A reading from the Word of God this morning is found in Psalm 23. I've chosen to read Psalm 23 in connection with the Heidelberg Catechism's treatment of the Lord's Supper, not because Psalm 23 speaks about the Lord's Supper as a sacrament, It's true, Psalm 23 speaks about a table. But that table in Psalm 23 is a table that God has provided for His church throughout all of history. Psalm 23 says, He prepared a table before me. And that table was prepared in eternity. And that table, the Lord sets up in the earth, wherever His church is gathered. The table sets up when God comes into the world by His gospel and speaks His gospel to His church. That's where the table is. It's a table where he nourishes his church unto eternal life in the presence of foes who are always seeking to squeeze the life out of that church. He sets that table up in the world to testify to that relentless threefold enemy that is Satan in the world, in our own sinful flesh. A relentless enemy. He sets that table up to testify to that enemy too. All your attempts are vain. It's a table for blessed fellowship, communion, joy. A table where there's always eating and drinking, spiritually. And it's a table then that has its final fulfillment. in the great supper feast between the bride and the lamb. That's the idea of the table in Psalm 23. And the Lord incorporated those ideas of the table into the sacrament then that he instituted in the night in which he was betrayed. So Psalm 23, though it doesn't speak, not even prophetically, of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as such, there are very important truths that can be applied from Psalm 23 to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This is the Word of God. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. since the reading of the Holy and Divine Scripture. On the basis of that passage and many others, we have the instruction of Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day 28. How art thou admonished and assured in the Lord's Supper that thou art a partaker of that one sacrifice of Christ, accomplished on the cross and of all his benefits, Thus, that Christ has commanded me and all believers to eat of this broken bread and to drink of this cup in remembrance of him, adding these promises. First, that his body was offered and broken on the cross for me. And his blood shed for me. As certainly as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup communicated to me. And further, that he feeds and nourishes my soul to everlasting life with his crucified body and shed blood as assuredly as I receive from the hands of the minister and taste with my mouth the bread and cup of the Lord as certain signs of the body and blood of Christ. What is it then to eat the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Christ? It is not only to embrace with a believing heart all the sufferings and death of Christ, and thereby to obtain the pardon of sin in life eternal, but also, besides that, to become more and more united to His sacred body by the Holy Ghost, who dwells both in Christ and in us, so that we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are notwithstanding flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and that we live and are governed forever by one spirit as members of the same body, or by one soul. Whereas Christ promised that he will as certainly feed and nourish believers with his body and blood as they eat this broken bread and drink of this cup, in the institution of the supper which is thus expressed, The Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he break it and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do ye in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup. when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood, as do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. This promise is repeated by the holy apostle Paul, where he says, The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, being many, are one bread and one body, because we are all partakers of that one bread. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, we begin the Catechism's treatment on the Lord's Supper. And I want to begin by way of introduction, pointing out that there is a very logical and important relationship between the truth and testimony of baptism, and then the truth and testimony of the Lord's Supper. In baptism, God witnesses and seals unto us that he doth make an eternal covenant of grace with us, and adopts us as his children and heirs. And that means that God brings us into his covenant, that bond of friendship. And he does that by union with Jesus Christ. So that by baptism, the spiritual baptism of which the sacrament is a sign and seal, by baptism we are incorporated into Christ's suffering and death and then resurrection. We are brought by baptism under the waves and billows of God's wrath as the just, the very just punishment of sin. We are buried That's what Scripture says. We're buried by baptism into Christ's death. And then we're raised with Christ in newness of life, so that His life is our life, a heavenly life. A life that this world can't mar, can't touch. Baptism testifies to that union that we have with Jesus Christ, an incorporation into God's covenant. Now when you're brought into God's covenant, God does not deal with you or expect of you, let's put it this way, God