Let us open the sacred scriptures together to Psalm 103. Continuing with our communion series on this psalm, we are up to verses 13 and 14. Those two verses will be the text. Let us read the psalm together. 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, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known His ways unto Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither will He keep His anger forever. 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 toward 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. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass, as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments, to do them. The Lord hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, ye his angels that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts, ye ministers of his that do his pleasure. Bless the Lord, all works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Call your attention to verses 13 and 14. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, in this part of Psalm 103, the inspired psalmist is employing figure after figure, picture after picture, in order to emphasize to us the vastness, the incomprehensible vastness of God's love and mercy for His people. As high as heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy towards us. As far as east is from west, so far has he removed your transgressions from you. Having emphasized to us the vastness of God's mercy and grace, now the psalmist shifts a little bit to focus our attention on the character of that mercy. That is the nature, the quality of it, what kind it is. We've seen the unfathomable quantity, but now the character as a father pitieth his children. So the Lord kitties, those who fear him, that is, his believing people who are his adopted children by grace. Thus, verses 13 and 14 open up yet another window into heaven, indeed farther, another window into the very heart of God for our comfort and to strengthen our faith and to give us confidence now as we approach the Lord's Supper. The God who calls us to the table this morning is our Father, who loves His people the way a father loves his children. What a beautiful, what a comforting truth that is. Especially after a week of self-examination, which, if we diligently exerted ourselves in it, yielded a deeper sense of our creaturely frailty, yes, but more so our spiritual weakness and infirmity, indeed our pervasive sinfulness, the reality of our sinful nature which makes us in and of ourselves unworthy to come to this table, in and of ourselves unworthy to approach the Most High and Most Holy God, and yet this table is prepared for us weak and sinful people. And the God of heaven and earth says, in Christ pictured here, I've removed your transgressions as far as east is from west. As a father, in love, I pity you. Mercy, draw you. To prepare our hearts, for the Lord's Supper this morning, let's consider this text briefly. As a father pitieth his children, that's our theme. We're first going to look at the earthly picture which the text draws for us, and then turn to consider the heavenly reality which the earthly picture portrays. And then finally, a comforting reason undergirding the fatherly pity that God has his children. Like as a father pitieth his children. If you were to pick a word that captures well the character of fatherhood, what word would you pick? You could pick many words, strong, provider, protector, leader, and many more, and all of those would be accurate words to select to capture the idea of what fatherhood is, but our text picks a different word, picks a word that perhaps we would not pick first. It is a mark of a good father, the text says, that he pities, pities his children. The word pity may have some unsavory connotations in our speech. Some unsavory connotations in our speech. But it has no such connotation in the Bible's usage. Someone were to come up to you and say, I pity you, your response might be, spare me your pity, I don't want your pity, because pity sometimes has the idea of an air of superiority, a kind of disdain for the one that you pity. But not so in the scriptures. The scriptures have no such baggage. When God pities his children, That pity is free of every note of disdain, but that word pity in the text is a word that is full, brimming with powerful feeling. Namely, warm affection, heartfelt compassion, tender mercy. In fact, it is the same word that we read in verse 4, where we are told that God crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies. Tender mercies, same word as pity in our text, and that highlights the character of this fatherly pity. It is tender, it is gentle, and yet also powerful, but powerful in a kind, loving manner. Every parent knows what this word means. It's a compassion. for a beloved child which you feel deep down in your gut. It is a compassion that is born out of sincere and heartfelt love. A father, if a good one, is not hard-hearted or cold-hearted toward his children. That's the idea of the text. He is not indifferent, he is not harsh toward his children when he sees them in their needs, in their pains, in their fears. Childish though those pains, needs, and fears may be, he has a tender love for all his children, dear. And thus when he sees his children in their ignorance, He doesn't ridicule