of our generation or of our life, it still all depends on one. And therefore, our Lord taught us to offer prayer for our daily bread. Now, the catechism, as we might expect, gives an excellent summary. Again, as we said this morning, the church's studied response, an excellent summary of what God's Word teaches that this request means. give us this day or each day our daily bread, is first of all a prayer for sustenance, a prayer for bread. We're going to kind of look at that request backwards. Bread, and then working our way backwards. It's a prayer for sustenance, a request for bread. What do we mean by bread? Well, obviously, no doubt, the first thing that we think of, whether we're young or old, we think of the bread that we use as food, the loaves that we buy that's already pre-sliced. We buy it from the grocery store or the loaves that we bake in our bread maker. And of course, we know that the word bread in Scripture doesn't just mean that literal, physical bread, but it means food. We need food to sustain us in this life. We need food as fuel for our bodies, for our physical life. And therefore, to broaden it out a little bit more here, bread ought to be understood as not only the food on my plate for the day, but all that is necessary for bodily existence. We might say, all that is necessary to get that food to my plate. The necessities. And of course, necessities is something that's very subjective today, isn't it? Because one's necessities are another's luxuries, or to put it in another way, what used to be someone's luxury is now a necessity for that person. But here, very simply, our Lord would have us to understand what is needed for my physical, for my bodily existence, even though we know that God often blesses us with an amount that far exceeds what I really need. Many days' worth. Yet He would have us focus on simply what is needed for my physical bodily existence, not in order to have the richest of foods or the fanciest of clothes and cars and luxuries or the finest of vacations and retirement. But what I need to fulfill God's purpose for me, which is to glorify Him and to enjoy Him. What do you need? What stuff do you need to glorify and enjoy God? I think if we all really examined our lives, we don't need any of that stuff, do we? Maybe some of you saw the telecast of one of the local San Diego churches this morning And as the minister began his sermon, he was talking about giving, of course. And he mentioned that in our country, there are 30,000 storage units. They weren't there in the 60s. But 30,000 storage units that people use to pay somebody else to store their stuff that they don't use. We have all this stuff, but what do we need, beloved? to fulfill God's purpose for me, to glorify and enjoy Him. That's what we pray for, to ask for what we need, to honor, to hallow His name, to submit to His kingdom rule, to delight in His will. And therefore, bread includes the necessities of food and clothing and shelter and health and work and intellect and strength to do that work and the rest that is needed from that work to be able to continue to do it from day to day. The necessities. That which is needful. And then also, what are the means of securing that bread? The Catechism talks about our work and our worry. Now, the older version of the Catechism phrased it a little bit differently. Our work and care. And I like the word care better because worry only seems to lead us in one direction, but care can be thought of both positively and negatively, and we ought to with this petition. You see, this petition does not mean that we pray this prayer and then we sit back and we do nothing expecting food to magically appear on our plate as if we are being served in a restaurant. Boys and girls and young people, I think that's sometimes how we treat Mom. The food is always there. Mom is faithful day by day preparing it and we are rarely thankful for it. It's just there. It seems to magically appear. Mom knows it doesn't magically appear. But to us it seems that way. This petition does not mean that we don't work or that we don't plan or that we don't exercise stewardship. It does mean that we are active. God uses us. Our strengths and abilities and knowledge and opportunities. All these things and more. Where do they come from? He gives them. He provides them. They are a part of this daily bread, broadly speaking, that He uses in order to give us this day, our daily bread. That's sustenance for our bodies. And therefore, this means that we are called to care. We are called to have a godly concern. We are called to be careful. To be aware of our circumstances and the opportunities that our Lord gives to us. To be those who plan wisely, who budget responsibly. You see, this petition doesn't mean that we don't save at all. There is nothing sinful about saving. Again, like with most everything else, It's the motive behind that saving. God teaches us to save. In Proverbs 6, consider the ant. It stores its provisions. It's a call to work. A call to care, but also a call to work. In Proverbs 10, verse 4, we read, Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. In Proverbs 20, verse 4, The slugger does not plow in season, So at harvest, there's nothing. And as Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 10, If a man will not work, he shall not eat. The Bible does not admonish those who cannot work, but it admonishes those who will not work. Dear people of God, with this petition, Jesus is pointing our eyes and hearts to the only source of our sustenance, our Heavenly Father, our Father who art in heaven, the one who is willing to give because He is our faithful Father. the one who is able to give because He is Almighty God. He is the one who provides for our earthly existence through a variety of means. But notice, too, that our care and concern in these things is to be focused on today, as this prayer is also a prayer for moderation. Give us this day, or each day, our daily bread. A prayer for moderation. What is needed today? Jesus doesn't say, pray about what you need tomorrow or next week. Again, He often blesses us. Maybe that's the disconnect that we have here because we have so much and we have freezers that are stocked. We have savings accounts and we are comfortable in so many ways. But He focuses us on today. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6.34, Jesus says, Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, For tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. He says that after he says, why do you worry about what you're going to eat or what you're going to drink or what you're going to wear? Don't worry about tomorrow. Again, this command to not worry is easier said than done, isn't it? But he says, don't worry about tomorrow. And the point that Jesus is making is not, again, for us to be wasteful as if there is no tomorrow. The principle of stewardship still applies. Yet, as Pastor Donovan powerfully reminded us a couple of weeks ago, we live with Christ at the threshold. He's right outside the door. He could enter any second, any moment, any day. Tomorrow may or may not come. Don't worry about tomorrow. Focus on today. Pray for what we need this day and ask that for every today that we are given that God would supply continually. Now, the word daily is a word that is used only twice in the New Testament in Matthew 6 and the Sermon on the Mount there and the record of the Sermon on the Mount in Luke chapter 11 in the record of the teaching of our Lord's Prayer. It's used in this phrase. And the idea of that word daily seems to mean of the day that is coming And therefore, as one commentator says, if in the morning we ask for our food for the day that is coming, we mean today's food. If we ask at night, we mean tomorrow's. But asking for what we need for the day at hand. John Calvin expresses this prayer in a little bit different way. He says, O Lord, since our life needs every day new supplies, may it please Thee to grant them to us without interruption. It's a prayer for moderation, a prayer for what is needed, and therefore also a call for contentment. You see, the natural tendency because of sinful motives is to hoard uncontrollably, to grab, to grab, to take in, to take in uncontrollably, to build up, to store up, to stockpile. because again, the natural simple tendency is to only feel secure when we feel like we have enough for the foreseeable future. Yet isn't it true that we always seem to learn that enough is never enough? That no matter how much you have, you always think you need more? And the natural sinful tendency, and even we struggle with this, is that we begin to worry to the point of anxiousness and hopelessness and despair as if there is no hope, especially when we cannot see how in the world are we going to make that tuition payment? Or how are we going to make that next car payment or house payment? Or how are we going to pay for that next bag of groceries? Or how are we going to be able to help our children get through college, even if it's years away? Or how are we going to be able to handle any emergency that may come upon us? You see, God does not always make those things clear as far in advance as we would like. But Jesus says, don't worry. He knows what you need. In a sense, look to the past. Remember what He has done in the past day by day. He knows what you need. Worry cannot add one day. You just continue being and doing what He has called you to be and do. Remember, God taught Israel through their daily manna to trust Him day by day, not to worry about tomorrow. You see, we might say that our provision today is God's guarantee for tomorrow, should tomorrow come, and therefore be content. As Paul says in Philippians 4, Therefore, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well-fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. And he was so confident that a little bit later, he was able to express confidence for them in verse 19, And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. And notice, this confidence comes from what he has in Christ Jesus. Our confidence is to come from what we have in Christ. And therefore, Paul says, in essence, be patient with little and do not have false confidence with much. Our prayer ought to be praying with auger in Proverbs 30 when he says, Keep falsehood and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, Who is the Lord? Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God. Give me only my daily bread. Notice, this prayer really is a prayer that through God's provision on a daily basis that He would keep my eyes focused on Him. Please don't give me too little, Lord, then I might dishonor You. But don't give me too much because then I might disown you. I might think that I don't need you. Please, through your provision, through your daily provision, keep my eyes focused on you. And that's why the catechism is correct again when it says, give us this day our daily bread means do take care of all our physical needs. Why? So that we come to know that You are the only source of everything good and that neither our work and worry nor your gifts can do us any good without your blessing. And so help us to give up our trust in creatures and to put trust in you alone. And therefore, in the third place, this prayer is also a prayer for trust. And you may have noticed I worded it that way, a prayer for trust. You might think, well, it's a prayer of trust. Absolutely, it