does not deal with you like an attendant servant. God could do that. But God is not the master that expects his servant to work all day in the fields, plowing, and toiling and sweating. And then after that long day of toil, to come into God's house, the master's house, and then now have to attend to the needs of his master. Master who has an attendant servant doesn't receive the servant into his house and now say, now you can go and you can sit down and eat. No, he expects that that servant minister to all of his needs. You make sure that master says to the servant that I'm fed first and that I drink first. When all my needs are met, then maybe you can eat too. Now, when you're brought into God's covenant, He deals with you as sons and daughters. And what that means is that He takes the part of a very diligent parent, continually making sure that the needs of His children, His sons and daughters, are provided for. Think about a mother. How much of the day for a young mother who has children, a house full of children, how much of that day does not revolve around her planning just so that her children can eat and drink? Oh, they need this. And this one can eat this, but this one can't eat that. And then they think about breakfast, and as soon as they're done with breakfast, they're thinking about lunch. And as soon as they're done with lunch, oh, then there's a snack. And as soon as they're done with a snack, then what's for dinner? Day after day. And God in His covenant is consumed with a thought of providing for his sons and daughters, attending to all of their needs. That's the testimony, that's the truth of the Lord's Supper. That God continually nourishes us continually defends us, preserves us in that life that he begets by his word. He's always in the world bringing a table into the world and preparing it that his sons and daughters may eat. And the food of that table It's the body and blood of His Son. And now that truth, that idea of the Lord's Supper, is expanded upon in three Lord's Days. The present Lord's Day, Lord's Day 28, deals with the institution of the Lord's Supper as such, and then gets at the heart of what the Lord's Supper is. The Lord's Day 29 concerns itself with those very important words of Jesus Christ, this is my body. It concerns itself then with what Christ meant by that, because you truly, the Belgic Confession is very bold, what you eat and drink in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but you understand what you eat and drink your whole life, under the Word and under the Spirit, is the proper and natural body and blood of Jesus Christ. Now what does that mean? That's Lord's Day 29. The Lord's Day 30 deals with that accursed idolatry of the Mass and the proper partakers, worthy partakers of that Lord's Supper. This morning we make a beginning dealing with the institution of the Lord's Supper as such and really what's at the heart of that sacrament. We do so under the theme, a table prepared for me, using the word, the words of Psalm 23, verse 5. A table prepared for me. First notice, by whom? Second, for what? There I'm going to be talking about the idea of eating and drinking Christ, the idea of communion. And third, let's say with what end? You will recall that what constitutes a sacrament as a sacrament, and distinguishes a sacrament as a means of grace, apart from other religious ceremonies that may take place in the church, is first of all the institution, that is the command of Jesus Christ. Christ commanded in the night in which he was betrayed, that the church observe the Lord's Supper. And Christ commanded the church, too, to observe that through the Apostle Paul. Paul received that command directly from the Lord Jesus Christ when he was in the desert of Arabia. Christ commanded. The Catechism makes a point of that again. In Answer 75, Christ commanded me and all believers to eat and to drink, and then question in Answer 77, deal with that institution and command as such, and the two places in Scripture where that command is given. Second, what constitutes a sacrament as a sacrament is a promise. That sacrament comes with the promise. That sacrament is a visible word of the promise that Christ does exactly what's visibly shown in that sacrament. You would say in the Lord's Supper, you see bread, you see bread, you see bread broken, you take bread, you feel bread, you taste bread, that bread goes into your body, and that bread's absorbed into your body, and Christ says, I'm going to do What is symbolized by that? There's a promise there. Wine is poured out. Wine is communicated. And Christ says, I'm going to do what that wine symbolizes. There's a promise there. That's what constitutes a sacrament. The command and the promise. And it's the One who commands, and it's the One who promises, that makes that table such a precious and wonderful table. When the Lord prepares a table in the earth, under His Word and Spirit, and when the Lord command you to come to partake of the sacrament, what makes that such a delightful thing? It's first of all, the one who's the host of that table and the one who has prepared that table. I need to make a point of that. Why is that table so delightful? What makes that table so delightful? The Lord's there. You would say, when you hear certain so-called ministers expound the Lord's Supper, you would think that they've entirely