A VERSE BY VERSE COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 6 25-34 DEALING WITH JESUS'S TEACHING ABOUT WORRY AND TRUST.

1. MATTHEW 6 25-34 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Do ot Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your
life, what you will eat or drink; or about your
body, what you will wear. Is not life more than
food, and the body more than clothes?
BAR ES, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought ... - The general design
of this paragraph, which closes the chapter, is to warn his disciples against avarice, and,
at the same time, against anxiety about the supply of their needs. This he does by four
arguments or considerations, expressing by unequalled beauty and force the duty of
depending for the things which we need on the providence of God. The “first” is stated in
Mat_6:25; “Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?” In the beginning
of the verse he charged his disciples to take “no thought” - that is, not to be “anxious”
about the supply of their wants. In illustration of this he says that God has given “life,” a
far greater blessing than “meat;” that he has created the body, of far more consequence
than raiment. Shall not he who has conferred the “greater” blessing be willing to confer
the “less?” Shall not he who has formed the body so curiously, and made in its formation
such a display of power and goodness, see that it is properly protected and clothed? He
who has displayed “so great” goodness as to form the body, and breathe into it the
breath of life, will surely “follow up” the blessing, and confer the “smaller” favor of
providing that that body shall be clothed, and that life preserved.
No thought - The word “thought,” when the Bible was translated, meant “anxiety,”
and is so used frequently in Old English authors. Thus, Bacon says, “Haweis died with
‘thought’ and anguish before his business came to an end.” As such it is used here by our
translators, and it answers exactly to the meaning of the original. Like many other
words, it has since somewhat changed its signification, and would convey to most
readers an improper idea. The word “anxiety” would now exactly express the sense, and
is precisely the thing against which the Saviour would guard us. See Luk_8:14; Luk_
21:34; Phi_4:6. “Thought” about the future is right; “anxiety, solicitude, trouble” is
wrong. There is a degree of “thinking” about the things of this life which is proper. See
1Ti_5:8; 2Th_3:10; Rom_12:11. But it should not be our supreme concern; it should not
lead to anxiety; it should not take time that ought to be devoted to religion.
For your life - For what will “support” your life.
Meat - This word here means “food” in general, as it does commonly in the Bible. We
confine it now to animal food. When the Bible was translated, it denoted all kinds of
food, and is so used in the old English writers. It is one of the words which has changed
its meaning since the translation of the Bible was made.

2. Raiment - Clothing.
CLARKE, "Therefore - ∆ια τουτο, on this account; viz., that ye may not serve
mammon, but have unshaken confidence in God, I say unto you, -
Take no thought - Be not anxiously careful, µη µεριµνατε; this is the proper meaning
of the word. µεριµνα anxious solicitude, from µεριζειν τον νουν dividing or distracting the
mind. My old MS. Bible renders it, be not bysy to your liif. Prudent care is never
forbidden by our Lord, but only that anxious distracting solicitude, which, by dividing
the mind, and drawing it different ways, renders it utterly incapable of attending to any
solemn or important concern. To be anxiously careful concerning the means of
subsistence is to lose all satisfaction and comfort in the things which God gives, and to
act as a mere infidel. On the other hand, to rely so much upon providence as not to use
the very powers and faculties with which the Divine Being has endowed us, is to tempt
God. If we labor without placing our confidence in our labor, but expect all from the
blessing of God, we obey his will, co-operate with his providence, set the springs of it a-
going on our behalf, and thus imitate Christ and his followers by a sedate care and an
industrious confidence.
In this and the following verses, our Lord lays down several reasons why men should
not disquiet themselves about the wants of life, or concerning the future.
The first is, the experience of greater benefits already received. Is not the life more
than meat, and the body than raiment? Can he who gave us our body, and breathed into
it the breath of life, before we could ask them from him, refuse us that which is necessary
to preserve both, and when we ask it in humble confidence?
The clause what ye must eat, is omitted by two MSS., most of the ancient versions, and
by many of the primitive fathers. Griesbach has left it in the text with a note of
doubtfulness. It occurs again in Mat_6:31, and there is no variation in any of the MSS. in
that place. Instead of, Is not the life more than, etc., we should read, Of more value; so
the word πλειον is used in Num_22:15, and by the best Greek writers; and in the same
sense it is used in Mat_21:37. See the note there.
GILL, "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life,.... Since ye
cannot serve both God and "mammon", obey one, and neglect the other. Christ does not
forbid labour to maintain, support, and preserve, this animal life; nor does he forbid all
thought and care about it, but all anxious, immoderate, perplexing, and distressing
thoughts and cares; such as arise from diffidence and unbelief, and tend to despair;
which are dishonourable to God, as the God of nature and providence, and
uncomfortable to men:
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what ye shall
put on. The several and the only things, which are necessary for the support and
comfort of human life, are mentioned; as meat, drink, and clothing; Eating and drinking
are necessary to preserve life; and raiment, to cover and defend the body, from the
injuries of the heavens: and having these, men have everything necessary, and ought
herewith to be content; nor should they be anxiously thoughtful about these: for

3. is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? And yet, God has
given these without man's thought: and since these are better, and much more excellent,
than food and raiment, as all must and will acknowledge; and God has given these the
greater gifts, it may be depended upon, that he will give the lesser; that he will give meat
and drink; to uphold that valuable life, which he is the author of; and raiment to clothe
that body, which he, with so much wisdom and power, has accurately and wonderfully
made.
HE RY, "
There is scarcely any one sin against which our Lord Jesus more largely and earnestly
warns his disciples, or against which he arms them with more variety of arguments, than
the sin of disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of life, which are a
bad sign that both the treasure and the heart are on the earth; and therefore he thus
largely insists upon it. Here is,
I. The prohibition laid down. It is the counsel and command of the Lord Jesus, that we
take no thought about the things of this world; I say unto you. He says it as our
Lawgiver, and the Sovereign of our hearts; he says it as our Comforter, and the Helper of
our joy. What is it that he says? It is this, and he that hath ears to hear, let him hear it.
Take no thought for your life, nor yet for your body (Mat_6:25). Take no thought,
saying, What shall we eat? (Mat_6:31) and again (Mat_6:34), Take no thought, mē
merimnate - Be not in care. As against hypocrisy, so against worldly cares, the caution is
thrice repeated, and yet no vain repetition: precept must be upon precept, and line upon
line, to the same purport, and all little enough; it is a sin which doth so easily beset us. It
intimates how pleasing it is to Christ, and of how much concern it is to ourselves, that we
should live without carefulness. It is the repeated command of the Lord Jesus to his
disciples, that they should not divide and pull in pieces their own minds with care about
the world. There is a thought concerning the things of this life, which is not only lawful,
but duty, such as is commended in the virtuous woman. See Pro_27:23. The word is
used concerning Paul's care of the churches, and Timothy's care for the state of souls,
2Co_11:28; Phi_2:20.
But the thought here forbidden is, 1. A disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries
the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God,
and is a damp upon our hope in him; which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment
of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us. 2. A distrustful, unbelieving
thought. God has promised to provide for those that are his all things needful for life as
well as godliness, the life that now is, food and a covering: not dainties, but necessaries.
He never said, “They shall be feasted,” but, “Verily, they shall be fed.” Now an inordinate
care for time to come, and fear of wanting those supplies, spring from a disbelief of these
promises, and of the wisdom and goodness of Divine Providence; and that is the evil of
it. As to present sustenance, we may and must use lawful means to get it, else we tempt
God; we must be diligent in our callings, and prudent in proportioning our expenses to
what we have, and we must pray for daily bread; and if all other means fail, we may and
must ask relief of those that are able to give it. He was none of the best of men that said,
To beg I am ashamed (Luk_16:3); as he was, who (Luk_16:21) desired to be fed with the
crumbs; but for the future, we must cast our care upon God, and take no thought,
because it looks like a jealousy of God, who knows how to give what we want when we
know not now to get it. Let our souls dwell at ease in him! This gracious carelessness is
the same with that sleep which God gives to his beloved, in opposition to the worldling's
toil, Psa_127:2. Observe the cautions here,

4. (1.) Take no thought for your life. Life is our greatest concern for this world; All that a
man has will he give for his life; yet take no thought about it. [1.] Not about the
continuance of it; refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; my times are in
thy hand, and they are in a good hand. [2.] Not about the comforts of this life; refer it to
God to embitter or sweeten it as he pleases. We must not be solicitous, no not about the
necessary support of this life, food and raiment; these God has promised, and therefore
we may more confidently expect; say not, What shall we eat? It is the language of one at
a loss, and almost despairing; whereas, though many good people have the prospect of
little, yet there are few but have present support.
(2.) Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come. Be not solicitous for the
future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind
you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for tomorrow, or the events
of it.
II. The reasons and arguments to enforce this prohibition. One would think the
command of Christ was enough to restrain us from this foolish sin of disquieting,
distrustful care, independently of the comfort of our own souls, which is so nearly
concerned; but to show how much the heart of Christ is upon it, and what pleasures he
takes in those that hope in his mercy, the command is backed with the most powerful
arguments. If reason may but rule us, surely we shall ease ourselves of these thorns. To
free us from anxious thoughts, and to expel them, Christ here suggests to us comforting
thoughts, that we may be filled with them. It will be worth while to take pains with our
own hearts, to argue them out of their disquieting cares, and to make ourselves ashamed
of them. They may be weakened by right reason, but it is by an active faith only that they
can be overcome. Consider then,
1. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Mat_6:25. Yes, no doubt it
is; so he says who had reason to understand the true value of present things, for he made
them, he supports them, and supports us by them; and the thing speaks for itself. Note,
(1.) Our life is a greater blessing than our livelihood. It is true, life cannot subsist without
a livelihood; but the meat and raiment which are here represented as inferior to the life
and body are such as are for ornament and delight; for about such as are for ornament
ad delight; for about such we are apt to be solicitous. Meat and raiment are in order to
life, and the end is more noble and excellent than the means. The daintiest food and
finest raiment are from the earth, but life from the breath of God. Life is the light of
men; meat is but the oil that feeds that light: so that the difference between rich and
poor is very inconsiderable, since, in the greatest things, they stand on the same level,
and differ only in the less. (2.) This is an encouragement to us to trust God for food and
raiment, and so to ease ourselves of all perplexing cares about them. God has given us
life, and given us the body; it was an act of power, it was an act of favour, it was done
without our care: what cannot he do for us, who did that? - what will he not? If we take
care about our souls and eternity, which are more than the body, and its life, we may
leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less. God has maintained
our lives hitherto; if sometimes with pulse and water, that has answered the end; he has
protected us and kept us alive. He that guards us against the evils we are exposed to, will
supply us with the good things we are in need of. If he had been pleased to kill us, to
starve us, he would not so often have given his angels a charge concerning us to keep
us.
JAMISO , "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought — “Be not solicitous.”
The English word “thought,” when our version was made, expressed this idea of
“solicitude,” “anxious concern” - as may be seen in any old English classic; and in the

