27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider 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, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 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 knoweth that ye have need of all these things. (Matthew 6:27-32 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
Four arguments are here used by our Saviour to dissuade us from the sin of anxious care; it is needless, it is fruitless, it is heathenish, it is brutish.
1. It is needless; Your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things, and will certainly provide for you; and what need you take care and God too?
2. It is fruitless; Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit his stature? that is, by all our solictous care, we can add nothing either to the length or comfort of our lives.
3. It is heathenish; After all these things do the Gentiles seek.
4. It is brutish; nay, worse than brutish: the fowls of the air, and the beasts of the field, are fed by God; much more shall his children. Has not God a breakfast for every beast in the wilderness, that comes leaping out of its den? and will he not much more provide for you, O ye of little faith? Surely he that feeds the ravens when they cry, will not starve his children when they pray.
Naturalists observe of the raven, that she exposes her young ones as soon as they are hatched, leaves them meatless and featherless, to shift and struggle with hunger as soon as they come into the world; and whether by the dew from heaven, or flies or worms, God feedeth them; when they gape and cry, they are provided for: from whence our Saviour infers, that man being much better, that is, a more considerable creature than the fowls, the providence of God will provide for him, though no solicitude and anxious thoughtfulness of his contributes thereunto.