forgotten who's the host of that supper, and who prepared the table. They come to the Lord's Supper, and all they can talk about is man's spiritual activity. Old man comes to the table, and old man takes food to his mouth. Man takes bread, and man takes wine. And man eats bread, and man drinks wine. And it's all about man's spiritual activity. And you would say, where's the host? In their exegesis of the Lord's Supper, you'd almost think that that supper was called the supper of man's activity. No, it's the Lord's Supper. That's what Scripture calls it. Paul, when he's speaking to the Corinthian church, in not so pleasant circumstances, because they were profaning the table, Paul says when you come to celebrate, it's not to celebrate the Lord's Supper. There's the name of the sacrament. It's the Lord's Supper. It's not called Mass. Mass is an entirely popish invention. and in an accursed idolatry, because the Mass teaches that Christ is of no profit unless he be daily sacrificed by the priests. It's a sin against the truth that Christ by one offering hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. It's not called the Mass. It's not called Eucharist. Eucharist is a Greek word that means Thanksgiving, and oh, there's Thanksgiving there. There is no Thanksgiving in the world like Thanksgiving at the table that the Lord prepares. But that's not the main point of the table. That's a fruit of the table. It's called the Lord's Supper. Because who's there? The Lord is what makes that table so delightful. So blessed, so pleasant. I want to impress that upon you in the words of Psalm 23, who stands at the head of that table. Psalm 23 says, Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. There is a very rich, abundant feast that one prepares in the world, a table that is set. And the psalmist looks at the one who's prepared that table as a shepherd. There's two ideas in Psalm 23. There's first of all the idea of a shepherd. A shepherd who leads his sheep in green pastures and besides still waters. A shepherd who knows where his sheep have to go, even if it means going through the valley of the shadow of death. And now that imagery, and that picture, that isn't forgotten, that's now applied to who stands as host of the table, to teach you who's prepared a table. It's a shepherd. A shepherd. And if there's one thing, well, there's many things you can say about a shepherd. Let me begin with this. If there's one thing you want to say about a shepherd, it's he knows his sheep. A shepherd knows every one of his sheep. That's what Christ says. I am known of my sheep, and I know my sheep. He studied those sheep. He knows their habits. He knows their characteristics. He knows their temperament, their capacity. The Lord presides at a table as a shepherd who knows you. who knows your being, who knows you from the heart, who studied you inside and out, who's compassed your whole life before you were conceived in the womb, who knows your down-sitting, who knows your uprising, who knows the paths of your feet as the one who has determined that path and the one who brings you along that path to an expected end. He knows. He's a shepherd. He knows his sheep. He knows His sheep as those who are needy. If there's one thing about sheep, you can say it's they're needy. And when Scripture calls us sheep, it's not very flattering. At least sheep in a domesticated form, of which Psalm 23 is referencing, they need to be led to food. from pasture to pasture, because if they're not led from pasture to pasture, they're foolish enough to eat that grass down to bare dirt and starve themselves. Sheep can't search out water. They're not like cows. They're not like horses, where you can send them out to pasture upon a thousand acres and let them be, and they can take care of themselves until you're ready to round them up. That's not sheep. You have to lead them to water. Here's water. Here's water. Otherwise, if you don't care for sheep, they'll starve, And they'll perish because of thirst. And they're defenseless creatures, too. You can say that about sheep. Where are their teeth? Their sharp teeth. Where are their claws? Where's their speed? They don't have any of that. They're prey animals. They're easy game for lions and for bears and predatory animals. They're not strong. They're so weak that if they're not sheared, they'll simply collapse under the weight of their wool coat. And the shepherd knows that. He knows his sheep. He knows that not out of a disdain for the sheep, but he knows them in love. That's a shepherd. A shepherd knows his sheep with love. He will not hesitate to lay down his life for the sheep. He doesn't run when the wolf comes, or the bear comes, or the lion comes. If a sheep is snatched, he's going to chase and wrestle that creature to the ground to save his sheep. That's the shepherd. He's going to suffer heat. He's going to suffer cold to make sure that His sheep are attended to and all their needs provided for. Out of love for them, He has compassion upon them. Tender compassion. He's long-suffering towards them. You know what that means? That means when they wander, and they do wander, He's not going to get sick of that and say, I've had enough. Let that sheep fend for itself. Let it fall in that gully and die. I'm sick of it. No. He always goes after his sheep. Because he knows them and he loves them. Sheep