5. same sense it is used in 1Sa_9:5, etc. But this sense of the word has now nearly gone out,
and so the mere English reader is apt to be perplexed. Thought or forethought, for
temporal things - in the sense of reflection, consideration - is required alike by Scripture
and common sense. It is that anxious solicitude, that oppressive care, which springs
from unbelieving doubts and misgivings, which alone is here condemned. (See Phi_4:6).
for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your
body, what ye shall put on — In Luke (Luk_12:29) our Lord adds, “neither be ye
unsettled” - not “of doubtful mind,” as in our version. When “careful (or ‘full of care’)
about nothing,” but committing all in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving unto
God, the apostle assures us that “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Phi_4:6, Phi_4:7); that is, shall guard
both our feelings and our thoughts from undue agitation, and keep them in a holy calm.
But when we commit our whole temporal condition to the wit of our own minds, we get
into that “unsettled” state against which our Lord exhorts His disciples.
Is not the life more than meat — food.
and the body than raiment? — If God, then, gives and keeps up the greater - the
life, the body - will He withhold the less, food to sustain life and raiment to clothe the
body?
BARCLAY, "THE FORBIDDE WORRY (Matthew 6:25-34)
6:25-34 I tell you, therefore, do not worry about your life, about what you are to eat,
or what you are to drink; and do not worry about your body, about what you are to
wear. Is not your life more than food, and your body more than clothes? Look at the
birds of the air, and see that they do not sow, or reap, or gather things into store-
houses, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not better than they?
Who of you can add one span to his life by worrying about it? And why do you
worry about clothes? Learn a lesson from the lilies of the field, from the way in
which they grow. They do not toil or SPI ; but I tell you that not even Solomon in
all his glory was clothed like one of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field,
which exists to-day, and which is thrown into the oven to-morrow, shall he not much
more clothe you, O you of little faith? So then do not worry, saying, What are we to
eat? or, What are we to drink? or, What are we to wear? The Gentiles seek after all
these things. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things
will come to you in addition. So, then, do not worry about to-morrow; to-morrow
will worry about itself. Its own troubles are quite enough for the day.
We must begin our study of this passage by making sure that we understand what
Jesus is forbidding and what he is demanding. The King James Version translates
Jesus' commandment: Take no thought for the morrow. Strange to say, the King
James Version was the first translation to translate it in that way. Wyclif had it: "Be
not busy to your life." Tyndale, Crammer and the Geneva Version all had: "Be not
careful for your life." They used the word careful in the literal sense of full of care.
The older versions were in fact more accurate. It is not ordinary, prudent foresight,
such as becomes a man, that Jesus forbids; it is worry. Jesus is not advocating a
shiftless, thriftless, reckless, thoughtless, improvident attitude to life; he is

6. forbidding a care-worn, worried fear, which takes all the joy out of life.
The word which is used is the word merimnan (Greek #3309), which means to
worry anxiously. Its corresponding noun is merimna (Greek #3308), which means
worry. In a papyrus letter a wife writes to her absent husband: "I cannot sleep at
night or by day, because of the worry (merimna, Greek #3308) I have about your
welfare." A mother, on hearing of her son's good health and PROSPERITY writes
back: "That is all my prayer and all my anxiety (merimna, Greek #3308)."
Anacreon, the poet, writes: "When I drink wine, my worries (merimna, Greek #
3308) go to sleep." In Greek the word is the characteristic word for anxiety, and
worry, and care.
The Jews themselves were very familiar with this attitude to life. It was the teaching
of the great Rabbis that a man ought to meet life with a combination of prudence
and serenity. They insisted, for instance, that every man must teach his son a trade,
for, they said, not to teach him a trade was to teach him to steal. That is to say, they
believed in taking all the necessary steps for the prudent handling of life. But at the
same time, they said, "He who has a loaf in his basket, and who says, 'What will I
eat tomorrow?' is a man of little faith."
Jesus is here teaching a lesson which his countrymen well knew--the lesson of
prudence and forethought and serenity and trust combined.
WORRY A D ITS CURE (Matthew 6:25-34 CO TI UED)
In these ten verses Jesus sets out seven different arguments and defences against
worry.
(i) He begins by pointing out (Matthew 6:25) that God gave us life, and, if he gave us
life, surely we can trust him for the lesser things. If God gave us life, surely we can
trust him to give us food to sustain that life. If God gave us bodies, surely we can
trust him for raiment to clothe these bodies. If anyone gives us a gift which is
beyond price, surely we can be certain that such a giver will not be mean, and
stingy, and niggardly, and careless, and forgetful about much less costly gifts. So,
then, the first argument is that, if God gave us life, we can trust him for the things
which are necessary to support life.
(ii) Jesus goes on to speak about the birds (Matthew 6:26). There is no worry in
their lives, no attempt to pile up goods for an unforeseen and unforeseeable future;
and yet their lives go on. More than one Jewish Rabbi was fascinated by the way in
which the animals live. "In my life," said Rabbi Simeon, "I have never seen a stag as
a dryer of figs, or a lion as a porter, or a fox as a merchant, yet they are all
nourished without worry. If they, who are created to serve me, are nourished
without worry, how much more ought 1, who am created to serve my Maker, to be
nourished without worry; but I have corrupted my ways, and so I have impaired my
substance." The point that Jesus is making is not that the birds do not work; it has
been said that no one works harder than the average sparrow to make a living; the
point that he is making is that they do not worry. There is not to be found in them

7. man's straining to see a future which he cannot see, and man's seeking to find
SECURITY in things stored up and accumulated against the future.
(iii) In Matthew 6:27, Jesus goes on to prove that worry is in any event useless. The
verse can bear two meanings. It can mean that no man by worrying can add a cubit
to his height; but a cubit is eighteen inches, and no man surely would ever
contemplate adding eighteen inches to his height! It can mean that no man by
worrying can add the shortest space to his life; and that meaning is more likely. It is
Jesus' argument that worry is pointless anyway.
(iv) Jesus goes on to speak about the flowers (Matthew 6:28-30), and he speaks
about them as one who loved them. The lilies of the field were the scarlet poppies
and anemones. They bloomed one day on the hillsides of Palestine; and yet in their
brief life they were clothed with a beauty which surpassed the beauty of the robes of
kings. When they died they were used for nothing better than for burning. The
point is this. The Palestinian oven was made of clay. It was like a clay box set on
bricks over the fire. When it was desired to raise the temperature of it especially
quickly, some handfuls of dried grasses and wild flowers were flung inside the oven
and set alight. The flowers had but one day of life; and then they were set alight to
help a woman to heat an oven when she was baking in a hurry; and yet God clothes
them with a beauty which is beyond man's power to imitate. If God gives such
beauty to a short-lived flower, how much more will he care for man? Surely the
generosity which is so lavish to the flower of a day will not be forgetful of man, the
crown of creation.
(v) Jesus goes on to advance a very fundamental argument against worry. Worry, he
says, is characteristic of a heathen, and not of one who knows what God is like
(Matthew 6:32). Worry is essentially distrust of God. Such a distrust may be
understandable in a heathen who believes in a jealous, capricious, unpredictable
god; but it is beyond comprehension in one who has learned to call God by the name
of Father. The Christian cannot worry because he believes in the love of God.
(vi) Jesus goes on to advance two ways in which to defeat worry. The first is to seek
first, to concentrate upon, the Kingdom of God. We have seen that to be in the
Kingdom and to do the will of God is one and the same thing (Matthew 6:10). To
concentrate on the doing of, and the acceptance of, God's will is the way to defeat
worry. We know how in our own lives a great love can drive out every other
concern. Such a love can inspire a man's work, intensify his study, purify his life,
dominate his whole being. It was Jesus; conviction that worry is banished when God
becomes the dominating power of our lives.
(vii) Lastly, Jesus says that worry can be defeated when we acquire the art of living
one day at a time (Matthew 6:34). The Jews had a saying: "Do not worry over
tomorrow's evils, for you know not what today will bring forth. Perhaps tomorrow
you will not be alive, and you will have worried for a world which will not be
yours." If each day is lived as it comes, if each task is done as it appears, then the
sum of all the days is bound to be good. It is Jesus' advice that we should handle the

