But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. This is the great summing up. Strictly speaking, it has to do only with the subject of the present Section-the right state of the heart with reference to heavenly and earthly things; but being couched in the form of a brief general directory, it is so comprehensive in its grasp as to embrace the whole subject of this Discourse. And, as if to make this the more evident, the two key-notes of this great Sermon seem purposely struck in it - "the KINGDOM" and "the RIGHTEOUSNESS" of the kingdom-as the grand objects, in the supreme pursuit of which all things needful for the present life will be added to us. The precise sense of every word in this golden verse should be carefully weighed. "The kingdom of God" is the primary subject of the Sermon on the Mount-that kingdom which the God of heaven is erecting in this fallen world, within which are all the spiritually recovered and inwardly subject portion of the family of Adam, under Messiah as its divine Head and King. "The righteousness thereof" is the character of all such, so amply described and variously illustrated in the foregoing portions of this Discourse, The "seeking" of these is the making them the object of supreme choice and pursuit; and the seeking of them "first" is the seeking of them before and above all else, The "all these things" which shall in that case be added to us are just the "all these things" which the last words of the preceding verse assured us "our heavenly Father knoweth that we have need of;" that is, all we require for the present life. And when our Lord says they shall be "added," it is implied, as a matter of course, that the seekers of the kingdom and its righteousness shall have these as their proper and primary portion; the rest being their gracious reward for not seeking them. (See an illustration of the principle of this in 2 Chronicles 1:11-12.) What follows is but a reduction of this great general direction into a practical and ready form for daily use.