can be easily spooked too. One quick movement. One loud noise, and the whole flocks in an uproar, disquieted, unsettled. Sheep are easily unsettled. He knows his sheep. He has a voice that speaks to his sheep, that settles his sheep. And now that shepherd, that shepherd has prepared a table. Why is it that that table is so lovely, so delightful, Because the host of that table is a shepherd who knows what his sheep need, who will expend himself for the sake of the sheep, who has compassion and long-suffering for the sheep. And that host of the table is the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd, first of all, as one who is Jehovah. Jehovah is my shepherd, Psalm 23 says. And Christ says, I am Jehovah. I am. I am that I am. I made the worlds. I called all things into existence. I rule by my word. I govern all things. I rule all things. There is nothing that transpires in this world that has not come to pass by my command. I rule all creatures. I rule the church. I rule the church's enemies. I am Jehovah. Jehovah who's become a shepherd, who is not unsympathetic with the cares of his sheep, but who himself took upon all the infirmities of those sheep, who knows how those sheep suffer, who knows how those sheep can be tempted, who knows how those sheep think. He clothed himself with the very nature of his sheep, It's a shepherd who does not stand aloof from his sheep, but who has come among his sheep in the most intimate and in profound way. who knows every last one of His sheep, who names every last one of His sheep as He names the stars of heaven, who knows their enemies, who knows their enemies very intimately. As the One who was suffered and who was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. As the One who experienced those enemies rise up against Him, the very gates of hell opening up and swallowing Him there at the cross. Oh, He knew His enemies. He knows your enemies very intimately. It was very long suffering. so that when his sheep wander into sin, he does not say, I give up, I'm done. He always goes after and draws his sheep unto himself, day after day, week after week, hour after hour, It's the Lord's Supper. And to what makes that table so special is what's been prepared. What's on that table? That shepherd puts himself on the table. All that he is, his own body and blood. Oh, I am a good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. That's exactly what he did. knowing His sheep, all of His needs. He became every last thing that His sheep need. Oh, His sheep are different. Oh, His sheep are diverse. Oh, His sheep all have their own unique situation and position. And He answers to every last thing that His sheep need. Nothing lacks. And now let's bring that table of Psalm 23 to that night in which the Lord was betrayed. There you see the good shepherd at the host of that table, ready to lay down his life for the sheep. Bring that table of Psalm 23 into the upper room. And now the host of that table The host of that table takes bread off that table and he holds that bread up and he sets that bread apart as a sign. And then he does a symbolic action. He breaks that bread. And then he assigns the spiritual reality to that symbol with the words of the institution, this is my body, which is broken for you. That's what's been prepared on the table before me. A body's been prepared. A body that is the perfect nourishment. That's what bread is. Bread nourishes your earthly life. The body of Jesus Christ was prepared as the perfect nourishment for everlasting life in heaven. Oh, the Lord prepared that body. He prepared that body in eternity. He prepared that body when he appointed the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom the fullness of the Godhead would dwell bodily as the one who would be the first begotten from the dead among many brethren. There was the preparation for that body. A body that would be All the righteousness that a child of God needs to live before God forever. A body that could not be imputed any sin in Adam. A body that was not defiled or polluted. A body that could give to God all that God was due so that God would look at that body and God would say, all that I need, all that I require, all the love that I demand, it's in that body. All the holiness that God is due, Christ was prepared, or that body was prepared to give that to, or to be that holiness. A body was prepared to destroy and to crush Satan in sin, to bring liberty. A body that was broken. A table that's prepared. The table was prepared at the cross of Jesus Christ. There God prepared His table. He arranged that cross as a host arranges His table. There He broke that body. Oh, He broke it. God came with all of His wrath, God came with all of His curse, God came with the full punishment of the sin, the sins of the sheep that belong to the shepherd, and God visited His wrath and His curse upon that body, and He broke that body in spirit, and He broke that body in soul, and He broke the mind. That's what God's curse does, it breaks one. So that body that was prepared on the cross, that body has devoured down the curse. There is no more curse. It's deliverance from the curse. That's the body. What you eat and drink, what's been prepared at that table, that body. And the Lord took wine too. The Lord set apart wine as a sign. He set apart wine as a sign, not Not simply because