8. demands of each day as it comes, without worrying about the unknown future and
the things which may never happen.
THE FOLLY OF WORRY (Matthew 6:25-34 continued)
Let us now see if we can gather up Jesus' arguments against worry.
(i) Worry is needless, useless and even actively injurious. Worry cannot affect the
past, for the past is past. Omar Khayyam was grimly right:
"The moving finger writes, and, having writ,
Moves on; nor all thy piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
or all thy tears wash out a word of it."
The past is past. It is not that a man can or ought to dissociate himself from his past;
but he ought to use his past as a spur and a guide for better action in the future, and
not as something about which he broods until he has worried himself into a
paralysis of action.
Equally, worry about the future is useless. Alistair MacLean in one of his sermons
tells of a story which he had read. A London doctor was the hero. "He was
paralysed and bedridden, but almost outrageously cheerful, and his smile so brave
and radiant that everyone forgot to be sorry for him. His children adored him, and
when one of his boys was leaving the nest and starting forth upon life's adventure,
Dr. Greatheart gave him good advice: 'Johnny,' he said, 'the thing to do, my lad, is
to hold your own end up, and to do it like a gentleman, and please remember the
biggest troubles you have got to face are those that never come.'" Worry about the
future is wasted effort, and the future of reality is seldom as bad as the future of our
fears.
But worry is worse than useless; it is often actively injurious. The two typical
diseases of modern life are the stomach ulcer and the coronary thrombosis, and in
many cases both are the result of worry. It is a medical fact that he who laughs most
lives longest. The worry which wears out the mind wears out the body along with it.
Worry affects a man's judgment, lessens his powers of decision, and renders him
progressively incapable of dealing with life. Let a man give his best to every
situation--he cannot give more--and let him leave the rest to God.
(ii) Worry is blind. Worry refuses to learn the lesson of nature. Jesus bids men look
at the birds, and see the bounty which is behind nature, and trust the love that lies
behind that bounty. Worry refuses to learn the lesson of history. There was a
Psalmist who cheered himself with the memory of history: "O my God," he cries,
"my soul is cast down within me." And then he goes on: "Therefore I remember
Thee, from the land of Jordan, and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar" (Psalms 42:6;

9. compare Deuteronomy 3:9). When he was up against it, he comforted himself with
the memory of what God had done. The man who feeds his heart on the record of
what God has done in the past will never worry about the future. Worry refuses to
learn the lesson of life. We are still alive and our heads are still above water; and yet
if someone had told us that we would have to go through what we have actually gone
through, we would have said that it was impossible. The lesson of life is that
somehow we have been enabled to bear the unbearable and to do the undoable and
to pass the breaking-point and not to break. The lesson of life is that worry is
unnecessary.
(iii) Worry is essentially irreligious. Worry is not caused by external circumstances.
In the same circumstances one man can be absolutely serene, and another man can
be worried to death. Both worry and serenity come, not from circumstances, but
from the heart. Alistair MacLean QUOTES a story from Tauler, the German
mystic. One day Tauler met a beggar. "God give you a good day, my friend," he
said. The beggar answered, "I thank God I never had a bad one." Then Tauler said,
"God give you a happy life, my friend." "I thank God," said the beggar, "I am
never unhappy." Tauler in amazement said, "What do you mean?" "Well," said the
beggar, "when it is fine, I thank God; when it rains, I thank God; when I have
plenty, I thank God; when I am hungry, I thank God; and since God's will is my
will, and whatever pleases him pleases me, why should I say I am unhappy when I
am not?" Tauler looked at the man in astonishment. "Who are you?" he asked. "I
am a king," said the beggar. "Where then is your kingdom?" asked Tauler. And the
beggar answered quietly: "In my heart."
Isaiah said it long ago: "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on thee: because he trusts in thee" (Isaiah 26:3). As the north country woman had
it: "I am always happy, and my secret is always to sail the seas, and ever to keep the
heart in port."
There may be greater sins than worry, but very certainly there is no more disabling
sin. "Take no anxious thought for the morrow"--that is the commandment of Jesus,
and it is the way, not only to peace, but also to power.
BE SO , "Verses 25-27
Matthew 6:25-27. Therefore I say, Take no thought, &c. — Our Lord here proceeds
to caution his disciples against worldly cares, these being as inconsistent with the
true service of God as worldly desires. But the expression used by our translators,
Take no thought, is too strong, and not warranted by the original, µη µεριµνατε,
which properly signifies, Be not anxious, or, anxiously careful, as is evident from
Luke 10:41; Luke 12:11; Luke 21:34; Philippians 4:6; and almost every other place,
where µεριµναω occurs. For we are not to suppose that our Lord here commands us
absolutely to take no thought for our life, food, and raiment; because, in other parts
of Scripture, diligence in business is inculcated, and men are commanded to labour
with their hands, that they may provide for the supply of their own wants, and also
those of others, Romans 12:11; Ephesians 4:28; and that, instead of being useless
loads on the earth, they may, at all times, have it in their power to discharge the

10. several duties of life with decency, Titus 3:14. What Christ therefore here forbids is,
not that thought, foresight, and care which prudent men use in providing
sustenance and needful support for themselves, and those dependant upon them;
but it is such an anxious care, as arises from want of faith in the being, perfections,
and providence of God, and in the declarations and promises of his word, and
therefore such an anxious solicitude as engrosses the thoughts and desires of the
soul, so as either utterly to exclude or greatly damp and hinder spiritual affections,
pursuits, and labours; or which prevents our receiving or our retaining and
increasing in the love of God, and the true religion connected therewith. Is not the
life more than the meat, needful to support it? And the body than the raiment,
necessary to clothe it? and will not he, who has given the greater blessings, give the
less also? Behold the fowls of the air — Learn a lesson from the birds that now fly
round you. For they sow not, neither do they reap, &c. — Without foreseeing their
own wants, or making provision for them, they are preserved and nourished by the
unwearied benignity of the divine providence. Are ye not much better than they? —
Are ye not beings of a nobler order, and destined for a higher end than they, and
therefore more the objects of the divine care? Moreover, which of you, by taking
thought — Gr. µεριµνων, by being anxiously careful, can add one cubit unto his
stature? Can add one moment to the length of your lives; that is, which of you could
profit yourselves at all by anxious thoughts and cares, if you should indulge them?
It is evident, as several learned writers have observed, that the word ηλικια, here
rendered stature, ought to have been translated age, because the caution is against
anxious care about the preservation of life, and about food, the means of prolonging
it; not to mention that Jesus is speaking here to full-grown men, who probably had
no solicitude about their stature. Besides, the measure of a cubit agrees much better
to a man’s age than to his stature, the smallest addition to which would have been
better expressed by a hair’s breadth, or the like, than by a cubit, which is more than
the fourth part of the whole height of most men. This interpretation of the word is
confirmed by Luke in the parallel passage, Luke 12:25-26, where he calls the adding
of a cubit, that which is least — That is the thing in which the interposition of the
divine providence least appears, as it really is, if understood of the addition of a
single moment to the length of one’s life.
COKE, "Matthew 6:25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought, &c.— Be not
solicitous [and so wherever it occurs]. Is not the life more than food? The Greek
µεριµνατε, imports such anxietyas causes an intestine strife, by contrary reasonings
with opposite hopes and fears. This is so strictly the sense of the original, that a
word of the same derivation is used by our Lord, where he says, a kingdom divided
against itself, µερισθεισα, cannot stand, ch. Matthew 12:25. So that this precept only
forbids that perplexity and distraction of thought which are inconsistent with the
single right intention, and interrupts our resignation to the divine will. St. Luke, in
the parallel place, has made use of the Greek word µετεωριζω, ch. Matthew 12:29
which signifies to have a wavering and doubtful mind, disquieted and tossed about
with mistrust and fear. See Mintert on the word. In this view there is no need to say,
with Archbishop Tillotson, Dr. Clarke, and some others, that our Lord only
addresses this to his Apostles, who were to cast themselves on an extraordinary
Providence, without any ways concerning themselves for their support. Mr. Blair

11. has well proved the contrary at large, in his appendix to his fourth Sermon, vol. 1:
p. 55, &c. and it is easy to observe, that the arguments urged by our Lord contain
nothing peculiar to their case, but are built on considerations applicable to all
Christians. Compare Philippians 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:7 as also Luke 22:35-36 and Acts
20:34 whence it appears, that the Apostles themselves were not entirely to neglect a
prudent care for their own subsistence, in dependence on miraculous provisions.
Our Saviour, attentive to his main argument, proceeds in these verses to shew, that
all the reasons by which worldly-mindedness is usually justified or palliated are
entirely overthrown, by considering the power, perfection, and extent of the
PROVIDE CE of God. This grand subject he handles in a manner suitable to its
dignity, by proposing a few simple and obvious instances, wherein the provision
which God has made for the least and weakest of his creatures shines forth
illustriously, and forces on the mind the strongest conviction of that wise fatherly
care, which our gracious God takes of all the works of his hands. From what they
were at that instant beholding, the birds of the air, the lilies, the grass of the field, he
led even the most illiterate of his hearers to form a more elevated and extensive
notion of the divine government than the philosophers attained to; who, though they
allowed in the general that the world was ruled by God, had but confused
conceptions of his providence, which many of them denied to respect every
individual creature and action. OurDivine Prophet taught, that the great Father
Almighty has every single being in his hand, and that all things are absolutely
subjected to his will. This notion of Providence affords a solid ground, with constant
dependence also on divine grace, for supporting that rational trust in God, which is
one of the highest and best acts of the human mind, and furnishes us at all times
with one of the strongest motives to holiness and virtue.
Far be it from me to widen the narrow ways prescribed in the Gospel! but to make
them narrower than the literal sense imports, will render them quite unpassable. It
is the glorious privilege even of men engaged in business and the tumult of the world
(as the best Christians sometimes are), to be delivered from all entanglements of
mind in respect to their secular interests, and from all anxiety and disquietude
about future events, even where their reputation, or their fortune, or perhaps both,
are at stake. This privilege every Christian is bound to look for,and may expect
from the almighty grace of God; but it is to be obtained by the means alone of faith
and habitual devotion. On the contrary, to say absolutely, Take no thought, is a
misrepresentation of our Lord's doctrine: all his intention here was, to teach the
Christian graces and virtues in the most radical manner, by extirpating the remotest
tendency to the contraryvices. As under the sixth commandment, which
prohibitsmurder, he forbids an angry word or malicious thought; so here, to
preserve us from worldly-mindedness, he forbids all painfully solicitous care even
for the necessaries of life; and he enforces his prohibition with such cogent
arguments, as must convince all who piously attend to them. Is not the life more
than food, and the body than clothing? "He who hath given us the greater, will he
deny us the less? He who gave us our being, will he refuse what is necessary for the
support of it? If is as absurd as ungrateful to distrust a benefactor, whose goodness
we have already so largely experienced, and who takes upon himself the care to
provide for us. Consider the birds of the air; they sow not, &c.—are ye not of

