Tonight as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we will be preaching about Psalm 111. Luther believed that Psalm should be prayed by Christians at that Supper.
Praise the Lord!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart,
in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who have pleasure in them.
3 Full of honor and majesty is his work,
and his righteousness endures for ever.
4 He has caused his wonderful works to be remembered;
the Lord is gracious and merciful.
5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy,
8 they are established for ever and ever,
to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9 He sent redemption to his people;
he has commanded his covenant for ever.
Holy and terrible is his name!
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
a good understanding have all those who practice it.
His praise endures for ever!
The Christian is to rehearse and remember which in the Bible is a bringing to our life now, in a real way, what happened long ago. You do it in the company of the congregation of believers who are together in their praise and their remembrance and together as a whole. Paul Althaus in “the Theology of Martin Luther wrote these words of Luther himself;
“The Holy Spirit makes each one who believes the word of God a member of the body of Christ. Existence for oneself ceases and is replaced not by mystical absorption into One another, but by a full sharing of life through love. No individual has strength or weakness, righteousness or sin, peace or trouble without all being involved. The marvelous transaction, joyful exchange, the sharing of goods between Christ and men also means that there is a complete exchange, of life, of the goods, and of troubles by his people among themselves. The body of Christ lives one life. That is the nature of Christ’s love – Christ himself lives from the spirit of love. All that he is and has is nothing else than what the father has given as a the share of all that the father himself is and has.”