wine's red and blood's red. No, no, no. That's not why Christ set aside wine. He set aside wine at that table in the upper room as that which represents the effect of the shedding of His blood He didn't set apart grape juice. He set apart the fermented alcoholic drink that has undergone a radical change in process. That's what Christ's blood does. Christ takes the earthly, you would say Christ takes the toil and the sorrow, all that's represented by the gathering and raising and reaping of grapes. He takes all that toil, and He takes all that sorrow, and by His blood He transforms it. And He makes something that gives joy and gladness to the heart of man. wine he set apart, and he said with the words of the institution, this is my blood, this is the new testament in my blood. And by that he means, his blood, we have to talk about a testament first. What's a testament? A testament is a last will. Last will of one who owns an estate, and who has a will that bestows the inheritance of that estate upon the heirs, and that will comes into effect with death. And when Christ said, this is the New Testament in my blood, He was saying, my blood has brought all that inheritance to you, all that joy, all that fellowship, all that gladness, the very life of heaven. That's now communicated to you. That's the table that the Lord has prepared. He always prepares that table, you understand. When He comes by His Word and Spirit, He sets that table up. That same table is set up in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. What makes that table such a delight, such a joy, is the host of that table and the feast that's spread on that table. The whole Christ is spread on that table. Christ who is salvation. You understand there's not little on that table, there's not little pieces of regeneration here, sanctification here, justification here, faith here. The whole Christ who is salvation is set upon that table. That's what makes that table so precious. That table is prepared. for communion. That's the other name that's given to the sacrament. You can call it the Lord's Supper. You can also call it communion. That's why the Lord has prepared the table for communion. So it's taking place. And that communion is described in Lord's Day 28 as eating the crucified body and drinking the shed blood of Christ. That's what communion is. That's what communion always is. It's eating and drinking Christ. And now what is it, what is it, to eat and to drink Christ. The Catechism gets to the heart of the matter of what it is to eat and drink Christ at the end of the answer. Answer 76. when it speaks about we, though Christ is in heaven and we on earth, are notwithstanding flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and that we live and are governed forever by one Spirit as members of the same body or by one soul. What is eating and drinking Christ all about? What is communion about? What is communion about? Because men today are very keen about making a disjunction between union and communion. Men like to make a big difference between the two. Oh, we'll talk about union. We'll talk about union as that work of God, where the child of God is utterly passive and receptive. And God brings that person into Jesus Christ, and God unites that person into Jesus Christ. That's a one-time thing, they say. Something that happened a long time ago. We can talk about that. But it's a distant memory. What we really want to talk about is communion. What we really want to talk about is man's activity. What we really want to talk about is man's obedience. What we really want to talk about is man's prayer and man's reading of God's Word. That's communion. What is communion? What is eating and drinking Jesus Christ? It's to be united to Him. It's to be one plant with Him. It's to be one body with Him. That's eating and drinking Christ. It's all about our union with Him. And you can understand that, too, from the very idea of eating and drinking. What is eating and drinking? Let's just take it on an earthly plane. When you sit down at your table and you have bread and you have wine, what is eating and drinking? Is eating and drinking picking it up and putting it in your mouth and chewing it a little bit and then spitting it out? No, that's not eating and drinking. Eating and drinking is about having that food come in you, in your body, breaking it down, absorbing it, and that food becoming one with you. That's eating and drinking. You are what you eat, there's truth to that. Because that food that you take down, it becomes one with you. That's what eating and drinking is all about, that union. So much so, is there a union between what you eat and you, that I can pluck off, say, pluck off a hair, and send it to a lab, and they can analyze your eating habits. Same thing with drinking too. You're dehydrated, that drink comes in you, and that drink hydrates you. It's all about union. So it is with eating and drinking Christ. It's about becoming bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh. Only Christ is an entirely different food. Let's return now to that table that's been prepared, which the Lord Jesus Christ is both host and meal. That food that is Christ's crucified body and shed blood is an entirely different food. Your earthly food you take into yourself, you absorb, and it becomes one with you. But He has a food that takes you to