August 8, 2014
Matthew 6:9-13
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
The Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9 through 13:
In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your
name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive
our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the
evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.
Let’s see if we can finish our study of The Lord’s Prayer today – considering the second half of verse 13: “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever. Amen.” There is general consensus among Bible scholars that this phrase was not part of The Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught it. The version recorded in Luke 11:9 through 13 leaves this off. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary puts it this way: “The doxology in 6:13b is a liturgical interpolation from I Chronicles 29:11.” In I Chronicles 11:10 through 19, David’s final prayer of thanksgiving is recorded He glorifies God at the beginning with these words from verse 11:
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the
majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom,
O LORD, and You are exalted as head above all.
So although the second half of verse 13 of Matthew 6 may not be in the original, it is a fitting and biblical way to close The Lord’s Prayer. For it acknowledges God’s rule, power and glory over all for all eternity.
King Belshazzar – the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon – desecrated the holy vessels of God’s Jerusalem temple at a drunken party. It says in Daniel 5:4, “They drank wine [from them], and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone.” That is when “…the fingers of a man’s hand appeared and wrote…on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace…” (Daniel 5:5) – “the handwriting on the wall” is a common expression today! Just hours later judgement fell on Belshazzar and the kingdom of Babylon when it was conquered, “And Darius the Mede received the kingdom.” (Daniel 5:30).
Daniel had reminded King Belshazzar of the humiliation of his grandfather’s pride, recorded in Daniel 4:28 through 33. This is what he told Belshazzar in Daniel 5:18, 20 and 21:
O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your [grand]father a king-
dom and majesty, glory and honor….But when his heart was lifted up, and
his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and
they took his glory from him. Then he was driven from the sons of men, his
heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys.
They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of hea-
ven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and
appoints over it whomever He chooses.
As it says in Psalm 103:19, “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.” Yes, the devil has dominion (but limited dominion) over all the kingdoms of the world (see Luke 4:5 through 7). He pulls the strings of godless society. That is why he is called “…the god of this world…”in II Corinthians 4:4 (KJV). But it is all under God’s authority, control and permission! This is the subject dealt with in Psalm 2. Here are verse1 through 6, 8, and 10 through 12 (NIV):
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the
earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and
against his Anointed One. “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw
off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at
them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath,
saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill….Ask of me, and I
will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.” …Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the
LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry
and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
There is coming a day – perhaps soon – when God will put down all rebellion – both of the devil and men – and it will be as the angel announced in Revelation 11:15, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever.”
So, when you pray The Lord’s Prayer, and close repeating, “For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory for ever…,” take hope, courage and comfort that God is in control! No matter how evil and menacing this world seems, God is over all – and He is in control!
“Amen.” And that means “So be it! ”