12. greater value than they? Are ye not the children of God? And when ye see him make
so plentiful a provision for his inferior creatures, can you suspect that he will leave
you, his children, destitute of necessary subsistence?" See more on Matthew 6:34
and the note on Psalms 94:19
GOLDE CHAI , "Aug., Serm. in Mont., ii, 15: The Lord had taught above, that
whoso desires to love God, and to take heed not to offend, should not think that he
can serve two masters; lest though perhaps he may not look for superfluities, yet his
heart may become double for the sake of very necessaries, and his thoughts bent to
obtain them.
"Therefore I say unto you, Be not ye careful for your life what ye shall eat, or for
your body what ye shall put on."
Chrys.: He does not hereby mean that the spirit needs food, for it is incorporeal, but
He speaks according to common usage, for the soul cannot remain in the body
unless the body be fed.
Aug.: Or we may understand the soul in this place to be put for the animal life.
Jerome: Some manuscripts, add here, "nor what ye shall drink." [ed. note, b: vid.
Exod. xv. 34. and infra v. 31. The clause is also omitted by other versions, by
Erasmus, Mill, and Bengel. Wetstein retains.] That which belongs naturally to all
animals alike, to brutes and beasts of burden as well as to man, from all thought of
this we are not freed. But we are bid not to be anxious what we should eat, for in the
sweat of our face we earn our BREAD; the toil is to be undergone, the anxiety put
away. This "Be not careful," is to be taken of bodily food and clothing; for the food
and clothing of the spirit it becomes us to be always careful.
Aug., De Haeres., 57: There are certain heretics called Euchitae [ed. note, c: The
Euchites, who were so called from their profession of prayer, were properly
fanatical Monks of the fourth and following centuries, but their name is often taken
as synonymous with Mystics. They were of oriental origin, and disparaged, if not
denied, the efficacy of Baptism.], who hold that a monk may not do any work even
for his support; who embrace this profession that they may be freed from necessity
of daily labour.
Aug., De Op. Monach. 1 et seq.: For they say the Apostle did not speak of personal
labour, such as that of husbandmen or craftsmen, when he said, "Who will not
work, neither let him eat." [2 Thes ] For he could not be so contrary to the Gospel
where it is said, "Therefore I say unto you, Be not careful." Therefore in that saying
of the Apostle we are to understand spiritual works, of which it is elsewhere said, "I
have planted, Apollos watereth." [1 Corinthians 3:6]
And thus they think themselves obedient to the Apostolic precept, interpreting the
Gospel to speak of not taking care for the needs of the body, and the Apostle to
speak of spiritual labour and food. First let us prove that the Apostle meant that the

13. servants of God should labour with the body. He had said, "Ye yourselves know
how ye ought to imitate us in that we were not troublesome among you, nor did we
eat any man"s bread for nought; but travailing in labour and weariness day and
night, that we might not be burdensome to any of you. ot that we have not power,
but that we might offer ourselves as a pattern to you which ye should imitate. For
when we were among you, this we taught among you, that if a man would not work,
neither should he eat."
What shall we say to this, since he taught by his example when he delivered in
precept, in that he himself wrought with his own hands. This is proved from the
Acts [Acts 18:3], where it is said, that he abode with Aquila and his wife Priscilla,
"labouring with them, for they were tent-makers."
And yet to the Apostle, as a preacher of the Gospel, a soldier of Christ, a planter of
the vineyard, a shepherd of his flock, the Lord had appointed that he should live of
the Gospel, but he refused that PAYME T which was justly his due, that he might
present himself an example to those who exacted what was not due to them. Let
those hear this who have not that power which he had; namely, of eating BREAD
for nought, and only labouring with spiritual labour. If indeed they be Evangelists,
if ministers of the Altar, if dispensers of the Sacraments, they have this power.
Or if they had in this world possessions, whereby they might without labour have
supported themselves, and had on their turning to God distributed this to the needy,
then were their infirmity to be believed and to be borne with. And it would not
import whatever place it was in which he made the distribution, seeing there is but
one commonwealth of all Christians.
But they who enter the profession of God"s service from the country life, from the
workman"s craft, or the common labour, if they work not, are not to be excused.
For it is by no means fitting that in that life in which senators become labourers,
there should labouring men become idle; or that where lords of farms come having
given up their luxuries, there should rustic slaves come to find luxury.
But when the Lord says, "Be not ye careful," He does not mean that they should not
procure such things as they have need of, wherever they may honestly, but that they
should not look to these things, and should not for their sake do what they are
commanded to do in preaching the Gospel; for this intention He had a little before
called the eye.
Chrys.: Or we may connect the context otherwise; When the Lord had inculcated
contempt of money, that none might say, How then shall we be able to live when we
have given up our all? He adds, "Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for
your life."
Gloss. interlin.: That is, Be not withdrawn by temporal cares from things eternal.
Jerome: The command is therefore, "not to be anxious what we shall eat." For it is

14. also commanded, that in the sweat of our face we must eat bread. Toil therefore is
enjoined, carking forbidden.
Pseudo-Chrys.: Bread may not be gained by carefulness of spirit, but by toil of
body; and to them that will labour it abounds, God bestowing it as a reward of their
industry; and is lacking to the idle, God WITHDRAWI G it as punishment of their
sloth. The Lord also confirms our hope, and descending first from the greater to the
less, says, "Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?"
Jerome: He who has given the greater, will He not also give the lessPseudo-Chrys.:
For had He not willed that which was should be preserved, He had not created it;
but what He so created that it should be preserved by food, it is necessary that He
give it food, as long as He would have it to be preserved.
Hilary: Otherwise; Because the thoughts of the unbelievers were ill-employed
respecting care of things future, cavilling concerning what is to be the appearance of
our bodies in the resurrection, what the food in the eternal life, therefore He
CO TI UES, "Is not the life more than food?" He will not endure that our hope
should hang in care for the meat and drink and clothing that is to be in the
resurrection, lest there should be affront given to Him who has given us the more
precious things, in our being anxious that He should also give us the lesser.
ELLICOTT, "(25) Take no thought.—The Greek word some times thus translated,
and sometimes by “care” or “be careful” (1 Corinthians 7:32-34; Philippians 2:20;
Philippians 4:6), expresses anxiety, literally, the care which distracts us. And this
was, in the sixteenth century, the meaning of the English phrase “take thought.” Of
this we have one example in 1 Samuel 9:5; other examples of it are found in
Shakespeare, “take thought, and die for Cæsar” (Julius Cæsar, ii. 1), or Bacon
(Henry the Eighth, p. 220), who speaks of a man “dying with thought and anguish”
before his case was heard. The usage of the time, therefore, probably led the
translators of 1611 to choose the phrase, as stronger than the “be not careful” which
in this passage stood in all previous versions. The changing fortune of words has
now made it weaker, and it would be better to substitute “over-careful” or “over-
anxious.” The temper against which our Lord warns His disciples is not that of
foresight, which merely provides for the future, but the allowing ourselves to be
harassed and vexed with its uncertainties. To “take thought” in the modern sense is
often the most effectual safeguard (next to the higher defence of trust in God)
against “taking thought” in the older.
For your life.—The Greek word is the same as that commonly rendered “soul,” and
the passage is interesting as an example of its use in the wider sense which includes
the lower as well as the higher life. (Comp. Matthew 10:39; Matthew 16:25; Mark
3:4, et at.) We note in the form of the precept the homeliness of the cases selected as
illustration. We hear the language of One who speaks to peasants with their simple
yet pressing wants, not to the wider cares of the covetous or ambitious of a higher
grade.

15. Is not the life more than meat, . . .?—The reasoning is à fortiori. God has given you
the greater, can you not trust Him to give you also the less? In some way or other
there will come food to sustain life, and clothing for the body, and men should not so
seek for more as to be troubled about them.
CALVI , "Throughout the whole of this discourse, Christ reproves that excessive
anxiety, with which men torment themselves, about food and clothing, and, at the
same time, applies a remedy for curing this disease. When he forbids them to be
anxious, this is not to be taken literally, as if he intended to take away from his
people all care. We know that men are born on the condition of having some care;
and, I DEED, this is not the least portion of the miseries, which the Lord has laid
upon us as a punishment, in order to humble us. But immoderate care is condemned
for two reasons: either because in so doing men tease and vex themselves to no
purpose, by carrying their anxiety farther than is proper or than their calling
demands; or because they claim more for themselves than they have a right to do,
and place such a reliance on their own industry, that they neglect to call upon God.
We ought to remember this promise: though unbelievers shall “rise up early, and sit
up late, and eat the bread of sorrows,” yet believers will obtain, through the
kindness of God, rest and sleep, (Psalms 127:2.) Though the children of God are not
free from toil and anxiety, yet, properly speaking, we do not say that they are
anxious about life: because, through their reliance on the providence of God, they
enjoy calm repose.
Hence it is easy to learn, how far we ought to be anxious about food Each of us
ought to labor, as far as his calling requires and the Lord commands; and each of us
ought to be led by his own wants to call upon God. Such anxiety holds an
intermediate place between indolent carelessness and the unnecessary torments by
which unbelievers kill themselves. But if we give proper attention to the words of
Christ, we shall find, that he does not forbid every kind of care, but only what arises
from distrust. Be not anxious, says he, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink
That belongs to those who tremble for fear of poverty or hunger, as if they were to
be in want of food every moment.
Matthew 6:25.Is not the life of more value than food? He argues from the greater to
the less. He had forbidden them to be excessively anxious about the way in which
life might be supported; and he now assigns the reason. The Lord, who has given
life itself, will not suffer us to want what is necessary for its support. And certainly
we do no small dishonor to God, when we fail to trust that he will give us necessary
food or clothing; as if he had thrown us on the earth at random. He who is fully
convinced, that the Author of our life has an intimate knowledge of our condition,
will entertain no doubt that he will make abundant provision for our wants.
Whenever we are seized by any fear or anxiety about food, let us remember, that
God will take care of the life which he gave us.
BURKITT, "The next sin which our Saviour cautions his disciples against, is
immoderate care for the things of this life, such a solicitous and vexatious care for
food and raiment as is accompanied with diffidence and distrust of God's fatherly