Himself. He, as it were, absorbs you. You become united to His sacred body. He is a food that devours down your sin, your guilt, your death. He is a food that swallows up your grave in your hell. He is a food. that takes you into His sacred body. A body prepared that answers to all of your needs. A body prepared in infinite wisdom so that all of your lack finds a perfect answer in His sacred body. And oh, we can say there is deep, profound spiritual activity taking place at that table. I'm not going to minimize that. There is embracing. What is it to eat the crucified body and drink the shed blood of Jesus Christ? It's embracing. With a believing heart, all the sufferings and death of Christ. There's an embracing of the host. But you understand, the point of that embrace is not the embrace itself, but it's the one who is embraced. There is such an embrace at that table, that that embrace obtains the pardon of sin in life eternal. What can do that? What embrace imparts What embrace imparts the forgiveness of sins in life eternal? It's not the embrace as such, it's the one who's embraced. And all of that is the work of the Spirit. This table is not about your spiritual activity, it's about the work of the Spirit. Who is the personal embrace in the Godhead Himself but the Spirit? Who is the embrace that comes down from heaven, that came down upon Pentecost to sweep up the church into Jesus Christ and into God's covenant? That's the Spirit. It's the Spirit who embraces Christ. It's the Spirit who unites you to His sacred body. More and more. How do we explain that? That in eating and drinking Jesus Christ and that communion at the table, we are more and more united to His sacred body. The way that I think we need to explain that is this way. It's a very deep thing. It's a very profound thing. It's a thing that the child of God knows who partakes of Jesus Christ. It's this. What is it to more and more be united to His sacred body? Let me explain it this way. It's to recognize more and more that He is the fullness that perfectly answers to my own emptiness. More and more. He is the life that answers to my death. More and more. He is the righteousness that answers to my unrighteousness. More and more. He is the perfect food that answers to my hunger and the drink that answers to my thirst. You can say that, right? It's a very profound thing. More and more, I'm nothing. That's what it is to be united to Jesus Christ. More and more, I'm nothing. I have nothing in myself. All I have is sin and death and guilt. Everything that's wicked and perverse and ugly. Oh, but He's beautiful, lovely, full, perfect. And when you sit under His Word, when the Spirit works in you under that Word, when you feast upon Jesus Christ, there is a restoring of the soul. That's what the shepherd does. It's what a shepherd always does. He makes you to lie down in green pastures. He leads you beside the still waters. Or in the language of the Lord's Supper, he feeds you his crucified body and shed blood. What a feast. He restores your soul. That only His voice can do, you know. A soul that's troubled by one's life, and one's guilt, and one's death, one's misery. Oh, He gives His people to feed. He restores their soul. He's a shepherd. He's always long-suffering. Week after week, his sheep go astray. He brings them back, restores their soul. It's what he does. And the fruit of that is that you are admonished and assured of the Lord's Supper, that you are a partaker of that one suffering of Jesus' sacrifice of Christ accomplished on the cross and of all his benefits. Assured. So you leave. You leave the table that the Lord has prepared, saying, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Let me put it very simply. You are assured leaving the table. Well, really, you never leave the table. You're never going to leave the table in heaven. You feast at that table. The fruit of that is you say, God is my God and He will be my God all through this life. Goodness and mercy shall follow me and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. That's the fruit, the blessed fruit. There's the joy, there's the gladness of the table. God is my God, that's why I cannot want You know what want means, right? It doesn't mean a nice earthly life, full pantries, fat bank account. Shall not want does not mean that you do not lose. Lose. What can be more precious or more difficult than losing family, friends? No, He leads through the valley of the shadow of death, because He knows where that valley leads. There's an end. No, in that table, when He restores the soul, you say, I shall not want, because I have God. as my God. It's all I need. What then a lovely, precious sacrament that the Lord Jesus Christ has instituted for his church. to confirm her in the truth of the gospel. Amen. Father in heaven, what a table thou hast prepared for us. In the presence of enemies, what abundance thou hast given unto us in thy Son, who thou didst not spare, but freely give Him up for us all, His sheep. Lord, we bless Thee and we marvel at Thy wisdom and Thy works and Thy tender care and compassion for Thy people. We marvel at how lovely the life of Thy covenant is into which we are brought. by the power of thine everlasting decree. Lord, send us away with thy blessing, with restored souls, and with full bellies, having feasted on thy son. In his name we pray, amen.