them, but patiently instructs them. When he sees them needy and dependent upon him, he doesn't grow frustrated. They're children, of course they are dependent, and so this father spends himself for them when they need help. He lends His strong hand to help them when they are sad or when they are frightened. He draws near to comfort them, embraces them in His strong arms of protecting love. When through their own immaturity and foolishness, His children land themselves in all sorts of trouble, the Father rescues them. Yes, he lets them learn the lessons they need to learn. He teaches them through those bad experiences. And yet through it all, that father has pity and tender mercy for his children. He is not hard-hearted, not cold-hearted, not indifferent, not harsh, but full of tender compassion. And even when he must be firm, his firmness is without harshness. Even when His children are disobedient, this Father disciplines them as He must, because He loves them. And if He does not discipline them, He does not correct them, and that serves their harm and their ruin. He disciplines them, but not in uncontrolled anger. But with love and tender compassion. Rather than harboring a grudge for the sins his children have committed, he restores them and forgives them. That's the picture. That's the earthly picture that the text is painting for us. And now, as we look at that picture, we must come away from it with instruction for us as parents. Though that is not the main point of this text, it is nonetheless a point that is well worth making. fathers and mothers too? What does this text have to say to us? It has to say this to us, this is the character our love ought to have. love we have for our children. Now the text speaks especially to those of us whom God has put into the state of fatherhood. We must reflect upon ourselves. Does my fatherhood fit with this biblical picture that is drawn here before my eyes? Can it be said of me that I pity my children, that I have tender mercy towards them, or do I Hold in my heart that unbiblical notion that to be a strong father means I must be unfeeling, hard, cold, firm to the point of severe. Don't think that is a virtue because that's not what God is like. The text says this is the kind of father that God is. One who pities his children. This highlights for us a very important point, fathers. The point is this. God teaches our children about fatherhood through their experience of our fatherhood to them. If you imagine fatherhood as an empty glass, we are the ones appointed by God to fill that glass with content. There is this glass, and it has the word fatherhood on it, and we pour content into that glass by the way that we father our children. And thus the instruction of the text is, father your children the way God fathers you. And the attribute, the characteristic of God's fatherhood that this text highlights is, he pities. He has tender mercy for his children. That's our privilege, fathers. We get to teach our children about God. So that as we teach our children to confess in the creed, I believe in God the Father Almighty, and pray the Lord's Prayer, our Father which art in heaven, we inform the way they think about Father by the way we deal with them. Let our fatherhood be firmly based upon the scriptures, reflective of the fatherhood of God. Now a text like this undoubtedly shows us our weaknesses. There's not a perfect earthly father to be found. The point of the text is not to make us despair, corrects our weaknesses and our sins, yes, but points us to this very important truth. Love covers a multitude of sins. Weak fathers, we sin against our children. We do. But when we love them, when we have this tender compassion that the text sets before us here, that love that a father has for all his children dear is a love that covers a multitude of sins, a multitude of faults. Let us be resolved to love our children with the love here pictured. Relying on God. who is the God who is pleased to use weakest means to fulfill his will. And children, be thankful for your fathers. Be thankful for the tender compassion of your fathers. Bear patiently with his weaknesses as God bears patiently with you. That's an earthly picture with an earthly application. But now we have to get to what is really the main point of the text, the second half of verse 13. As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth him that fear him. You see, as the text has drawn for us a picture of what an earthly father is and ought to be, that picture is meant to direct our eyes heavenward. It is an earthly picture given to help us understand a more wonderful heavenly reality, the fatherhood of our God. Note, The text does not say, like as a king pitieth his subject, so the Lord pities his people. Nor does the text say, as a master pitieth his poor servants, so the Lord pities them that fear him. The text could very well say that because God is both our king and our master. And as our king, he has pity for his subjects. And as our Lord, he has pity for his servants. But the text is emphasizing something richer than that. God's love for us is more than the care of a king for his subjects and the care of a master for his servants. But God's love, God's care is to be likened unto one of the most intimate human relations that we can think of. God is