name, who ought rather to desire to be unknown and despised?
4. He says, hallowed be, simply, with no restriction to particular persons, because we should wish this done by every creature of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; nor to a particular time, because it is right that the name of the Lord should be praised throughout all time.
5. Again, the name of God is hallowed when men believe what he reveals, hope for what he promises, do what he commands, worship him as he has taught, love him with their whole heart, and attest their love by their works; that they who see our good deeds may glorify their Father who is in heaven. It is a prayer worthy of a true and virtuous son, to desire nothing before or beyond the glory of his father, and to prefer his honour to all things. Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to thy name give glory. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from henceforth, now, and for ever.
II. Thy kingdom come.
Yet he reigns in heaven and in earth, in the sea, and every where; all things, whether they will or not, serve him, and under his dominion are all things. We pray, therefore,
1. For that kingdom, by which he now reigns in the just by grace, who are in all things subject to him.
2. For that by which he reigns in the blessed by glory. This last will come to us if we continue to the end in the former.
3. And therefore he says, thy kingdom come, as if of its own accord. And indeed all long for this last kingdom; but not for the first, because that is connected with hardship. For justice is acquired and preserved by mortification of the flesh, and by restraint of the concupiscence which reigns in our members.
4. That kingdom, which shall be consummated and made perfect, when God shall be all in all, in the resurrection of the dead, which the souls of the blessed expect.
5. Thy kingdom, not the kingdom of the world, which the children of this world seek after, and which consists in nothing but perishable goods, endless cares, and numberless dangers; much less the kingdom of sin, the utter overthrow of which 1 long for. It is for sons to sigh continually for their country, and, in preference to all other things, to seek their paternal inheritance. Woe is me that my sojourning is prolonged. I desired to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