is a prayer of trust. Only those who truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and trust in Him alone can sincerely offer this prayer. But it's also a prayer for trust. It is a prayer that God would strengthen my trust in Him. That as He gives to me on a daily basis, that He would strengthen my trust in Him to give. To continue to give. You see, Jesus teaches believers to ask God to give us what He has already determined, what He has already promised to give us. God has all of our days planned out already. We know that. He knows exactly what He is going to give to you and me tomorrow, should tomorrow come. But through this prayer, we are called to give an acknowledgement that we need Him to do it. Give us. Because we can't give ourselves. It is an acknowledgement that we are fully dependent on Him, that He is the only source. Of course, this is denied by so many in our society, in our world. Man is the measure of all things. Look what I have done. Look what I have built and accomplished. I have worked hard for all my degrees. I have done it. And everything that I have been able to bring into my possession is because of me. Many really put their trust in their employers or in their companies or in government handouts or in their own abilities. But notice the warning from the psalmist in Psalm 46. Do not put your trust in princes. Even those who have the most power, the most authority, who have the largest armies at their disposal, do not put your trust in princes. Why? In mortal men. Why? Who cannot save? When their spirit departs, they return to the ground. On that very day, their plans come to nothing. You see, man made in the image of God was the pinnacle of God's creative work. Yet, the psalmist says, don't put your trust in man. There's kind of an interesting play on words here. In the Hebrew, there's the same root word. It's the same for man and ground. As if the psalmist is saying, dirt goes to dirt. That's how trustworthy man is. Dirt goes to dirt. Man is untrustworthy. He cannot save. If He cannot save, if He cannot help us with our eternal need, He certainly cannot help us with our physical need. Another man is no different than ourselves. If I can't provide for me, another man cannot provide for me apart from God's blessing. Mankind is weak. He cannot help. He dies. He returns to the earth. His thoughts and His plans disappear with His breath and His body. no matter what someone may have promised you, if that promise is not fulfilled by them before they die, that promise vanishes with their breath. It's never going to be fulfilled. Now again, we are to understand that this is not saying that we are not to build relationships with others and have a certain amount of trust in each other. It's not saying that we don't have a certain confidence in our employer to provide the paycheck when He has promised, as He said He would do, for the work that has been accomplished. It doesn't mean that we don't have a certain confidence in the abilities that God has given to us to produce, but ultimately, our trust is in God alone. The One who provides all these things. The One who is eternal, as the psalmist says. The Lord who remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but He frustrates the ways of the wicked. The psalmist gives us a picture of those who are defenseless, those who have nothing. And that really describes each and every one of us in sin. We are defenseless, powerless. We need Him for all things, for this life and the life to come. And we may have confidence also for this life because of what God has already given in Jesus Christ as Paul reminded his hearers the riches in Christ Jesus. He has already given all that we need for eternity and the Lord's table is a reminder of that. And as we partake in faith, it is nourishment of the salvation that is ours in Christ Jesus. It is a vivid confirmation of the forgiveness of our sins, of our righteousness in Him and of our eternal blessings stored up for us in Him. And if God has given the bread of life, if He has given the true food and drink of life eternal, will He then withhold from us that earthly bread? Paul gives a resounding no. When he says in Romans 8, verse 32, He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? our god has given to us all that we need for life eternal and therefore he also will give us all that we need in this life to prepare us for the glory to come and as our god gives to us on a daily basis we are to see more and more through that how he has provided in unimaginable ways at times in ways that we never could have could have anticipated maybe each one of us has experienced that in some way when you simply had a situation where you just didn't know how whatever it was was going to take place and god provided in a way that that that you never could have even thought up in a way that is unimaginable and through that provision beloved he draws his people closer to himself into a deeper trust for him that we might see him more and more as the source as the bottomless fountain of all that is needed we trust in a sovereign god who provides the proper soil conditions and water and weather and health and customers he provides all the things that are necessary to give us this day our daily bread and we trust him also then to bless the catechism says that our works and worry and gifts can do us no good without his blessing now here again we may have a little bit of trouble with that because we seem to work on autopilot often you know I have the skills that I've been given through my training and school for whatever task I do and I just do it I go about and do it from day to day but you see none of what God gives us will do us any good without his blessing you