a father. He is the father. And we are his children. And he looks upon us the way a perfect father would look upon his children. He pities us. He mercies us the way a father pities his children. A good father doesn't have a heart of stone. The God of the Bible is not a god of stone. Yes, that means he's not a false god. He's not an idol god. He's the living God. But part of the reality that he is the living God means he doesn't have a heart of stone either. He is not a god of stone, and he does not have a heart of stone. As the living God, he is a warm-hearted God towards his people, full of patience, full of compassion, full of mercy, The love a father has for all his children, dear. Such love a father has for you, believing people of God. Jesus gives us a picture of this love of God in the parable of the prodigal son. You know that parable well, no doubt. That prodigal son, that rebellious son, who doesn't want to wait for his father to die to get out of the house, but demands his inheritance early, runs away from home, forsakes his father, squanders his inheritance in riotous living, and lands himself poor, broke, in a pigsty. That's not just a picture of certain particularly wayward individuals, beloved. That's the spiritual biography of the sinner. That's you and me by nature. And what happens in that parable? By grace, the prodigal son comes to his senses as he sits there in the filth of the pigsty. And in hope of mercy, because he knows the character of his father, he gets up and he goes home. And the father who's been watching sees the tattered clothes of his hunched over, filthy son off in the distance on the road coming home. And what does the father do? The father runs out to meet his returning son and embraces him in love. And in the parable, that's a picture of God's love. If Jesus didn't portray God that way, we'd almost find it irreverent to picture God as a father running out with joy to meet such a wretched son. And yet that's the father's love for his people. For us who are the makers of our own misery, the architects of our own ruin, those who do not deserve the least thing from God, and yet the Father's love is so great for us that he pities and he shows mercy even when we are most, most wretched. We're often an ignorant people, like children. And yet God patiently teaches us from his word time and time and time again, guiding us by his spirit into fuller spiritual maturity. He doesn't scorn us. Like children, we're helpless, we're weak, we're dependent, and he doesn't have disdain for our creaturely frailty, as we'll see in a moment. By his almighty hand, supports, provides, cares, moment by moment, so much so that we get so used to it, oftentimes we barely even see it or think about it anymore. Such is the Father's love. When we're sad, when we're frightened over those little things that terrify children, God doesn't laugh. He doesn't scorn. He's not impatient, but embraces in those strong, protective arms of fatherly love. When we're foolish and when we're immature and we dive headlong back into the pigsty, pity, Father comes and retrieves us and brings us back. The Good Shepherd seeks the wayward sheep to bring it home. When we're disobedient, He is, as the psalm says, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy, and when he chastens, he does not chide forever nor keep his anger forever, but he restores. Though he sees all our sin, and though all of our sin is an offense against his most high majesty, as direct, as offensive as that prodigal sins against his father, yet nonetheless, he bears no grudge, but mercifully forgives. He pities. This psalm is teaching us how to think about God. And how to think about how God sees us. Let that sink in a moment, beloved. Does it make you want to sing? Bless the Lord, oh my soul, and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Let us sing with our heart and with our mouth. This is who God is to you. This is how he sees you. This is how he treats you. What a God, what a father we have who pities his children. Whose pity in no way compromises justice. whose pity in no way sacrifices righteousness, but whose pity is just and righteous. Because of Christ, the only begotten Son of God, who did what the broken bread and the poured out wine pictures for us. Now as we come to the sacrament this morning, let us see that this sacrament is the visible emblem, it is the sign and seal of the Father's love towards us. It is a visible sign and seal of the pity, the tender mercy of God. So much does the Lord pity his children as a father does, that he gave his only begotten son to die on the cross for them. He sent his only begotten, his well-beloved son, To save lost and perishing unworthy prodigals. And the only begotten son willingly came and suffered his body to be broken as this bread will be broken. suffered his life's blood to be spilled and poured out as the wine will be poured out. Upon the cross of Calvary, where hell and all of its fury, all that God's justice and righteousness demands, be executed against the prodigal. All of that was brought to bear against the perfect and holy Christ, the only begotten Son. so that atonement would be made for your sins, and forgiving mercy could flow to you in richest abundance, so that God's mercy would be as high as heaven is above the earth towards you, so that your sins would be removed as far as east is from west, and so that you might know the Holy One, who is a consuming fire, that you might know him as the father who pities his children. People of God, come to the table without fear. The Lord's Supper testifies to you this morning, testifies the truth of the text. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him. But now lastly, connected to verse 13 is verse 14, which adds another layer of comfort to the beautiful truth already considered. There's a comforting reason, something else that undergirds God's fatherly pity towards his people. And that comforting reason is this, for, for he knoweth our frame, he remembereth that we are dust. The point, the purpose of verse 14 is to strengthen and drive home the truth of verse 13. God pities His people. And here is something that moves Him to pity. Here is something that shows us the tenderness of our Father's mercy. He knows our frame. What that simply means is He knows what we're made of. He remembers that we are dust. He bears in mind the nature of our creaturely frame. We are dust. He knows that because he made us. He fashioned humankind out of the dust of the earth. We are of the earth earthy. We are material creatures. And that we are dust, that doesn't only apply to our physical bodies, but that's a description of our entire human nature. Our creature nature is a dust nature. We are dust. Meaning we are lowly, we are mortal, we are perishable. And as fallen creatures of dust, we are swiftly returning to the dust. Unless saved from the dust of death by the mercy of God. Our Father knows our frame. He knows what we're made of. He remembers that we are dust. And that's comforting for this reason. A good earthly father bears in mind the nature of his children. As he raises his children, as he disciplines his children, as he teaches his children, he is mindful of their frame. Young, tender, immature. And his mindfulness of His children's frame makes him merciful, makes him compassionate, moves him to pity his children. And as it is with an earthly father, so it is with God, but perfectly. Our God knows our frame. He knows our creaturely limitations, our creaturely weaknesses, our creaturely incapacities. More than that, He knows our sinful frame, that we are fallen, that we are broken, that we are in need of healing day by day, and restoration, and that knowledge, that bearing in mind of our creaturely frame. fills God's heart not with disdain, but fills God's heart with yet more tender compassion. So having examined yourself this past week, and having felt your creaturely weakness and sinfulness, Don't be afraid to come to the Lord's Supper on account of that creaturely frailty and sinfulness. Because the Father who has prepared the table for you knows your frame, remembers that you are dust, and He will receive in mercy every believing sinner who comes humbly with the eyes of faith, looking to Christ alone. And because he remembers that we are dust, because he knows our frame, that's why he's given us this sacrament. The sacraments, baptism and Lord's Supper, are God's gifts which accommodate our creaturely weakness. Here God gives us the visible gospel, the tangible gospel, the gospel for our creaturely senses. We are little children, we need things concrete, we need pictures, and God here gives us those pictures. He knows our frame, He remembers we are dust, and so He gives us visual gospel. He shows us his pity. He shows us his compassion. He shows us his love in Jesus Christ, in the bread, in the wine, in the table that is prepared. Here, you see, you see the heart of God and you taste something of the sweetness of His tender mercies, something of the nourishing hardiness of Christ, who is the bread of life. And this concrete, visible gospel, then, strengthens our creaturely, frail faith, and lifts our head and points our eyes to God our Father in Christ Jesus at his right hand. He remembers our frame. He remembers that we are dust. He has remembered us in mercy. Let us now come to the table in remembrance of him bearing in mind the great pity of our God, the mercy of our God in Jesus Christ. And let our hearts be stirred up to bless him. Let our hearts be stirred up to receive this heavenly meat and drink with thanksgiving, to partake of it with joy, to sing the praises of the God who pities his children as a father. Amen. As we prepare now to come to the Supper of the Lord, we turn to the form for the administration of the Lord's Supper found on page 91 in the Psalter. Consistory has granted permission to several brothers and sisters to partake of the Lord's Supper this morning. Everett and Michelle Langerak from Hudsonville, PRC. Leah Vandenberg from Randolph, PRC. Tom and Mary Verstrat from Trinity, PRC. Rick and Sharon Tulsma from Hudsonville, PRC. Ryan and Tricia Kotman from Loveland, PRC. 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, 23-29. 