16. providence over us, and provision for us; and the arguments which our Saviour uses
to dissuade from this sin, are many and cogent, laid down in the following verses.
Learn here, 1. That Almighty God will provide for every servant of his, food and
raiment, and a competency of the comforts and conveniencies of life.
Learn, 2. That want of faith in God'd promise, and a distrust of his fatherly care, is
a God-provoking and wrath-procuring sin.
Learn, 3. That notwithstanding God's promise to supply our wants, we not only
may, but must, use such prudential and provident means as are in our own wants.
Dr. Hammond's Pract. Catech.
WHEDO , "25. Therefore — Since it is God’s part, like a true master, to care for
us. Take no thought — This rendering of the Greek, ( µεριµνα, merimna,
distraction, distrust,) is in itself too strong. The Greek word is derived from the verb
µεριζω, merizo, to divide, and implies the distraction of mind between different
feelings; or rather, between the true God and the world-god of Gentilism. Let there
be no half-and-half distraction of your mind between the two masters, by which
anxiety for worldly good shall prevent your complete trust in God. Your anxiety is
just so much belief that wealth is safer than God, and Mammon a better master
than Christ.
What ye shall eat — The questions here condemned should be carefully understood.
They are not the questions asked by a housewife who has a dinner to provide to-
day; nor the questions of an industrious householder who has a family to feed.
These provident queries are a rightful duty, and to furnish the solid answer is its
proper performance. The prohibited questions ask not properly how shall I be
supplied, but shall I be supplied at all. The questions thus prohibited are questions
of infidel distrust asked by a Mammon worshipper, who is called upon to become a
man of faith, but is afraid he will thereby lose his earthly living. For all these
distrusts our Lord is about to furnish the true, magnanimous, consoling answer.
Venture the holy investment; trust in God, and do duty. Life… meat… body…
raiment — Will not he who gave the better, furnish also the inferior? If God gave
life and body, will he not give food and raiment?
COFFMA , "The area of need explored by these words is not incidental but basic.
It is a question of food, clothing, and shelter. Jesus' argument is that God who made
man and gave him life will also provide him with the means to sustain it, reinforcing
his argument by the fact that God does this very thing for the lower creation.
Surely, God could not be charged with watching out for sparrows and neglecting his
children! The mystery of how God cares for the myriads of his creatures both great
and small is an unfailing marvel. Anyone familiar with wild life is aware of the
remarkable CO TI UATIO of every species from age to age. That God does
indeed do this is a certainty. The weight of our Lord's argument here is
overwhelming when it is recalled that of all God's creatures, from insects to the

17. great animals of the forest, man alone is constantly anxious about his survival on the
planet. What a glimpse this gives of the ruin and wretchedness that have resulted
from man's sin and rebellion against his Maker. Anxiety, that sure corollary of sin
committed, has invaded man's every thought, destroyed his serenity, and sent him
scurrying in all directions; and, most significantly, anxiety only makes things worse!
PULPIT, "The proper limits of human anxiety.
The evil dealt with in this passage is "undue secular anxiety." "Think of the
uncertainty of almost everything we have—life, health, friendship, domestic
relationships and affections, riches, commerce. Life has many sad surprises and
disappointments. Our own day is full of care." Where is abundant cause for anxiety.
But Christ reminds us of a truth which should put our earthly care into strict
limitations. We have a Father who is actually and effectively concerned in
SECURI G the constant and the highest well-being of his children. The children
ought to have proper children's anxieties, but they should not take upon them cares
which belong to their Father, who "knoweth what they have need of before they ask
him."
I. THE EARTHLI ESS OF THE U EARTHLY MA . Think of the Christian as
the "unearthly man," and then see that his unearthliness ought not to be all-
absorbing. It should be placed under wise limitations. He is in the body. He stands
in relations. He has duties and responsibilities. It is no true spirituality to escape
from common earthly responsibilities into monasteries, nunneries, and hermit-cells.
"The Son of man came eating and drinking." Human interests were sought by him,
and human cares were borne by him. A saint must never forget that he is husband,
or father, or brother, or friend, or citizen. Earthly anxiety is God's present burden
for his saints; and it has to be cheerfully taken up and borne.
II. THE U EARTHLI ESS OF THE EARTHLY MA . This is turning the figure
round, in ORDER to warn the spiritual man how very absorbing earthly care may
become, and to advise him that his supreme anxiety should be soul-culture. "Taking
thought" is but an older form of our idea of "worrying," which is "anxiety
overdone." "What the Lord bids us guard against is conjectural brooding over the
possible necessities of the future, and our possible lack of the resources required for
their supply." The spiritual man should be "using the world as not abusing it." In
safe limitations keeping both earthly and unearthly.—R.T.
PULPIT "Matthew 6:25-34
These verses, with the exception of the last, which should perhaps hardly be
included, are very similar to the parallel passage, Luke 12:22-32. It seems probable
that in the differences Luke preserves the more original form. What their original
position was is another question. Their immediate sequence in Luke to the parable
of the rich fool is no doubt perfectly natural, and is accepted by most commentators
as original; but the connexion with the context here is so close that, especially with

18. the probabilities of the case in verses 22, 23, and verse 24, St. Matthew may, after
all, have recorded them in their original place.
Our Lord says in these verses, "Dare to follow out this warning that I have given
you about double service into YOUR daily life. Do not give way to anxiety about the
things of life, but look up to God in steady gaze of faith; he will provide." 'Or, more
in detail—If God has given you life, shall he not add the food and the clothing (verse
25)? Anxiety about the support of your life is needless (witness the birds, verse 26)
and powerless (witness the limit of a man's life, verse 27); while as for clothing, it is
equally needless (witness the flowers, verse 28) and comparatively powerless
(witness Solomon's own case, verse 29). Remember your relation to God (verse 30).
Therefore do not give way to the least anxiety about these things (verse 31), because
this is to fall to the level of the Gentiles, and also because God, whose children you
are, knows your needs (verse 32). But make his cause, without and within, your
great object, and all your needs shall be supplied (verse 33). Therefore be not at all
anxious, bear the burden of each day only as each day comes round (verse 34).
Matthew 6:25
Therefore ( διὰ τοῦτο). Because of this fact last mentioned, the impossibility of
dividing your service. Cease to be anxious about things of this life, for anxiety about
these is a mark of your attempting this impossibility. I say unto you. Though the
absence of the personal pronoun (unlike Matthew 5:22, etc.) shows that he is not
here contrasting himself with them or with others, yet he still emphasizes his
authority. Take no thought; Revised Version, be not anxious ( µὴ µεριµνᾶτε). The
translation of the Authorized Version, which was quite CORRECT in its day (cf.
also 1 Samuel 9:5), is now archaic, and therefore often misunderstood. For the
popular derivation of µεριµνάω ("division," "distraction"), of. 1 Corinthians 7:33,
"But he that is married is anxious for ( µεριµνᾷ) the things of the world, how he
may please his wife, and is divided ( µεµέρισται)." Observe that forethought in
earthly matters was practised by our Lord himself (John 12:6). For your life ( τῇ
ψυχῇ ὑµῶν). In the Gospels ψυχή is the immaterial part of man, his personality as
we should say, which survives death (Matthew 10:28), and is the chief object of a
man's care (Matthew 10:39, where see note). What ye shall eat, or what ye shall
drink. Although the second clause is omitted by ‫א‬ and a few chiefly "Western"
authorities, it is probably genuine, especially as there is no trace of it in Luke. Is not
the life more than meat? i.e. you possess the greater, shall there not be given to you
the less? Humphry compares Matthew 23:17. Meat; Revised Version, the food ( ‫͂ע‬‫ח‬‫פ‬
‫͂ע‬‫ח‬‫;)פסןצ‬ i.e. the Revised Version
PULPIT 25-30, "Christ's remedy for anxiety.
Having touched upon the active ministry of life, our Lord at once PROCEEDS to
treat its besetting trouble with an amplitude of illustration which shows how
important he considered it to be.
I. THE ATURE OF THE EVIL. We are misled by the word "thought," which has

19. dropped one of its old meanings since the Authorized Version of the ew Testament
was issued. Christ is not depreciating an intellectual exercise, much less is he
encouraging improvidence. What he really says is, "Be not anxious for your life."
1. The evil is in vexatious anxiety. If, after we have done all that is in our power, we
fret ourselves with presentiments of possible mischief; or if, in the midst of our
work, we let care about its issue take possession of our minds, we make the mistake
our Lord deprecates.
2. The evil is concerned with bodily needs. The life, the food, the raiment. The idea is
of being absorbed with deep concern for these temporal and external things.
3. The evil prevents concern for our higher interests and duties. Here is its greatest
condemnation, not simply that it pains us, but that it injures us. Jesus does not
advise freedom from anxiety merely on its own ACCOU T, that we may have the
satisfaction of being at peace. He sees that worldly anxiety fills the mind and heart,-
and so keeps out thoughts of the great purpose of life. "The cares of this world" are
tares that choke the Word. "The life is more than the food." We are to cast aside
anxiety about food and clothes, that we may be free to "seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness."
II. THE CURE OF THE EVIL. All deplore it; but few see how to conquer it. Some
even regard the words of Christ as APPLICABLE only to an idyllic state of
society—possible among the flowers and sunshine of Galilee in those old dreamy
days, but quite impracticable in the busy, crowded West of to-day. Let us see if there
are not permanent lessons in this teaching of our Lord.
1. The spirit of nature. Our Lord was preaching on a mountain, with flowers at his
feet and birds above his head. His illustrations lay close at hand; but his choice of
them was evidently suited to his object. He touches on the beauty and fresh life of
nature, so that his very language is soothing. It carries us quite away from the fret
and fever of life. If we would spend more time in considering the lilies we should be
calmed and refreshed. Wordsworth re-echoes this wholesome lesson.
2. The analogy of the lower world. God cares for the grass that is enamelled with
flowers in the spring, then scorched by the sun and burnt as fuel in the summer. He
feeds the wild birds. ature is wonderfully adjusted in its mutual ministries so as to
support its most fragile creatures. If we can "live according to nature" we shall be
provided for. This does not mean becoming savages—who are not in a state of
nature at all. It means observing the laws of nature, as flowers and birds are bound
to do, but as men do not.
3. The revelation of our Father's care. He knows our need. He does not despise it, or
suppose that we can face it with Stoical indifference. Therefore we can entrust it to
him. Faith is the great antidote to care.
4. The call to higher duty. It is wrong to waste our lives in anxiety. It is incumbent

