Our scripture reading is Psalm 63. Psalm 63. O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee, remember the More literal translation is simply, I am seeking Thee. My soul thirsteth for Thee. My flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live. I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. When I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches, Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee. Thy right hand upholdeth me. But those that seek my soul to destroy it shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword. They shall be a portion for foxes. But the king shall rejoice in God. Everyone that sweareth by him shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped. So far we read God's holy word. The text for the sermon is verses five and six. My soul shall be satisfied as with morrow and fatness, and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. And I remember Thee upon my bed, And meditate on Thee in the night watches. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, from the first two verses, which we considered two weeks ago, we learn that Psalm 63 is a confident, a cry rather, a cry of confident longing for God. Oh God, thou art my God. There's the confidence. It is a cry therefore not of despair. He is sure that God will not forsake him though he is in desperate straits, great distress. But there is in his distress a great longing for God. My soul thirsteth for thee. My heart and my flesh cry out for thee. David was in a wilderness, literally in a wilderness, in a desert place, probably at the time when Absalom attacked him with a great number of other Israelites that were tired of David and wanted Absalom to be their king. And David had fled Jerusalem in order that battle would not be waged right in the middle of the city of God, Jerusalem. He is troubled, troubled obviously by his distress, but in his separation from Jerusalem, he feels separated somewhat from God. He longs to be able to worship God, to see his power and his glory as he has seen it in the sanctuary. That is, he's thinking about the Old Testament sacrifices. He's thinking about the high priest and the lambs and the oxes that were sacrificed there in the covering of the sins of the people. And that pointing to the power of the blood the cleansing power of the blood to save from sin. He's so very conscious of his own sin because he knows that this sword in the hand of his son is God's judgment on him yet because of his own terrible sins. He's very conscious of his own sins. He longs, therefore, to be able to bring the sacrifice. He longs to be able to worship God at the sanctuary. All of this is a picture of what we face in our life as well. The world is a wilderness. It's a spiritual wilderness. There isn't any spiritual food for us in this world, though it has delightful things for the flesh, it has entertaining things for our mind and soul, there is nothing for our spiritual life. We long, therefore, For that day when we will see God face to face, when we will be in heaven and be able to worship Him and commune with Him there. The text that we consider today, in this text the psalmist has found a way to receive spiritual food for his soul, even though he's in the wilderness and far removed from the temple. God Himself is His spiritual nourishment. He is able to be strengthened by remembering His God and meditating on Him, on God and His mighty works. And in this way, His hungry and thirsty soul is satisfied. And that's what coming to church does for us, coming here to worship. is an opportunity for us to remember and to meditate upon our God and His marvelous works and in this way be spiritually nourished. Let no one conclude from this meditating of David and what we will consider today that it's just fine to stay home and to meditate and to think about God. God has said very clearly, come to church. Do not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but be in God's house. That's where you will be spiritually nourished and fed in your souls. And that's what we must have here. Our longing ultimately is not for the church building, but it is for heaven when we will see God face to face and be able to enjoy the fullness of the blessings. But in the meantime, until that day when God takes us to glory, we come to church. This is where our souls will be fed by God's word. And we will meditate on Him in the preaching, in the sacraments, and He will feed our souls. Let's examine this text with that in mind then under the theme, Satisfied with Morrow and Fatness. Satisfied with Morrow and Fatness. Notice in the first place, the food, wonderfully, and wonder, of course, is a miracle, it's a miraculous thing, the food wonderfully supplied, secondly the soul richly satisfied, and finally the lips joyfully responding. Spiritual food is supplied wonderfully by God Himself. The psalmist has found a way to feed his soul. He says in verse 6, when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate in thee, on thee in the night watches. As such, remembering and meditating are two very similar activities that complement each other. To remember, of course, is simply to call back from your memory something that you have learned earlier and now you remember it, you call it back to mind, what you have learned about God from His Word, what you have experienced in your life, you call that back to your mind. But then meditating goes a little farther than that. It's not a quick remembrance that is soon forgotten. But to meditate is to think upon. to mull it over. Literally, it means to mutter, to mutter or to speak. And the idea is that you speak to yourself. You remember something and then you speak to yourself. That's what this verse 6 is saying the believer does. He is thinking on God. He is thinking on the ways of God, on the mighty works of God, on His salvation. The goodness of God that he has experienced in his life in the past set forth in the Holy Scriptures. He calls them back to mind and he meditates. He thinks on these things. He does that for the purpose of strengthening himself. spiritually in God. This is his spiritual food. If I may draw an analysis or a comparison between