Page:Thelordsprayeran00chaluoft.djvu/17



ONSIDER first, that the first petition of the Lord's prayer is contained in these words, " Hallowed be thy name: " that is, may thy name be ever blessed and praised, honoured and glorified! This petition claims the first place in the Lord's prayer, as its undoubted right; because the first and principal duty of a Christian is, to love his God with his whole heart and soul, and therefore the first and principal thing he ought to desire and pray for is, the great honour and glory of God. His love for his God makes him rejoice, to think that he is, in himself, infinitely happy and glorious, and will be so for all eternity, and that he is, and will be eternally adored, praised, and glorified by all the Angels and Saints. But, then, it grieves him to think, how little this infinite goodness is known in this miserable world; how little this great object of his love is loved here below; how little he is honoured, praised, and glorified by these very souls of ours, made by him, and for him, and which can never be happy, but in the love and enjoyment of him. And therefore the intent of this petition is to remedy so great an evil; by earnestly begging of the Sovereign Good, the source of all grace