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 breaket and said, Eat, this is my body which is broken for you, this do 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, 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, ye 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. The true examination of ourselves consists of these three parts. First, that everyone consider by himself his sins and the curse due to him for them, to the end that he may abhor and humble himself before God, considering that the wrath of God against sin is so great that, rather than it should go unpunished, he hath punished the same in his beloved son, Jesus Christ, with the bitter and shameful death of the cross. Secondly, that everyone examine his own heart, whether he doth believe this faithful promise of God, that all his sins are forgiven him only for the sake and death of Jesus Christ, and that the perfect righteousness of Christ is imputed and freely given him as his own, yea, so perfectly as if he had satisfied in his own person for all his sins and fulfilled all righteousness. Thirdly, that everyone examine his own conscience, whether he purposeth henceforth to show true thankfulness to God in his whole life, and to walk uprightly before him. as also whether he hath laid aside unfeignedly all enmity, hatred, and envy, and doth firmly resolve henceforward to walk in true love and peace with his neighbor. All those then who are thus disposed, God will certainly receive in mercy, and count them worthy partakers of the table of his Son, Jesus Christ. On the contrary, those who do not feel this testimony in their hearts eat and drink judgment to themselves. Therefore, we also, according to the command of Christ and the Apostle Paul, admonish all those who are defiled with the following sins to keep themselves from the table of the Lord, and declare to them that they have no part in the kingdom of Christ, such as all idolaters, all those who invoke deceased saints, angels, or other creatures, all those who worship images, all enchanters, diviners, charmers, and those who confide in such enchantments, all despisers of God and of his word and of the holy sacraments, all blasphemers, all those who are given to raise discord, sects, and mutiny in church or state, all perjured persons, all those who are disobedient to their parents and superiors, all murderers, contentious persons, and those who live in hatred and envy against their neighbors, all adulterers, whoremongers, drunkards, thieves, usurers, robbers, gamesters, covetous, and all who lead offensive lives. All these, while they continue in such sins, shall abstain from this meat, which Christ hath ordained only for the faithful, lest their judgment and condemnation be made the heavier. But this is not designed, dearly beloved brethren and sisters in the Lord, to deject the contrite hearts of the faithful, as if none might come to the supper of the Lord but those who are without sin. For we do not come to this supper to testify thereby that we are perfect and righteous in ourselves, but on the contrary, considering that we seek our life out of ourselves in Jesus Christ, we acknowledge that we lie in the midst of death. Therefore, notwithstanding, we feel many infirmities and miseries in ourselves, as namely, that we have not perfect faith and that we do not give ourselves to serve God with that zeal as we are bound, but have daily to strive with the weakness of our faith and the evil lusts of our flesh. Yet, since we are, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, sorry for these weaknesses and earnestly desire us to fight against our unbelief and to live according to all the commandments of God, We rest assured that no sin or infirmity which still remaineth against our will in us can hinder us from being received of God in mercy and from being made worthy partakers of this heavenly meat and drink. Let us now also consider to what end the Lord hath instituted his supper, namely, that we do it in remembrance of him. Now 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, and 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, where 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 break it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat, 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 as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me. That is, as often as ye eat this bread and drink of this cup, you 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 as 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 Lord's Supper, 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 all his blessings of life eternal, righteousness, and glory. Besides, that we by this same spirit Also be united as members of one body in true brotherly love, as the Holy Apostle saith. 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 hath 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. 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 up 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, but thou wilt forever be our gracious father, nevermore 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 heads, 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. Strengthen us 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, let us join in song. We will sing Psalter number 315. 315, the one stanza. O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. and more. Evermore his truth we'll go with, Alleluia, praise the Lord. 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, but we shall as certainly be fed and refreshed in our souls through the working of the Holy Spirit with his body and blood, as we receive the holy bread and wine in remembrance of him.