New Testament Commentary - Matthew 6

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 6 Jesus continues the Sermon on the Mount—He teaches the disciples the Lord's Prayer—They are commanded to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
1 ^aTAKE heed that ye do not your ^balms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the ^ahypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have ^bglory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine ^aalms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall ^breward thee openly.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
5 ¶ And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the ^ahypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy ^acloset, and when thou hast ^bshut thy door, ^cpray to thy Father which is in ^dsecret; and thy Father which ^eseeth in secret shall ^freward thee openly.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
7 But when ye pray, use not vain ^arepetitions, as the ^bheathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father ^aknoweth what things ye have ^bneed of, before ye ask him.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
9 ^aAfter this manner therefore ^bpray ye: Our ^cFather which art in heaven, ^dHallowed be thy ^ename. 10 Thy ^akingdom come. Thy ^bwill be done ^cin earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily ^abread. 12 And forgive us our ^adebts, as we ^bforgive our debtors. 13 ^aAnd ^blead us not into ^ctemptation, ^dbut deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the ^eglory, for ever. Amen.
14 For if ye ^aforgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: 15 But if ye ^aforgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
16 ¶ Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to ^afast. Verily I say unto you, They ^bhave their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to ^afast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall ^breward thee openly.
19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves ^atreasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves ^bbreak through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves ^atreasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor ^bsteal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine ^aeye be ^bsingle, thy whole body shall be full of ^clight. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that ^adarkness!
Things of God ~ OR ~ Things of the World The whole of the remaining verses revolve around placing one's chosing between the things of this world or the things of God and where one places their primary commitment to God or to the Worldly.
24 ¶ ^aNo man can ^bserve two ^cmasters: for either he will ^dhate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and ^emammon.
25 ^aTherefore I say unto you, Take no ^bthought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 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?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? ^aConsider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, ^ashall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little ^bfaith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father ^aknoweth that ye have need of all these things^a.	32^a your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have a need of all hese things It is not that man can live without the physical requirements of this world, but it is in respect to which one places there primary commitment and concern. One has to have a proper priority in their approach to life. Do the things of this world rule over you or do the higher eternal matters of God? One ought to always place there trust in God first and foremost, leaving the concerns for the matters of the flesh to be of a secondary matter. When one places ones commitment to God first, trusting in our Father in Heaven, then our Father in heaven is able to so bless us according to his design and plan for us, which does include the provision of the things necessary for life.
33 ^aBut ^bseek ye first the ^ckingdom of God, and his ^drighteousness; and all these ^ethings shall be ^fadded unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take ^athought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.