Why do we need to ask God to deliver us from evil?

We have already remarked upon, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, so that there only remains, And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This cry will always be suited to us while in this world with the sense of utter weakness, and knowing that we could not stand for one moment in temptation if left to ourselves. Nor is there any incongruity between such a petition and entire confidence in God; for there will be confidence in God just in proportion as we have learned that in our flesh there dwelleth no good thing. Afraid of ourselves, we shall ever cry, Lead us not into temptation, and this will lead to the further desire that we may be delivered from evil. This, indeed, was the request of the Lord Himself for His own — "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil." (John 17:15.) Whether the remaining words, the doxology, as it is termed, For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen, be part of Scripture or not, they undoubtedly express truth that all Christians delight to acknowledge and to turn into praise.

But deliver us from evil in general, if not from the evil one in particular. This was not the sifting, or temptation, deprecated in the clause before, which grace may put us through for good, as we see in Peter; but the power of the enemy in drawing into sin against God. The proper desire was to be kept from the evil, or, if one fell, to be restored from it. Grace in no case fails, if a disciple alas! did. Deliver us from evil.

It would seem to be rightly here "deliver us from the evil," rather than "from the evil one," though either rendering is possible; but the larger view includes the narrower, and is therefore more suitable. The evil one is a most real and powerful enemy; but the evil in ourselves is still more to be dreaded, as only through this can he gain advantage over us. In this most concise prayer, the fullest meaning is the best.

We may well pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). The point of this petition is that knowing we have the fallen nature within and the enemy within the gate, not that we may not be tested, knowing that the test may involve a response from the traitor within, but that we may be delivered from the evil all around us.

The forgiveness of verse 12 is connected with the daily life of the believer: he can ask the Father's forgiveness in regard to his debts or failures only if his attitude is one of forgiveness toward others: otherwise his prayer is hypocritical. "Lead us not into temptation" involves our realizing our own sad propensity for failure, and therefore the desire to be kept from the danger of it. Finally "deliver us from evil" is the desire for positive mercy from God in taking us out of those situations where evil threatens us.

Take Peter's case in the Gospels. It was no sin that he should be put to the proof, whether he would in the face of shame confess his Master. The Lord had already warned him of his weakness; but the too confident apostle heeded not the word, slept when he should have been praying against the temptation, and consequently, when it came, he fell — fell miserably, repeatedly. It was quite right, therefore, for the disciples, conscious of their own powerlessness, to ask that they might not be led into circumstances so sorely trying. Knowing their liability to fail under its pressure, they ought humbly and earnestly to deprecate such a sifting. No such prayer is or could be in the Bible as, Lead us not into sin; for this would be to impute moral evil to God. The temptation here was the putting a person thoroughly to the proof, and the consequence of it would be that, if there were unjudged evil in the heart, it would come out to his humiliation. The undetected mischief working within would be brought to the surface and the light. The Lord Jesus Himself passed through every kind of temptation, first in the wilderness, and again, at the close, in the garden of Gethsemane, when the power of darkness assailed Him to the uttermost. But He had nothing in Him that could be touched by Satan, as He said, "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me." In us there is something that is brought out by the temptation, and then, if we do not lean very simply on the Lord, we break down in sin against Him.

Therefore it is added in the next and last clause, "but deliver us from evil [or the evil one];" because the effect of temptation, where the flesh is not judged, is that evil is manifested, and he who is its source and prime mover acquires advantage over the soul.

Fourth and finally he says: “ … and that thou wouldest keep me from evil.” The evil that introduced sorrow into this world has not disappeared; it is ever present. Jabez knows this well, for he does not ask that it be removed, but he desires to be kept from the evil whose existence he sees. Here again, he recognizes that it is not his will, but the power of God alone that is able to keep him.

Fourth and finally he says: "...and that thou wouldest keep me from evil." The evil that introduced sorrow into this world has not disappeared; it is ever present. Jabez knows this well, for he does not ask that it be removed, but he desires to be kept from the evil whose existence he sees. Here again, he recognizes that it is not his will, but the power of God alone that is able to keep him.

But much worse than this are "presumptuous sins" (v. 13), for they involve the deliberate willful indulging in what we know is wrong, and when once we launch out in such a course, it is not long before such sins take control of us. May the Lord indeed preserve us from this dreadful danger. It is not usually sins of ignorance that cause us the greatest trouble, but sins we know are sins, yet we give way to them. The Lord knew we needed His preserving mercy for this, when He gave His disciples the prayer of Matthew 6:3, "And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil."

How often we excuse ourselves to our selves for these little things, and because nobody sees them or suspects them we think it does not matter. Outwardly things are the same, the spiritual vigour does not appear to be much diminished, and we forget that God sees, and that the inner life is being slowly but surely sapped. Then at last comes the storm, for Satan sees and knows what others do not, and he chooses his time with consummate subtlety, and then — ! What should we do if the Lord were not gracious! May God give us deliverance from evil. Oh, let us pray "Deliver us from evil," and may we be watchful and self-judged before Him in little things, and never forget that the Lord is gracious.