Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?
Ver. 9,10. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, &c.] By an argument from the less to the greater. Our Saviour sweetly confirmeth what he had said, that we may "ask in faith, nothing wavering," or being at an uncertainty, or at variance with himself, doubting whether he should believe or not. a This is no less unpleasing to God than unprofitable to us. God is the Father of all mercies, and loveth his far more than any natural father doth his own child; than Abraham did Isaac, or David Absalom. And according to his affections such are his expressions; for as he knoweth their needs, so he gives them all things richly to enjoy, 1 Timothy 6:18. He giveth them not as he doth the wicked, panem lapidosum, a stone for bread; he feeds them not (as we say) with a bit and a knock. b He puts not into their hands αντι περκης σκορπιον (as the Greek proverb hath it, whereunto our Saviour here alludeth), for a fish a scorpion; no, he feeds them with the finest wheat, Psalms 81:16; "and filleth them with fat things full of marrow," Isaiah 25:6. He nourisheth them with the best, as Joseph did his father's household in Egypt, according to the mouth of the little ones, or as so many little ones (saith the original), c tenderly and lovingly, without their care or labour. And whereas some natural parents have (monstrously) proven to be unnatural, Psalms 27:10; as Saul to Jonathan, and those αστοργοι, Romans 1:31; not so God: as himself is an everlasting Father, Isaiah 9:6, so is his love, Isaiah 49:14; John 13:1. Men may hate their children whom they loved, but he "rests in his love," Zephaniah 3:17; they may cast out their babes, but he gathers them. Father Abraham may forget us and Israel disown us, Isaiah 63:16; "but thou, O Lord, art our never failing Father, our Redeemer," &c. The fathers and governors of the Church may (out of an overflow of their misguided zeal) cast us out, and for a pretence say, "Let the Lord be glorified. But then shall he appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed," Isaiah 66:5. The fathers of our flesh chasten their children after their own pleasure, but "he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness," Hebrews 12:10. He feeds his people sometimes with "the bread of adversity and the water of affliction," Jeremiah 30:20; or gives them (as it were) a thump on the back with a stone to drive them downwards, and makes them eat ashes for bread, as David, Psalms 102:9; their bread with quaking, as Ezekiel did; Eze 12:18 holds them to hard meat (some of the martyrs were fed with bread made, most part, with sawdust, and Ezekiel with bread prepared with cow dung, Eze 4:15). He chasteneth them also otherwise, not only with the rods of men, but with the severe discipline of scorpions, and this "seemeth not for the present to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness to them that are thereby exercised," Hebrews 12:11. They shall sit down with Abraham, yea, in Abraham's bosom (as they used to lean at feasts), in the kingdom of heaven, Matthew 8:11; and shall have (not a Benjamin's mess only, but) a royal diet, as Jeconiah had, every day a portion, Jeremiah 52:34. Then shall the Lord stand forth and say to those men of his hand, who had their portion here, and whose bellies he filled with his hidden treasure (the innkeeper gives the best bits to his guests, but reserves the patrimony for his children), "Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry," &c.,Isaiah 65:13 .
a James 1:6, διακρονομενος. Alternantibus sententiis secum disceptans. Budaeus.
b Altera manu fert lapidem, altera panem ostentat. Plaut.
c Genesis 47:12. εσιτομετρει, say the Septuagint; whereunto our Saviour seems to allude, Luke 12:42 .