20. on us to give ourselves to the service of God. When we do this we shall find it easier
to trust God. Then the evil may come; but we need not snatch at it prematurely. It
can wait for its day, and when that arrives we shall find that as our day is so our
strength will be.—W.F.A.
TRAPP, "VER 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no careful thought, &c.] This life
is called in Isaiah "the life of our hands" because it is maintained by the labour of
our hands, Isaiah 57:10. evertheless, let a man labour never so hard, and lay up
never so much, his "life consisteth not in the abundance of the things that he
possesseth," saith our Saviour, and therefore BIDS, "take heed and beware of
covetousness," Luke 12:15. There is in every mother’s child of us a false
presumption of self-sufficiency in our own courses, as if we by our own diligence
could build the house. The devil’s word is proved too true. He said we should be like
gods, which as it is false in respect of divine qualities resembling God, so is it true in
regard to our sinful usurpation; for we carry the matter, for the most part, as if we
were petty gods within ourselves, not needing any higher power. This self-
confidence, the daughter of unbelief and mother of carking care and carnal
thoughtfulness, our Saviour here by many arguments dissuadeth and decrieth.
"Take no thoughtful care for your life, what ye shall eat," &c. The word here used
in the original ( ‫)לוסילםב‬ signifieth sometimes a commendable and Christian care, as
1 Corinthians 7:33-34 "He that is married careth how to please his wife: likewise
she careth how to please her husband." It implieth a dividing of the mind into
various thoughts, casting this way and that way and every way bow to give best
content. And this should be all the strife that should be between married couples.
This is the care of the head, the care of diligence, called by the Greeks ‫ףנןץהח‬,‫לוכופח‬,
‫.ונילוכויב‬ But there is another sort of care here spoken against, as unwarrantable and
damnable; the care of the heart, the care of diffidence, a doubtful and carking care,
joined with a fear of future EVE TS, a sinful solicitude, a distracting and
distempering care, properly called ‫,לוסילםב‬ because it tortures and tears asunder the
mind with anxious in, piety and fretting impatiency. {a} This maketh a man, when
he had done his utmost endeavour, in the use of lawful means, for his own provision
or preservation, to sit down, and with a perplexed heart sigh out, -Sure it will never
be, sure I shall die a beggar, be utterly destitute, &c. Surely I shall one day perish by
the hand of Saul; were it not better for me to shift for myself, and to escape speedily
into the land of the Philistines? 1 Samuel 27:1. A sinful consultation, for had not
God promised him both life and kingdom after Saul? but he said (very wisely) in his
hasty fear, All men are liars, prophets and all, Psalms 116:11. And again, "I said in
my sudden haste, I am cut off," Psalms 31:22.
What ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, &c.] I would have you without carefulness
about these things, saith the apostle, that ye may sit close to the Lord without
distraction. {b} And again, "in nothing be careful." How then? Why, make your
requests known to God in prayer, as children make their needs known to their
parents, whom if they can please, they know they shall be provided for, Philippians
4:6-7. Little thought do they take where to have the next meal or the next new suit,
neither need they.

21. Oh, but we have prayed, and yet are to seek. Add to YOUR prayer, supplication,
saith the apostle there, strong cries out of a deep sense of our pressing necessities,
and then see what will come of it. ‫הוחףיע‬ est petitio opis, qua egemus, nam ‫הוים‬ est
egere.
I have done so to my poor power; and yet it sticks. To thy supplication add
thanksgiving for mercies already received, saith he; thanksgiving is an artificial
begging. See something in thy most careful condition wherefore to be thankful.
Praise God for what you have had, have, and hope to have.
What will follow upon this? What? "The peace of God which passeth all
understanding shall keep" as with a guard ( ‫)צסןץסחףוי‬ or garrison "your hearts"
from cares, "and minds" from fears, "in Christ Jesus." This shall be the restful
success of your prayers and praises. And is it not good that the heart be ballasted
with grace ( ‫,)גוגביןץטבי‬ Hebrews 13:9, rather than the body stuffed with food? What
brave letters and how full of life were written by Luther to Melancthon, afflicting
himself with CO TI UAL cares, what would be the issue of the imperial diet held
by Charles V and other states of Germany at Augsburg, about the cause of Christ’s
gospel? Ego certe ore pro te, saith he, et dolce re, pertinacissimam curarum
hirudinem, meas preces sic irritas facere. "I pray for thee, and am troubled at it,
that thou, by troubling thyself with unnecessary cares, makest my prayers of none
effect for thee." And after many sweet consolations, mixed with reprehensions, he
concludes, "But I write these things in vain, because thou thinkest to rule these
things by reason, and killest thyself with immoderate cares about them; not
considering that the cause is Christ’s, who as he needs not thy counsels, so he will
bring about his own ends without thy carefulness, thy vexing thoughts, and heart
eating fears, whereby thou disquietest thyself above measure." Sed scribo haec
frustra: quia tu secundum Philosophiam vestram has res ratione regere, hoc est,
cum ratione insanire pergis et occidis teipsum.
Is not life more than meat? &c.] And shall he that hath given us that which is
greater and better DE Y unto us that which is less and worse? Shall we believe
God’s promises in the main, but not God’s providence in the means: as the disciples
when they had forgotten to buy BREAD, and as Abraham in the case of promise of
issue of his body? Genesis 16:2. Excellent is that of the apostle, "he that spared not
his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely
give us all things?" Romans 8:32. Whereupon St Bernard, Qui misit Unigenitum,
immisit Spiritum, promisit vultum, quid tandem tibi negaturus est? And to like
purpose St Jerome: " ever think," saith he, "that God will deny thee anything,
whom he inviteth so freely to feed upon the fatted calf." ihil unquam et negasse
credendum est quem ad vituli hortalur esum.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Take no thought.
Take no thought for the morrow

22. 1. The question arises, Is not the Christian character a provident one?
2. All this is done to drive us to live by the day: to let the day’s affairs fill the day’s thoughts.
See the benefit of this.
(1) As respects our pleasures. How can a man enjoy pleasure when he has his mind
disturbed about the future? We must dwell on it undistractedly.
(2) As respects your pains. That which makes pain painful is the thought that it will
continue.
(3) As respects duties. The secret of doing anything well is concentration.
3. We should have only to do with the sins of the current day. As with our sins so with our
cares.
4. The trouble which comes is very often not the trouble which we expected. (J. Vaughan, M.
A.)
o thought for the morrow
1. The Christian should live in quiet confidence in God.
2. This quiet dependence upon God is our happiness, usefulness, strength, security.
3. If this were wrought in our hearts as a principle, how energetic we should be in the
exercise of faith in God.
4. The secret of getting through work is to take the work of the day and leave all that does
not belong to it.
5. Although a man leaves all to God, and is happy in Christ, he is not therefore exempt from
evil. (J. W. Reeve.)
Undue anxiety reproved
I. The prohibition. If the text prohibits anxiety about gaining sustenance itself, it must much
more condemn such a disposition of mind in reference to the luxuries or show of life, what a
world of uneasiness is created by inordinate desire about trifles.
II. The reasons or motives for doing so.
1. The first is derived from a view of the conduct of the Gentiles.
2. Another lesson for avoiding anxiety is this, “that our heavenly Father knoweth we have
need of these things.”
3. There is no advantage in excessive carefulness.
Learn:
1. Christianity is calculated to make men happy.
2. Let Christians guard against a distrustful spirit. (R. Robinson.)
The word “ thought “ is here used in the antiquated sense of anxiety. In this sense it occurs in

23. Bacon and Shakespeare, “Queen Catherine Parr died of thought.” “The pale cast of thought.”
Evils of anxious forethought
1. From the intrinsic superiority of the spirit or the soul to its material surroundings.
2. It is needless, as all men stand in an order of nature that they are sure to be supplied by a
moderate exertion of their powers. A man ought to be ashamed if a bird can get a living and
he cannot.
3. Anxiety does no good. The mind works more wisely when it works pleasantly. Anxiety
distorts the future.
4. It brings men under the power of the imagination and phantoms, which they fight without
pause, and upon which they spend their strength for nothing.
5. If a man is constantly looking to the future in despondency, where is faith in his God?
(Beecher.)
Anxious thought incapacitates for a wise ordering of life
The whole success of life depends upon the wholesomeness of a man’s mind. The ship-master
that navigates the sea beyond the sight of land is dependent upon the correctness of his
chronometer and his compass. If the instruments of navigation fail him, everything fails him. And
what these are to navigation on the sea and in a ship, the human mind is to our navigation of life.
And anything that disturbs the balance of the mind so far invalidates the whole voyage of life.
(Beecher.)
Anxiety for the Future often arises from some unholy passion
Fear still sits in the window. “What seest thou? “ says Vanity. “Whisperings are abroad,” says
Fear. “Men are pointing at you-or they will, as soon as you come to a point of observation.” “O
my good name!” says a man. “All that I have done; all that I have laid up-what will become of
that? Where is my reputation going? What will become of me when I lose it, and when folks turn
away from me? O trouble I trouble fit is coming!” What is it? Fear is sitting in the window of the
soul, and looking into the future, and interpreting the signs thereof to the love of approbation in
its coarsest and lowest condition. Fear still sits looking into the future, and pride, coming up,
says, “What is it that you see? I see,” says Fear, “your castle robbed. I see you toppled down
from your eminence. I see you under base men’s feet. I see you weakened. I see you disesteemed.
I see your power scattered and gone.” “O Lord; what a world is this!” says Pride. Now, that man
has not had a particle of trouble. Fear sat in the window and lied. And Pride cried, and Vanity
cried, and Avarice cried-and ought to cry. Fear sat and told lies to them all. For there was not one
of those things, probably, done there. Did Fear see them? Yes. But Fear has a kaleidoscope in his
eye, and every time it turns it takes a new form. It is filled with broken glass, and it gives false
pictures continually. Fear does not see right. It is for ever seeing wrong. And it is stimulated by
other feelings. Pride stimulates it; and Vanity stimulates it; and Lust stimulates it; and Love itself
finds, sometimes, no better business than to send Fear on its bad errands. For love cries at the
cradle, “Oh, the child will die!” It will not die. It will get well. And then you will not be ashamed
that you prophesied that it would die. You put on mourning in advance. (Beecher.)
A dissuasive from anxiety

