Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 6:32

"For after all these things do the Gentiles seek; for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things." — Matthew 6:32 (ASV)

After all these things do the Gentiles seek — The tone is one of pity rather than censure, though it appeals, not without a touch of gentle rebuke (as before in Matthew 6:5), to the national pride of the Israelites: “You look down upon the heathen nations, and think of yourselves as God’s people, yet in what do you excel them if you seek only what they are seeking?”

For your heavenly Father knoweth... — The significance of this teaching for the meaning of the “daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer has already been noted (compare to the note on Matthew 6:11). The outward circumstances of human life may well be left to the wisdom of the All-knowing. These matters lie below the realm of true prayer, or occupy an altogether subordinate place within it.