Mat 6:26-31 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 26. 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 of heaven. 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; in innumerable flocks they fill the air; 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 wants; yet how few die with hunger! how regularly are they fed from the hand of God! how he ministers to their unnumbered wants. He sees their young "open wide their mouths, and seek their meat at his hand, and 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 fear not that he will also supply your wants. Better than they . Of more consequence. Your lives are of more importance than theirs, and God will therefore provide for them. (m) "Father feedeth"

Matthew 6:26-31

Verse 26. 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 of heaven. 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; in innumerable flocks they fill the air; 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 wants; yet how few die with hunger! how regularly are they fed from the hand of God! how he ministers to their unnumbered wants. He sees their young "open wide their mouths, and seek their meat at his hand, and 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 fear not that he will also supply your wants.

Better than they. Of more consequence. Your lives are of more importance than theirs, and God will therefore provide for them.

(m) "Father feedeth" Job 38:41, Lk 12:24 Verse 27. Which of you by taking thought. The third argument is taken from their extreme weakness and helplessness. With all your care you cannot increase your stature a single cubit. God has ordered your height. Beyond his appointment your powers are of no avail, and you can do nothing. So of raiment. He, by his providence, orders and arranges the circumstances of your life. Beyond that appointment of his providence, beyond his care for you, your efforts avail nothing. Seeing, then, that he alike orders your growth, and the supply of your wants, how obvious is the duty of depending on him, and of beginning all your efforts, feeling that He only can grant you the means of preserving life!

One cubit. The cubit was originally the length from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The cubit of the Scriptures is not far from twenty-two inches. Terms of length are often applied to life; and it is thought by many to be so here. Thus, it is said, "Thou hast made my days as a handbreadth," Ps 39:5; "Teach me the MEASURE of my days," Ps 39:4. In this place it is used to denote a small length. You cannot increase your stature even a cubit, or in the smallest degree. Compare Lk 12:26.

Stature. This word means height. The original word, however, means oftener age, Jn 9:21,23. In these places it is translated age. If this be its meaning here, it denotes that a man cannot increase the length of his life at all. The utmost anxiety will not prolong it one hour beyond the time appointed for death. Verses 28,29. The fourth consideration is taken from the lilies of the valley. Watch the growing of the lily. It toils not, and it spins not. Yet night and day it grows. With a beauty which the most splendid monarch of the East never knew, it expands its blossom and fills the air with fragrance. Yet this beauty is of short continuance. Soon it will fade, and the beautiful flower will be cut down and burned. God so little regards the bestowment of beauty and ornament as to give the highest adorning to this which is soon to perish. When he thus clothes a lily--a fair flower, soon to perish--will he be unmindful of his children? Shall they--dear to his heart and imbued with immortality--lack that which is proper for them, and shall they in vain trust the God that decks the lily of the valley? He will much more clothe you.

Even Solomon in all his glory, etc. The common dress of eastern kings was purple. But they sometimes wore white robes. See Est 8:15, Dan 7:9. It is to this that Christ refers. Solomon, says he, the richest and most magnificent king of Israel, was not clothed in a robe of so pure a white as the lilly of the valley. Verse 29. Mt 6:28 Verse 30. Is cast into the oven. The Jews had different modes of baking. In early times they frequently baked in the sand, warmed with the heat of the sun. They constructed also moveable ovens, made of clay, brick, or plates of iron. But the most common kind, and the one here probably referred to; was made by excavating the earth two and a half feet in diameter, and from five to six feet deep. This kind of oven still exists in Persia. The bottom was paved with stones. It was heated by putting wood or dry grass into the oven; and when heated, the ashes were removed, and the bread was placed on the heated stones. More commonly, however, the oven was an earthen vessel, without a bottom, about three feet high, smeared outside and inside with clay, and placed upon a frame, or support. Fire was made within it, or below it. When the sides were sufficiently heated, thin patches of dough were spread on the inside, and the top was covered, without removing the fire as in the other cases; and the bread was quickly baked. The preceding representation of it is taken from Niebuhr. Verse 31.

(n) "no thought" Ps 37:3, 55:22, 1Pet 5:7