24. I. The evil which we are directed to avoid.
II. The powerful considerations by which the saviour enforces the precept.
1. The power of God as displayed in our creation and preservation.
2. The care of Divine providence.
3. The futility of excessive anxiety.
4. The beauty of nature.
III. There reflections.
1. The connection of Divine agency with the existence of all things.
2. This subject reminds us of Him through whom we have access to the Father.
3. Let us learn lessons of spiritual wisdom from everything around us. (J. E. Good.)
Appears to use a variety of arguments against over-anxiety.
I. He that gave the lesser gift will surely give the greater.
II. God cares for the lower creation.
III. Over-anxiety is useless.
IV. To be over-anxious is to arraign the Divine foresight.
V. To be over-anxious is to sink from the level of the Christian disciple to that of the heathen.
(Gordon Calthrop, M. A.)
Fretfulness
Arguments against an unquiet spirit.
1. The general course of nature is in favour of men.
2. That there is a Divine providence which employs the course of nature and gives it
direction.
3. Fretting does no good, but uses up the nerve force needlessly.
4. It begets a habit of looking at the dark side of things.
5. The things we fear seldom happen.
(1) A tranquil soul is indispensably necessary to anything like a true Christian
atmosphere.
(2) The chief ends of life are sacrificed to the unnecessary dust which our feet raise in
the way of life.
(3) What disagreeable company we make of ourselves for God.
(4) This way of life, devoid of cheer, is bearing false witness against your Master.
(Beecher.)

25. The folly of looking only at the ills of life
Now, what if a man should go round searching for a more familiar acquaintance with thistles and
nettles and thorns, and everything sharp, up and down the highways, over the hills, and through
the fields, and insist on putting his hand on everything that could give him a scratch? What if a
man should insist upon finding out whatever was sour and bitter, and should go about tasting,
and tasting, and tasting for that purpose. What if a man should insist upon smelling every
disagreeable odour, and should see no gaspipe open that he did not go and look at it? When
doves fly in the heavens, and go swinging round in their flight, we know what they see the grassy
field, the luxuriant grain, or the inviting perch where they may rest; but when buzzards fly
through the air they see no green fields, no pleasant gardens, but carrion, if there be any in sight;
and if there is none to be seen, there is discontent in the buzzard heart. (Beecher.)
One fretful person a pleasure spoiler
It does not take more than one smoky chimney in a room to make it intolerable. (Beecher.)
Over-anxiety forbidden
I. Anxiety is useless about things not under our own control. Duration of life, etc.
II. Anxiety is useless in matters under our own management. Anxiety will not furnish the
opportunity of earning bread, or arm us with power-but the reverse.
III. Anxiety does not attract us to the notice of God. He cares for us irrespective of our
carefulness. No promise is made to anxiety, etc.
IV. Anxiety is useless because Jesus bids you get rid of it. Trust Him and let the spirit rest, and
be strong and glad. (S. Martin.)
I. There is no wise man who will lay out his time and thoughts about things he cannot bring to
pass; no one debates but of things possible and probable, lying within the sphere of his activity.
II. That our food and maintenance nourishes us, and augments and enlarges the proportion of
every limb, is not the product of our own care, but of God’s blessing.
III. So it is with all outward concerns. From the Divine benediction which accompanies them,
they prove good and useful to us. Not from our own care. (Adam Littleton, D. D.)
HAWKER 25-34, "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.
Who can add to the beauties, as well as doctrines of those blessed words of JESUS, by any
attempted illustration. I have often read the contents of those sweet verses, and always I hope
with increasing delight. Oh! who considers the eternal love of God, in Christ, to his church and
people, can pause a moment with any doubt of his everlasting watchfulness and care in all the
departments of nature, providence, grace, and glory. Chosen in Christ, blessed in Christ,
preserved in Christ, and called! Eph_1:3-5; 2Ti_1:9; Jud_1:1. And in his providential mercies,
how constant and unremitting, Isa_27:3; Job_36:7, how tender, Isa_66:13; Zec_2:8; Isa_31:5,
how new and seasonable, Lam_3:25, and how sure and everlasting. Isa_54:10. If I detain the

26. Reader one moment longer over these verses I hope he will pardon me. I beg him to observe, if
he hath not before, the very great beauty in the images here made use of to express the love
contained in those expressions of JESUS. Behold the fowls of the air! Not the fowls of the barn,
not the poultry, fed daily by some appointed hand, but the fowls of the air, who have neither
store-house nor barn, and whose lodging of tonight may be taken away before the morrow, and
they are obliged to seek a new one. Behold the lilies of the field! Not the cultivated and watered
plants of the garden, but the lilies of the field, exposed to be trodden down by the feet of the ox
or the ass, and plucked up by every traveler. And doth JESUS give beauty to those, and which
perhaps hath no eye but his to see their beauty? Doth JESUS watch them and water them and
cause his sun to shine upon them? Oh! then, ye redeemed of the LORD, ye that are the purchase
of his blood, yea, if possible, more than even this; part of himself and members of his body, of
his flesh, and of his bones; can he forget you, overlook you, yea, overlook and forget himself!
Precious LORD JESUS! I would say, both for myself and everyone of thy children, give us all
grace to leave all our concerns with thee, and anxious only to be found of thy kingdom,
regenerated by thy Holy Spirit, adopted into the family of Christ and GOD, and justified in thy
all-sufficient righteousness, we may take no thought for the morrow, knowing that whether we
live we live to the LORD, or whether we die we die to the Lord, so that living or dying we are the
Lord’s.
REFLECTIO S
READER! Pause over this part of our REDEEMER’s sermon, as over the preceding portion of it,
and let us both look up for grace in the teaching of GOD the HOLY GHOST, to gather the many
precious instructions it contains. Jesus presupposeth that his redeemed give alms according to the
ability he hath given them. And if you and I have received of the upper springs of the Lord’s
grace, shall we not be ready to give, and glad to distribute of the nether springs of the LORD’S
bounty? Not dear LORD to be seen of men, no! nor with the most distant view to recommend
ourselves to thee, All we have is thine, and of thine own do we give thee, in imparting of what
we have to refresh the bowels of our poorer brethren. Oh! for grace that all may be done from
thee, and for thee, and from love to thee.
And in our approaches to thy throne in prayer, oh! grant that all may be in and through the LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. For if Lord we have found peace in the blood of thy cross, our access
to the Father will be by one Spirit through thee. Not to be seen of men, but graciously accepted
of GOD in CHRIST, through CHRIST, and both in the words and works of CHRIST.
In the abstinence of the body, and in the humblings of the soul, in dying daily to the world, and
crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts, oh! for grace from CHRIST to be walking daily
with CHRIST, casting all our care upon him who careth for us. And while seeking, above all
things, the kingdom of GOD and his righteousness, may we be forever on the look-out for the
glorious appearing of the great GOD and our SAVIOR Jesus CHRIST. Even so Lord prepare us
for thy corning! Amen.
SBC, "Matthew 6:25-34
In Mat_6:25-26 we have an argument against giving place to the cares of this world, on the
ground that they are unworthy of an immortal being like man; and also an illustration pointedly
leading to the exercise of faith.
I. The question before the Lord was not whether we should be as idle as the birds, but only
whether we should, like them, cast off care and trust our heavenly Father. Toil is man’s lot. He
must sow and reap. We cannot expect the daily manna unless we go and gather it. The argument

27. is not against labour, but against worldly care; and this is the purport of it: God cares for the little
birds; He provides their food in due season; and they, instead of burdensome anxiety, in their
unconscious gratitude are ever hymning His praise. Now this God is your Father; ye are the
children of the Highest; and if He provides for the very birds, how much more will a Father’s
love and watchfulness care for each of you. Only trust Him, therefore, and all shall be well.
II. The Lord exhorts us to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. This is the pith
and kernel of the whole matter. What He means is, that they are not to set their hearts on the
kingdom, the possessions, of this world—its riches and honours, and pampering indulgences and
vain displays; neither are they to vex their hearts with cares concerning these, as the Gentiles do,
sinking thereby into a like degradation with them, but they are to make it their foremost object to
obtain spiritual treasures—meekness, temperance, patience, faith, love, and all things just and
true and honest and pure and lovely, which are the true riches and real honours of man, the only
dignities acknowledged in the kingdom of God. Now the way to obtain these is through faith in
God and His Christ. Their great effort, therefore, should be to believe that God reigns, and to
trust Him with a most loyal and unswerving devotion. This is obviously what is here meant by
seeking the kingdom of God. The righteousness of God here meant is the righteousness of His
government—His all-holy and wise administration, which we are to cherish with a steadfast
faith.
W. C. Smith, The Sermon on the Mount, p. 239.
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or
reap or STORE away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much
more valuable than they?
BAR ES, "Behold the fowls of the air - The second argument for confidence in the
providence of God is derived from a beautiful reference to the fowls or feathered tribes. See, said
the Saviour, see the fowls of the air: they have no anxiety about the supply of their wants; they
do not sow or reap; they fill the grove with music, and meet the coming light of the morning with
their songs, and pour their notes on the zephyrs of the evening, unanxious about the supply of
their needs; yet how few die with hunger! How regularly are they fed from the hand of God!
How he ministers to their unnumbered wants! How cheerfully and regularly are their necessities
supplied! You, said the Saviour to his disciples, you are of more consequence than they are; and
shall God feed them in such numbers, and suffer you to want? It cannot be. Put confidence, then,
in that Universal Parent that feeds all the fowls of the air, and do not fear but that he will also
supply your needs.
Better than they - Of more consequence. Your lives are of more importance than theirs, and
God will therefore provide for them.