something that's rather earthly and common. You know how even the children know, many of them know that what a cow does when he grazes, he takes in a great amount of grass. He keeps eating and eating and eating, but he has a special way of storing what he has eaten and then bringing it back to his mouth and he can chew on it. We say he chews his cud. And he chews and he chews and he chews until finally it's completely devoid of all the nourishments. He's taken it all into his body and he now is nourished by that. That's the sense of this, that a person has the truth of God and it isn't something that he simply takes it in and now he goes on with life, but he meditates. He gets everything that He can out of the Word that He has and He is spiritually strengthened. That's what we need to do. That's what we need to do all week long as far as the sermon is concerned and the Bible reading that we do, that it's not a matter of a quick thing, quickly finished and we go on with our earthly life, but that it is called back to mind. and meditated upon it so that we grow spiritually. He is recalling his crying spiritual need for God. Remember he compared it to a wilderness where there is no water, where from a physical point of view a person will die because there's nothing there to sustain his life. For him, it was a spiritual wilderness, no tabernacle, no place to go to worship, no way of hearing the priests explain the Word of God or hearing a prophet, but by remembering, by meditating, This is the food that God wonderfully supplies to him as the Spirit quickens within him that delight, that memory of what he has learned and feeds his soul. This is the way the psalmist sought to take care of his spiritual needs. This is all he had If the psalmist would be meditating, remembering on the things of the temple, on the sacrifices and all of the pictures that God gave, what is it for us? Well, it's clearly to be thinking, to be meditating on Jesus Christ. That's God's revelation of Himself, the very Son of God. The One who is eternally God and who came into this world in our flesh in order that He might reveal God. That we might know God. Know Him not merely as the Creator God, as the sustainer of heaven and earth, but as our Savior God. Really know this God. To reveal the true God. in all His power and to reveal the way of salvation. He didn't come merely to reveal this God. He came to accomplish that salvation. He came in our flesh in order that He might be one with us and be able to take our guilt upon Himself. To have that body be bruised, be nailed to the cross. and there to have upon His human body and soul the eternal wrath of God against our sins, so that He might pay for those sins, every last one, every lie, every deceit, every horrible thing that has ever been done, every secret sin, He paid for there on the cross. And He bore them away. The guilt on us is no more. He finished our salvation. We are perfectly righteous. We are justified by faith in this Jesus Christ. We have a complete reconciliation with the Father. And Jesus Christ has earned a life, eternal life, which He gives to His people, a life that can never die. He has divinely wonderfully supplied our salvation. But that salvation is received by faith. That's the way God has determined we will receive the necessary blessings by faith, believing in Jesus Christ. graft into Him by that living spiritual bond of faith. Everything that He has done for us becomes ours by faith. And as the Belgic Confession says, He is the food for our souls. His crucified body and shed blood are the food for our souls. And the mouth of the soul is faith. That's what feeds on Him. That's what partakes of Him. That's how our souls are fed by faith in Jesus Christ. Without that, there is no life. We are fed and nourished by faith in Jesus Christ. He is the true meat and drink for our souls. in this wilderness in which we live, where there is absolutely nothing that will feed your soul, we must remember, call to mind what the Scripture says about our Lord Jesus Christ. Meditate on that and be spiritually fed. That's what the preaching does week after week. It sets forth Jesus Christ crucified from all different angles from all different viewpoints of the great work of God, ultimately Christ is at the center of them all. And that's what the Lord's Supper does. It sets before us visibly a picture of the broken bread body of Jesus Christ, the poured out wine, the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Call it to memory Meditate on what Jesus Christ has done and your soul will be satisfied. It will be filled with the true body and blood of Jesus Christ. That's the food that God supplies. That's the food that richly satisfies. The psalmist makes that point when he says, My soul shall be satisfied. Literally, my soul is being satisfied. It's being satisfied with morrow and fatness. Those two words are very expressive. The word morrow is usually translated fat. And it's the word that is used whenever Israel brought a sacrifice to God, they were to take the fat of the animal, that's the word, and place that on the altar. symbolizing the fact that it's the best, so to speak, of that animal that is placed on the altar for God. That might not be that which was partaken of. The Israelites could partake of some of the meat of that as they brought their offering. The priests would partake of some of the meat, but the fat of it would go to God. They were not to bring some malnourished, scrawny calf as they brought their offering, but a well-fed, fat cattle they would bring to the Lord. And the best of that would go to God. That's the word moral. So what David is saying is, what I have from God is not something that is insignificant and just the poorest elements. I have the fact. I have the best. As I meditate upon God, I am filled with marrow, or fatness. The other word that is translated fatness, it has a slightly different idea. And it's associated with riches, not so much money now. But that whatever you're talking about is something that is in abundance. Nothing meager, nothing small, but an abundance. It is used, for example, in Psalm 65, 11. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fatness. When God goes through the earth and He gives to the farmers their crops, He gives an abundance. That's the idea. Thy paths drop fatness. Or from a spiritual point of view, it's used in Psalm 36, verse 8. Psalm 36, 8 says, They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. You may have wondered, what in the world is that? The fatness of thy house? Again, the idea is the abundance. God, when He supplies a spiritual meal, gives it in abundance. God Himself and all the blessings that He bestows upon us is not stingy. He does not give a meal that will leave you malnourished. He does not give you the kind of sustenance that leaves you spiritually weak so that you're not able to deal with the spiritual battles of life. He does not leave you so that if you go out into the battlefield you will not be able to fight No, He gives a perfect, full, and complete spiritual nourishment in His meal. The psalmist says, my soul will be satisfied. Literally, it means satiated, thoroughly filled up, full to the brim. My soul is being satisfied as a man who has an abundance laid out in front of him of all kinds of food that he loves. And he eats and he eats and he eats until he cannot put one more thing in his mouth. He is completely full. He is satisfied, satiated. He doesn't have any desire for the bounties or the dainties of another table. He can't eat anything more. He is completely full. That's the word. My soul is being satisfied. There's no lack. That's what the psalmist says. When I remember my God, When I meditate on His Word, when I meditate on the goodness and the greatness of my God, my soul is satisfied. It's full. Is that true for us? Are we satisfied with God? We come to His house spiritually empty. We know our sins. We know our depravity. If we examined ourselves carefully, we know that the whole of our life is full of iniquity So little spiritual activity, so little desire for God, so little activity of seeking and serving Him. We also know that the world around us has nothing, nothing that will sustain our spiritual life. In fact, everything that they offer us draws us away from God. draws our attention, our delights, our enthusiasm toward them, toward their things and not toward God. So we come to God's house to be filled. To be filled with all the blessings of the cross, to receive here what we so desperately need, forgiveness of our sins. The grace to fight against our own sinful nature, the grace that will give us direction to walk in the way that is right, not in the way that leads to destruction, that will give us here the blessing, that tremendous blessing, the assurance of our salvation, which can be so weak, to give us the blessings of covenant fellowship with God. as we call to mind who this great God is, what He has done for us, and here in His house to enjoy His love, to enjoy His fellowship in the midst of God's people. Indeed, here we can be satisfied. We can be satiated. We can be filled up with that blessed knowledge of God. His love and His grace. None of our wants are neglected here. None, no spiritual yearnings go unfulfilled. No needs are left unsupplied because Christ is the fullness. He is everything. He fills us to the brim, so to speak. His blessings are abundant so that there will always be left over, so to speak. When we meditate on Him and His great work, our souls are satisfied. That's what should happen here. He is in us. We are in Him. Bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh. That's what the Lord's Supper says. That's what Jesus does for us every week when we come here to be filled. The response, lips that rejoice in God. My mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. The psalmist says, in verse 5 after he says my soul is being satisfied as with morrow and fatness my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that this morning because this evening we will consider verse 3 which the heart of it is all about praises to God what our life should be But we have to say a few things about that this morning. And first of all, you get the impression from this that this is overflowing. This is spontaneous. This is this is a praise that simply cannot be held down. It has to come out. Praise with joyful lips, lips that will shout for joy. over what God has done. The word praise here, my mouth shall praise thee, is the Hebrew word halal. Halal. Now maybe you recognize that that's part of the word that we sing, hallelujah. And Hallelujah is Hallel, praise, plus J-A-H, Jehovah, praise Jehovah. When we sing in Psalm, Psalter number 400, Hallelujah, praise Jehovah. We're saying the same thing twice. Once in the Hebrew and once in the English. Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah! That's what it means, and that's the word that is used here. I will lift. I will praise Thee. I will praise Thee with joyful lips. That's the psalmist's response to remembering, to meditating in God. His whole being His mouth, His lips. It's not merely something that's in His heart that He's excited and thrilled about, but it has to come out of His mouth. Joyful lips. And so must we. And I want to point out that this is included in the communion service. This idea of praising God is included in the communion service in the cup of wine. A cup of wine is not only a picture of the blood of Christ. It is that when the minister takes it and pours it and you see the pouring of the wine and you're to think about the fact that Jesus poured out his blood. Absolutely. But that's not all. It's wine. It's not grape juice. Because wine is something used for a celebration. Wine is used at a time when there is great joy. It makes glad the heart of man. It's a picture, therefore, of the joy of heaven. That's what the wine is to symbolize for us. Celebrating something with God. That's why the Dutch form which got translated into English not very well, but the Dutch form says the cup of thanksgiving with which we give thanks. So at the end of the service after we have partaken of the bread and partaken of the wine, the wine is part of the celebration of being in the house of God, having our souls satisfied, and now responding in praise. So it's in the ceremony itself. But it doesn't stop there. It must go out in our lives, in our everyday life. We leave the table rejoicing. As the very sacrament has called to mind what Jesus has done and fed our souls by His body and blood, we leave satisfied. And what must our response be then? That we open our lips and we praise Him. That's the psalmist's response. My mouth shall praise Thee with joyful lips, now and throughout all our days, praising our God. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy abundant goodness to us in Jesus Christ. What He has done, not only that we have a remembrance of that. that every week we can be reminded of that, and every time we open the scriptures we can be reminded that this fills our souls. Lord, Thou art a very good God to us. We thank Thee for our Savior Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. We turn now to the form for the administration of the Lord's Supper. Found on page 91, in the back of the Psalter, page 91. We read, first of all, the first paragraph, the first column, rather, on page 91. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, attend to the words of the institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, as they are delivered by the Holy Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 23 through 29. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. And after the same manner also he took the cup. When he had stopped saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore, whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. that we may now celebrate the supper of the Lord to our comfort, it is above all things necessary, first rightly to examine ourselves, secondly, to direct it to that end for which Christ hath ordained and instituted the same, namely, to His remembrance. Having read the first section two weeks ago, we now turn to the second section on page 92, the second column. bottom of page 92. Let us now also consider to what end the Lord hath instituted His supper, namely, that we do it in remembrance of Him. How after this manner are we to remember Him by it? First, that we are confidently persuaded in our hearts that our Lord Jesus Christ, according to the promises made to our forefathers in the Old Testament, was sent of the Father into the world, that He assumed our flesh and blood, that He bore for us the wrath of God under which we should have perished everlastingly from the beginning of His incarnation to the end of His life upon earth. And that he hath fulfilled for us all obedience to the divine law and righteousness. Especially when the weight of our sins and the wrath of God pressed out of him the bloody sweat in the garden. For he was bound that we might be freed from our sins. That he afterwards suffered innumerable reproaches that we might never be confounded. that he was innocently condemned to death, that we might be acquitted at the judgment seat of God. Yea, that he suffered his blessed body to be nailed on the cross, that he might fix thereon the handwriting of our sins, and hath also taken upon himself the curse due to us, that he might fill us with his blessings. and hath humbled himself unto the deepest reproach and pains of hell, both in body and soul, on the tree of the cross. When he cried out with a loud voice, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That we might be accepted of God, and never be forsaken of him. And finally, confirmed with His death and shedding of His blood, the new and eternal testament, that covenant of grace and reconciliation when He said, it is finished. Secondly, that we might firmly believe that we belong to this covenant of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ in His last supper took bread, and when He had given thanks, He'd break it. and gave it to his disciples and said, take eight. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. In like manner also after supper he took the cup, gave thanks and said, drink ye all of it. This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you and for many for the remission of sins. This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. That is, as often as ye eat of this bread and drink of this cup, ye shall thereby, as by a sure remembrance and pledge, be admonished and assured of this my hearty love and faithfulness towards you. that whereas you should otherwise have suffered eternal death, I have given my body to the death of the cross, and shed my blood for you. And I certainly feed and nourish your hungry and thirsty souls with my crucified body and shed blood to everlasting life, as this bread is broken before your eyes, and this cup is given to you, and you eat and drink the same with your mouth. in remembrance of me. From this institution of the Holy Supper of our Lord Jesus Christ, we see that He directs our faith and trust to His perfect sacrifice, once offered on the cross, as to the only ground and foundation of our salvation, wherein He has become to our hungry and thirsty souls the true meat and drink of life eternal. For by his death he hath taken away the cause of our eternal death and misery, namely sin, and obtained for us the quickening spirit, that we by the same who dwelleth in Christ as in the head, and in us as his members, might have true communion with him, and be made partakers of his blessings, of life eternal righteousness and glory. Besides, that we by this same spirit may also be united as members of one body in true brotherly love as the Holy Apostle Seth, for we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. For as out of many grains one meal is ground and one bread baked, And out of many berries being pressed together, one wine floweth, and mixeth itself together. So shall we all, who by a true faith are engrafted into Christ, be altogether one body, through brotherly love. For Christ's sake, our beloved Savior, who has so exceedingly loved us, and not only show this in word, but also in very deed towards one another. Here to assist us, the Almighty God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, through His Holy Spirit. Amen. That we may obtain all this, let us humble ourselves before God and with true faith implore His grace. Let us pray. O most