Vv. 26-30. "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? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith ?"

Our blessed Lord invites us to contemplate the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, and to mark with what unwearied attention the all-gracious Creator provides for the creatures He has formed. In the thought of this, David exclaims, "The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." And again, “These wait all upon thee, that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. That thou givest them they gather thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good." With what care, then, does God provide for the wants of his irrational creatures, who are incapable of, the forethought and the industry which we are fitted to exercise! We have more

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wisdom than the beasts of the field, we are endowed with more understanding than the fowls of heaven ; yet they, without anxiety, obtain the supply of all their wants. "Who provideth for the raven his food?" The young lions roar after their prey, they seek their meat from God." "Your heavenly Father," says Jesus, "feedeth them.” Observe, believer, He is their maker, their owner, but He is your Father; and how does the thought of this rebuke your unbelief and distrust of His providential care? “Are ye not much better than they?" In some respects, even, the very irrational creatures excel the saints of God, for the prophet Isaiah says, "The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider." With all their sins and shortcomings His people are precious in the estimation of their redeeming God. "Ye are of more value than many sparrows." Nay, amid the unwearied cares which He exercises over the lower animals, we are told, Ps. xxxiv. 10, "The young lions do lack and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." Where, then, is the necessity for that corroding anxiety wherewith the believer's mind is so often harassed, about the support of his frail, dying body?

And our Lord goes on to remind us how unavailing all this anxiety is; how helpless we are, and incapable, by our own unaided efforts, to better our con

dition in the very smallest matter. "Which of you," says he, "by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? The word here translated "stature may also be rendered "age," and it is more probable that this is its meaning, as the body of man seldom exceeding in height four cubits, it is not at all likely that to express a trifling addition he would have adduced such an example. That our Lord is speaking of something insignificantly small is plain from the parallel passage in Luke's gospel, where it is added, 66 If ye then be not able to do that which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" The probability then is that Christ refers to some small addition to our age, the lengthening out of our days. And the force of the argument lies in this, that if we are so helpless as to be incapable by the utmost anxiety to make the least addition to our age, why should we distress ourselves as if we could by our anxiety accomplish the greatest objects. We are vexing ourselves in vain ; we are engaged in a fruitless effort to perform that by our own strength which it is alike our duty and our privilege to put into the hands of our heavenly Father.

But the providence of God is not limited to the supply of one species of bodily wants, it extends alike to all. He supplies food for the support of life, and He supplies also raiment for the clothing of the body. In proof of this, Jesus points to the gorgeous lily of the east, which, with its white and purple tints beauti

fully blended, far outrivals even the most magnificent forms of art, so that "Solomon in all his glory,” though clothed in the splendid purple garments of the eastern monarch, was not arrayed like one of these."

The

argument, then, which our Lord draws from the contemplation of this beautiful object in nature against all undue anxiety about the clothing needful for the body, is thus expressed, "If then God so clothe the grass or herbage of the field, which is so fleeting and transitory in its nature that to-day it is and to-morrow it is cast into the oven, to be consumed as fuel, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Clothing ought to be viewed by us as a remembrance of the fall; it is a monument of our shame. And, instead of priding ourselves on this badge of our degradation, we ought rather to reflect how much even the most elegant and expensive attire is surpassed in beauty by the perishing flowers of the field. And what a rebuke does that lovely flower, believer, on which thou art treading, administer to thy faithlessness! It was God that made it thus, its maker, but thy Father. And if He hath thus beautifully clothed it " will He not much more clothe you?" Be not faithless, then, but believing. All nature proclaims thee to be of little faith. "Consider the lilies," how frail and shortlived, yet how beautiful. And if God has expended such care upon a fleeting flower, which "in the morning flourisheth and groweth up, and in the evening

is cut down and withered," will He not clothe you who are born for immortality? This wasting anxiety is a want of faith; it is a sinful distrust of thy Creator's care, thy Father's love. His command to thee is, "Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God."

A third argument against over-anxiety about our worldly affairs is drawn by our Lord from its utter inconsistency with the Christian character. Such a frame of mind, He tells us, belongs not to the Christian but to the heathen.

V. 31, and first half of 32. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.")

The blinded heathen, who are utterly ignorant of the existence and character of the true God, cannot be expected to have their minds free from anxiety about the supply of their temporal wants. Each man among them is, as it were, a god to himself. His desires are limited to the supply of what are termed the primary wants of man,-food, and clothing, and shelter. To obtain these his whole energies are exerted, his whole schemes are directed. But the Christian has far higher views, a firmer resting-place for his thoughts. He, as well as the darkest and most be