28. CLARKE, "Behold the fowls of the air - The second reason why we should not be
anxiously concerned about the future, is the example of the smaller animals, which the
providence of God feeds without their own labor; though he be not their father. We never knew
an earthly father take care of his fowls, and neglect his children; and shall we fear this from our
heavenly Father? God forbid! That man is utterly unworthy to have God for his father, who
depends less upon his goodness, wisdom, and power, than upon a crop of corn, which may be
spoiled either in the field or in the barn. If our great Creator have made us capable of knowing,
loving, and enjoying himself eternally, what may we not expect from him, after so great a gift?
They sow not, neither do they reap - There is a saying among the rabbins almost similar to
this - “Hast thou ever seen a beast or a fowl that had a workshop? yet they are fed without labor
and without anxiety. They were created for the service of man, and man was created that he
might serve his Creator. Man also would have been supported without labor and anxiety, had he
not corrupted his ways. Hast thou ever seen a lion carrying burthens, a stag gathering summer
fruits, a fox selling merchandise, or a wolf selling oil, that they might thus gain their support?
And yet they are fed without care or labor. Arguing therefore from the less to the greater, if they
which were created that they might serve me, are nourished without labor and anxiety, how much
more I, who have been created that I might serve my Maker! What therefore is the cause, why I
should be obliged to labor in order to get my daily bread? Answer, Sin.” This is a curious and
important extract, and is highly worthy of the reader’s attention. See Schoettgen.
GILL, "Behold the fowls of the air,.... Not such as are brought up in houses, but which fly
abroad in the air, wild; and are not supported by their own, or any human care, but by the care of
God: Luk_12:24 particularly mentions the "ravens", referring probably to Psa_147:9, and
because they are very voracious creatures: and there it is said, "consider the ravens"; look
attentively upon them, and with observation,
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. This is not said, that men
should not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns: but to reprove their diffidence and unbelief: who,
though they have the opportunity of sowing, reaping, and gathering in, year by year, yet distrust
the providence of God; when the fowls of the air do none of these,
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them; see Psa_145:15. The Jews acknowledge this, that the
least and meanest of creatures are fed by God.
"Mar says (c), the holy blessed God sits ‫,וזן‬ "and feeds", i.e. all creatures, and takes care of
them.''
Are ye not much better than they? Do not you differ from them? are ye not much
more excellent than they? And if God feeds and provides for inferior creatures, such as
are very mean and contemptible, how much more will he not provide for you? There is a
passage in the Talmud, which has great affinity to this of Christ's, and appears to have in
it pretty much of the like kind of reasoning. In the Misna (d) it is said, that R. Simeon
ben Eleazer should say,
"Did you ever see a beast, or a fowl, that had a trade? but they are fed without trouble.''

29. In the Gemara (e) is added,
"Did you ever see a lion bearing burdens, an hart gathering summer fruits, a fox a money
changer, or a wolf selling pots? And yet ‫צער‬ ‫בלא‬ ‫,מתפרנסין‬ "they are nourished without
labour", and wherefore are they created? To serve me, and I am created to serve my
Maker: and lo! these things have in them an argument, "from the less to the greater"; for
if these, which are created to serve me after this manner, are supported without trouble;
I, who am created to serve my Maker, is it not fit that I should be supplied without
trouble? And what is the reason that I am sustained with trouble? My sins.''
HE RY, "2. Behold the fowls of the air, and consider the lilies of the field. Here is an
argument taken from God's common providence toward the inferior creatures, and their
dependence, according to their capacities, upon that providence. A fine pass fallen man
has come to, that he must be sent to school to the fowls of the air, and that they must
teach him! Job_12:7, Job_12:8.
(1.) Look upon the fowls, and learn to trust God for food (Mat_6:26), and disquiet not
yourselves with thoughts what you shall eat.
[1.] Observe the providence of God concerning them. Look upon them, and receive
instruction. There are various sorts of fowls; they are numerous, some of them ravenous,
but they are all fed, and fed with food convenient for them; it is rare that any of them
perish for want of food, even in winter, and there goes no little to feed them all the year
round. The fowls, as they are least serviceable to man, so they are least within his care;
men often feed upon them, but seldom feed them; yet they are fed, we know not how,
and some of them fed best in the hardest weather; and it is your heavenly Father that
feeds them; he knows all the wild fowls of the mountains, better than you know the
tame ones at your own barn-door, Psa_50:11. Not a sparrow lights to the ground, to pick
up a grain of corn, but by the providence of God, which extends itself to the meanest
creatures. But that which is especially observed here is, that they are fed without any
care or project of their own; they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns.
The ant indeed does, and the bee, and they are set before us as examples of prudence and
industry; but the fowls of the air do not; they make no provision for the future
themselves, and yet every day, as duly as the day comes, provision is made for them, and
their eyes wait on God, that great and good Housekeeper, who provides food for all
flesh.
JAMISO , "Behold the fowls of the air — in Mat_6:28, “observe well,” and in
Luk_12:24, “consider” - so as to learn wisdom from them.
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your
heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? — nobler in
yourselves and dearer to God. The argument here is from the greater to the less; but how
rich in detail! The brute creation - void of reason - are incapable of sowing, reaping, and
storing: yet your heavenly Father suffers them not helplessly to perish, but sustains
them without any of those processes. Will He see, then, His own children using all the
means which reason dictates for procuring the things needful for the body - looking up
to Himself at every step - and yet leave them to starve?

30. GOLDE CHAI , "Verse 26-27
"Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into
barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?27.
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?"
Pseudo-Chrys.: Having confirmed our hope by this arguing from the greater to the
less, He next confirms it by an argument from less to greater, "Behold the fowls of
the air, they sow not, neither do they reap."
Aug., De Op. Monach., 23: Some argue that they ought not to labour, because the
fowls of the air neither sow nor reap. Why then do they not attend to that which
follows, "neither gather into barns? Why do they seek to have their hands idle, and
their storehouses full? Why indeed do they grind corn, and dress it? For this do not
the birds.
Or even if they find men whom they can persuade to supply them day by day with
victuals ready prepared, at least they draw water from the spring, and set on table
for themselves, which the birds do not. But if neither are they driven to fill
themselves vessels with water, then have they gone one new step of righteousness
beyond those who were at that time at Jerusalem, [margin note: see Acts 11:29] who
of corn sent to them of free gift, made, or caused to be made, loaves, which the birds
do not. But not to lay up any thing for the morrow cannot be observed by those, who
for many days together withdrawn from the sight of men, and suffering none to
approach to them, shut themselves up, to live in much fervency of prayer.
What? will you say that the more holy men become, the more unlike the birds of the
air in this respect they become? What He says respecting the birds of the air, He
says to this end, that none of His servants should think that God has no thought of
their wants, when they see Him so provide even for these inferior creatures. either
is it not God that feeds those that earn their BREAD by their own labour; neither
because God hath said, "Call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee,"
[Psalms 50:15] ought the Apostle therefore not to have fled, but to have remained
still to have been seized, that God might save him as He did the Three Children out
of the midst of the fire.
Should any object in this sort to the saints in their FLIGHT from persecution, they
would answer that they ought not to tempt God, and that God, if He pleased, would
so do to deliver them as He had done Daniel from the lions, Peter from prison, then
when they could no longer help themselves; but that in having made flight possible
to them, should they be saved by flight, it was by God that they were saved. In like
manner, such of God"s servants as have strength to earn their food by the labour of
their hands, would easily answer any who should object to them this out of the
Gospel concerning the birds of the air, that they neither sow nor reap; and would
say, If we by sickness or any other hindrance are not able to work, He will feed us as
He feeds the birds, that work not. But when we can work, we ought not to tempt
God, seeing that even this our ability is His gift; and that we live here we live of His
goodness that has made us able to live; He feeds us by whom the birds of the air are

31. fed; as He says, "Your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not ye of much greater
value?"
Aug., Serm. in Mont., ii, 15: Ye are of more value, because a rational animal, such as
man is, is higher in the scale of nature than an irrational, such as are the birds of the
air.
Aug., City of God, xi, 16: Indeed a higher price is often given for a horse than a
slave, for a jewel than for a waiting maid, but this not from reasonable valuation,
but from the need of the person requiring, or rather from his pleasure desiring it.
Pseudo-Chrys.: For God created all animals for man, but man for himself; therefore
by how much the more precious is the creation of man, so much the greater is God"s
care for him. If then the birds without toiling find food, shall man not find, to whom
God has given both knowledge of labour and hope of fruitfulness?
Jerome: There be some who, seeking to go beyond the limits of their fathers, and to
soar into the air, sink into the deep and are drowned. These will have the birds of
the air to mean the Angels, and the other powers in the ministry of God, who
without any care of their own are fed by God"s providence.
But if this be indeed as they would have it, how follows it, said to men, "Are not ye
of more worth than they?" It must be taken then in the plain sense; If birds that
today are, and tomorrow are not, be nourished by God"s providence, without
thought or toil of their own, how much more men to whom eternity is promised!
Hilary: It may be said, that under the name of birds, He exhorts us by the example
of the unclean spirits, to whom, without any trouble of their own in seeking and
collecting it, provision of life is given by the power of the Eternal Wisdom. And to
lead us to refer this to the unclean spirits, He suitably adds, "Are not ye of much
more value than they?" Thus shewing the great interval between piety and
wickedness.
Gloss., non occ.: He teaches us not only by the instance of the birds, but adds a
further proof, that to our being and life our own care is not enough, but Divine
Providence therein works; saying, "Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit to his stature?"
Pseudo-Chrys.: For it is God who day by day works the growth of your body,
yourself not feeling it. If then the Providence of God works thus daily in your very
body, how shall that same Providence withhold from working in necessaries of life?
And if by taking thought you cannot add the smallest part to your body, how shall
you by taking thought be altogether saved?
Aug., Serm. in Mont., ii, 15: Or it may be connected with what follows it; as though
He should say, It was not by our care that our body was brought to its present
stature; so that we may know that if we desired to add one cubit to it, we should not