merciful God and Father, we beseech Thee that Thou wilt be pleased in this supper, in which we celebrate the glorious remembrance of the bitter death of Thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to work in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, that we may daily, more and more with true confidence, give ourselves unto Thy Son, Jesus Christ. that our afflicted and contrite hearts, through the power of the Holy Ghost, may be fed and comforted with His true body and blood. Yea, with Him, true God and man, that only heavenly bread, and that we may no longer live in our sins, but He in us and we in Him and thus truly be made partakers of the new and everlasting covenant of grace. That we may not doubt that thou wilt forever be our gracious father, never more imputing our sins unto us and providing us with all things necessary as well for the body as the soul as thy beloved children and heirs. Grant us also thy grace that we may take up our cross cheerfully, deny ourselves, confess our Savior, and in all tribulations with uplifted head, expect our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven, where He will make our mortal bodies like unto His most glorious body, and take us unto Him in eternity. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Strengthen us also by this Holy Supper, in the Catholic undoubted Christian faith, whereof we make confession with our mouths and hearts, saying, I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried, he descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe in Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. While the table is being prepared, we will sing Psalter number 168. 168. We'll sing stanzas 2 and 3. Stanzas 2 and 3 of 168. of Calvary else my soul will fear, when Christ has blest the time. Thou wast the chosen fruit thy grace, our Father in thy holy place. Love and joy is their only source of hope. Love and joy shall satisfy thy deeds of good. Before the bread and wine are passed out, remember this part two of the form that says that we may now be fed with the true heavenly bread, Christ Jesus, Let us not cleave with our hearts unto the external bread and wine, but lift them up on high in heaven, where Christ Jesus is our advocate, at the right hand of his heavenly Father, whither all the articles of our faith lead us, not doubting that we shall as certainly be fed and refreshed in our souls through the working of the Holy Ghost with his body and blood. as we receive the holy bread and wine in remembrance of him. Psalm 69 is very Messianic sound, very clearly Messianic, describing the sufferings of our Lord. Save me, O God, for the waters are coming unto my soul. I sink in deep mire where there is no standing. I am coming to deep waters where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat is dry, my eyes fail while I wait for my God. They that hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head. They that would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that which I took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness, and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel, because for thy sake I have borne reproach. Shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment, and I became a proverb to them. They that sit in the gate speak against me, and I was the song of the drunkards. But as for me, My prayer is unto Thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. O God, in the multitude of Thy mercy, hear me in the truth of Thy salvation. The bread which we break is the communion of the body of Christ. Take, eat, and do so in remembrance of him. Amen. you So, The cup of blessing which we bless, which we bless the name of God, is the cup of the New Testament in Jesus' blood. Drink ye all of it, and do so in remembrance of him. Beloved in the Lord, since the Lord hath now fed our souls at his table, let us therefore jointly praise his name, his holy name, with thanksgiving, and everyone say in his heart thus. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, So great is His mercy towards them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. Who hath not spared His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, and given us all things with Him, Therefore, God commendeth therewith His love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified in His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Shall my mouth and heart show forth the praise of the Lord from this time forth forevermore. Amen. Let us bow before our God in a prayer of thanksgiving. O Almighty, Merciful God and Father, we render Thee most humble and hearty thanks, that Thou hast of Thine infinite mercy given us Thine only begotten Son for a mediator and a sacrifice for our sins, to be our meat and drink unto life eternal, and that Thou givest us lively faith, whereby we are made partakers of such great benefits. Thou hast also been pleased that Thy beloved Son Jesus Christ should institute and ordain this Holy Supper for the confirmation of the same. Grant, we beseech Thee, O faithful God and Father, that through the operation of Thy Holy Spirit the commemoration of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ may tend to the daily increase of our faith. and saving fellowship with Him, through Jesus Christ, in whose name we conclude our prayer, saying, Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. This time the thank offering will be taken for benevolence and we will sing Psalter number 163, a versification of Psalm 63. from which the text was taken. We'll sing the three stanzas while the thank offering for benevolence is taken. Within thy holy house was born, to see thy glorious face. Apart from thee, I love and thirst, and naught can satisfy. The loving kindness of my God is more than life to me. So I will bless thee while I live and lift my prayer to thee. is mine, my darkness turns to light, where joyful meditations fill the watches of the night. Still closer to thy side I rest, for near thee all is well. My soul shall ponder every love, Blessed be his glorious name, long as the ages shall endure, o'er all the earth. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.