can be the smartest person able to perform a surgery but apart from God's blessing you're not going to be able to do anything right you can save ten lifetimes worth of money but it doesn't mean you're going to get to use it food is worthless when it's eaten if God does not bless it and the body that is to receive it but our comfort beloved is that God's blessing which we pray for is reserved for his children it is reserved only for those who believe in Jesus christ for those he has taken to himself in love this prayer is a prayer trusting god to give and to bless what he gives that it might be useful that it might be beneficial indeed those who reject him are also given gifts they don't see these things as gifts from him but they are blood they are given gifts of health and intellect and fortune and fame and all kinds of gifts yet these things will be taken in a moment when their spirit their breath departs we are reminded of that with the rich farmers. I'm going to build bigger barns. I'm going to sit back and take life easy. And God said, you fool. And that farmer that very night was taken away from his riches. You may have heard on the news in this past week that the 30-year-old heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune died suddenly in her sleep. One who had everything at her disposal and was taken away from everything. It's gone. Poof. those riches will do her no good in this life the rich and the famous live lavish lives and they partake of the richest of foods and activities but beloved, apart from Jesus Christ they do not see God as the only giver and the one door that man and his wealth cannot open is the door to the marriage supper of the Lamb that eternal provision which our God has opened for you and me in an unimaginable way, a way that we could not even come up with through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who has taken our place. Prayer for daily bread, and as God answers that prayer on a daily basis, is a vivid reminder of our helplessness and our hopelessness and our full dependence upon God for all things and a reminder to us, Even as we look at our provisions, it is to be a reminder of us of how He has provided for us eternally in Jesus Christ who invites us, who brings us into that feast that He has prepared. This simple prayer is indeed a prayer for blessing. Draw me into closer fellowship with You, O Lord, as You help me to recognize that You are my only source. You are my only provider. Bless me by causing this daily bread which You faithfully give to me to be used in my life not for selfish purposes, not for selfish gain, but to be used in my life as Your child, O Lord, for Your service, that my life which is preserved and sustained by Your gifts alone might be to Your glory alone. Beloved, is this prayer really meant for us? Absolutely. If God would remove His hand of provision and blessing for a moment we could not exist physically and apart from Jesus Christ and His saving work we could not exist in glory forever. But praise God for revealing His love and mercy in Jesus Christ and for giving us the assurance of His care forever for all of eternity. But also for today. For this day. Yes, we all have daily needs. We have bills that come in the mail. We have a concern for the cost of living. Yet every day our Lord calls us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. And then in faith, beloved, hit the road. Work the field. Build that house. Enter the office. Clean the kitchen. Or stand in the classroom working in faith, knowing that going before us every step of the way is the overflowing fountain of all good. Beloved, where do we place our trust? In Psalms 3 and 4, David records what was going on for him while being hunted by Absalom to be put to death. David was standing at the threshold of losing his kingdom, his crown, his life. We might say he had every reason to be anxious, to worry, to feel hopeless. Yet in Psalm 4, verse 8, he is able to say, I will lie down and sleep in peace. Now you and I know that when things are not right, when things are stressful, sleep doesn't come easy. And the sleep that does come often is not peaceful. David had everything against him. He says, I will lie down and sleep in peace. Why? For you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety, even in the midst of the most unsafe conditions. And therefore, might we ask too, if I had only for today, if that's all I had, only what I need for today and had absolutely no clue for tomorrow, could I sleep in peace tonight? There's only one way. As Isaiah says in chapter 26, verse 3, you will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Pray humbly yet confidently. Give us this day our daily bread. Amen. Let's pray. Lord God, our Heavenly Father, again, we thank you that we may call you our Father. And more and more, day by day, may that blessing and privilege become more real to us. That you are our great provider. You love to provide for your people all that is needed. You love to because you are our Father. And you are able to do that without fail because you are Almighty God. And, Father, more and more may we trust in You that day by day we would think of that day and trust in You for that day, recognizing as we look back at every day of our lives that You have never failed us and that You will not fail today and You will not fail Your people for any day of life that You give to us because You have not failed us for eternity but have provided for us forever in Christ Jesus. Well, Father, we thank you for your blessings. We thank you for your provisions. We are humbled by your generosity. And may we be faithful stewards of all that you give to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.