Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread Introduction: Give us this day our daily bread is a petition founded upon trust and contentment in God. Key Verse: Matthew 6:11 (KJV 1900) Give us this day our daily bread. Theme: We are to have both confidence that God will supply for His own and be content in His provision. I. God gave manna on a daily basis in order to test the people as to whether or not they would follow His instructions. Exodus 16:4 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. A. The backdrop is the Israelites dissatisfaction in what God had done for them. Exodus 16:1 (ESV) They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. Exodus 16:2 (ESV) And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, B. They were dissatisfied because they were hungry. The Israelites thought it would be better to be dead than to live the existence that they now lived. 1
Exodus 16:3 (ESV) and the people of Israel said to them, Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. C. In their dissatisfaction they redacted the story of their past. Exodus 16:3 (ESV) and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." D. In their dissatisfaction with the present state of affairs they lost all confidence and hope in God s provision. Exodus 16:3 (ESV) and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." E. God tests us in the manner in which He provides for us. Exodus 16:4 (ESV) Then the LORD said to Moses, Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. Exodus 16:5 (ESV) On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily. F. There is an intermingling of God s physical and spiritual provisions for us. Exodus 16:6 (ESV) So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, 2
G. The people were soon dissatisfied with the manna that they ate. Numbers 11:4 (ESV) Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, Oh that we had meat to eat! Numbers 11:5 (ESV) We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. Numbers 11:6 (ESV) But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at. H. Application: II. The children of Israel were to be content with their daily bread. We are to trust and be content with God s provision today, rather than have confidence because we have provision for the rest of our lives. A. The parable of a rich young man that trusted in his riches. Luke 12:16 (ESV) And he told them a parable, saying, The land of a rich man produced plentifully, Luke 12:17 (ESV) and he thought to himself, What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? Giving some of it away never occurred to him. B. The goal for the young man was to assure that he had enough for many years. Luke 12:18 (ESV) And he said, I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. Luke 12:19 (ESV) And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry. C. The problem was in the man s orientation. He was self-oriented rather than God oriented. 3
Luke 12:20 (ESV) But God said to him, Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be? Luke 12:21 (ESV) So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. 1. He failed to recognize the goodness of God in providing for him abundantly. 2. He also failed to realize the reason God had provided for him so abundantly. III. We are to be on guard against a health and wealth gospel. A. Godliness is not a pathway to earthly prosperity. 1 Timothy 6:3 (ESV) If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 1 Timothy 6:4 (ESV) he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 1 Timothy 6:5 (ESV) and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. B. The person who is truly wealthy is one who understands the true nature of the blessedness of the one who lives righteously. 1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV) But godliness with contentment is great gain, C. We should be content with God s daily provisions. 1 Timothy 6:8 (ESV) But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 1 Timothy 6:9 (ESV) But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 4
1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV) For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. D. The aspect of trusting God for daily provision is foundational to our relationship to God. Genesis 28:20 (ESV) Then Jacob made a vow, saying, If God will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, Genesis 28:21 (ESV) so that I come again to my father s house in peace, then the LORD shall be my God, Genesis 28:22 (ESV) and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God s house. And of all that you give me I will give a full tenth to you. IV. Prayer should not be directed to fulfilling our fleshly desires. James 4:3 (ESV) You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. A. Our primary concern is not to be with our physical and material well being. Matthew 6:25 (ESV) Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Matthew 6:26 (ESV) Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Matthew 6:27 (ESV) And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Matthew 6:28 (ESV) And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, Matthew 6:29 (ESV) yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 5
Matthew 6:30 (ESV) But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? B. We do not need to be overly concerned about God providing our needs. Matthew 6:31 (ESV) Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? C. In this we are to be different from the unbelievers among whom we live. Their values and concerns are not to rub off on us. Matthew 6:32 (ESV) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. D. In seeking the kingdom first, we are not living foolishly. Matthew 6:33 (ESV) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Matthew 6:34 (ESV) Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. V. Seeking first the kingdom of God is illustrated both literally and figuratively in the Scriptures. A. Seeking the establishment of God s kingdom first is illustrated literally in the Lord s prayer. Matthew 6:9 (ESV) Pray then like this: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Matthew 6:10 (ESV) Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:11 (ESV) Give us this day our daily bread, B. The importance of seeking God s kingdom first illustrated in the prayer of Solomon. 6
1 Kings 3:5 (ESV) At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, Ask what I shall give you. 1 Kings 3:6 (ESV) And Solomon said, You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son to sit on his throne this day. 1 Kings 3:7 (ESV) And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. 1 Kings 3:8 (ESV) And your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. 1 Kings 3:9 (ESV) Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people? 1 Kings 3:10 (ESV) It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 1 Kings 3:11 (ESV) And God said to him, Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, 1 Kings 3:12 (ESV) behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. 1 Kings 3:13 (ESV) I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days. C. Our spiritual concerns should be our primary concerns. Matthew 4:4 (ESV) But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. VI. We are to have a greater joy in our spiritual provision than in our material provisions. The reason for joy is the surpassing value or worth of our spiritual provisions. Psalm 4:7 (ESV) You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. 7
Habakkuk 3:17 (ESV) Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, Habakkuk 3:18 (ESV) yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:19 (ESV) GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer s; he makes me tread on my high places. VII. Conclusion: 8