Psalm 23:1 I shall not want

AELW 12:158-159

"I am sitting in the midst of the wolves, I am not sure of my life for a moment; but I do not see any shepherd who would protect me.” Again: “Why does He permit the devil to harm me so greatly with terror and doubts? Besides, I find myself quite unfit, weak, impatient, still laden with many sins. I feel no security but only doubt, no comfort but only fear and trembling because of God’s wrath. When will He ever begin to manifest in me that He is my Shepherd?”

Such strange thoughts and many others will come to you if you fail to heed His voice and Word. But if you hold fast to them, you will be tempted neither by the devil’s wile, the world’s disfavor and raging, nor by your own weakness and unworthiness. You will go straight forward to speak freely: “Let the devil, the world, or my own conscience oppose me as violently as they may. I will not for that reason grieve myself to death. It must be so and it shall be so, that whoever is the Lord’s sheep will surely be assailed by the wolves. Be it with me as it may, let them boil or roast me, it shall be my comfort that my Shepherd has given His life for me. Moreover, He has a sweet, kind voice, with which He comforts me and says that I shall never perish, neither shall any man snatch me out of His hand; I shall have eternal life (John 10:28). And He will keep this promise, no matter what happens to me. If because of my weakness some sin or other fault by chance is still found in me, He will not reject me on that account. For He is a friendly Shepherd, who watches over the weak sheep, binds up their wounds, and heals them. And so that I may be all the more sure and not doubt, He has given me, as a token, His holy Sacraments.”

Psalm 23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

AELW 12:153-154

"It is the function of a faithful shepherd not only to supply his sheep with good pasture and other related things, but also to keep them from suffering harm. Moreover, he takes good care not to lose  any of them. But if one of them should go astray, he goes after it, seeks it, and returns it (Luke 15:4). He looks after the young, the weak and the sick very carefully, waits on them, lifts them up and carries them in his arms (Is. 40:11) until they are grown and are strong and well."

Luther's introduction to Psalm 23 - Sighing for the Means of Grace

AELW 12:151-152

"If they are not far from places where God’s Word is preached and the Holy Sacrament is administered according to Christ’s command, they may, of course, travel to such places and make use of that treasure—as indeed many do and, on that account, are punished in body and possessions by their godless governments. If they live far away from such places, let them not stop sighing for the means of grace; and our Lord Jesus Christ will surely hear their sighing and in time restore their fortunes. But unhappy and more than unhappy are those that have this treasure at their doorsteps in abundance and still despise it. In the case of such the Word of Christ will be fulfilled (Matt. 8:11): “Many will come from east and west and sit at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”; in the case of others: “The sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness."

Psalm 23:1-6

Psalm 23
1. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
2. He feeds me in a green pasture and leads me to the fresh water.
3. He restores my soul, He leads me in the right path for His names sake.
4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me.
5. Thou preparest a table before me against my enemies; Thou anointest my head with oil, Thou pourest my cup full.
6. Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

AELW12:148-149

Expounded One Evening After Grace at the Dinner Table
by Dr. Martin Luther
1536

"...whenever God’s Word is preached properly and purely, it creates as many good things and results as the prophet here gives it names. To those that hear it diligently and seriously—and they are the only ones whom our Lord acknowledges as His sheep—it is pleasant green grass, a cool draught, by which the sheep of the Lord are satisfied and refreshed. It keeps them in the paths of righteousness and preserves them from suffering misfortune and harm. And it is to them an ever happy life, in which food and drink and all kinds of joy and pleasure abound. In other words: these sheep of the Lord are not only instructed and guided, refreshed, strengthened, and comforted by God’s Word; but they are also continuously kept on the right path, protected in body and soul in all kinds of distress, and finally they conquer and overcome all tribulation and sorrow, of which they must endure only as much as verse four mentions. In short, they live in complete safety as men whom no sorrow can befall, because their Shepherd tends and protects them."

Psalm 19:14 - Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

AELW 12:144

"That is: If I do not give approval to the ungodly and they do not overcome me, I shall keep the Word of God; then my preaching, worship, and my other conduct will please God....

... May God, the Father of all grace and mercy, grant this for the eternal comfort and salvation of us all in this perilous time.
To Him, with His only Son, our dear Lord and Savior Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, be thanks, praise, and honor forever. Amen."

Psalm 19:10 - More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.

AELW 12:143
"That is, the Gospel is kind, comforting, and sweet, for it rejoices consciences."

Psalm 19:7 The Multiplicity of works and worship

Psalm 19:7 - The Law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making the wise simple.

AELW 12:141-142

"Here David departs from symbolic language and speaks in simple, direct words to show what great things God’s Word creates and effects.
Now he says, “the Law of the Lord.” If the Law of the Lord does it, then human statute and invention do not do it at all.

Thus he also indicates that the Word that will be preached in the new kingdom will be the Word of God and not the word of man.
“Is perfect”: that is, it is salutary and has no hypocritical additions or false ideas about the false worship of God.
From this praise of the Word of God one should understand that the Word of God makes healthy men, that is, men who do not have pharisaical notions about false worship.
For the word “law” is used for God’s Word, as is common and customary in Holy Scripture. “Reviving the soul”: that is, the Word of God refreshes, revives, and comforts the weak, burdened, and disturbed consciences that were previously troubled by the multiplicity of works and worship."

Psalm 19:7 ....Chirst is ALWAYS Lord of the Church

Psalm 19:5b-6

"Which comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and there is nothing hid from its heat."

AELW 12:141

"This is what these two verses mean: Christ the Lord is loving and friendly, He confers great comfort upon the conscience, and He will reign and have the upper hand from shore to shore,(see note) so that no one will be able to stand up against Him."

(Note - Luther’s phrase is an allen enden.)

Psalm 8:9 - O Lord, our Ruler, how glorious is Thy Name in all the lands!

AELW 12:135-136

"This verse is the end of the song. David concludes this psalm just the way he began it. He thanks the Lord, our Ruler, for His great and inestimable blessing, for establishing such a kingdom and calling and gathering His church, which gloriously praises His name throughout the world and thanks Him in heaven. Let us follow the example of this singer of praises as he prophesies to us. The Lord is our Ruler, too, and His kingdom is established and founded from the mouths of babes and sucklings. We entered it by Baptism, and we are called to it daily through Word and Gospel. With David we also hope to come to where we shall see the heavens, the work of His fingers, the moon and the stars which He will prepare. He won the kingdom with great trouble and anguish. Now He is crowned with honor and adornment and has everything under His feet. For this we give God our praise and thanks, but especially for the fact that He has brought us to a light and knowledge that does not spring up out of human reason but out of Christ. He is our Sun, who died for us and was raised from the dead, lives and reigns, so that through Him we might be saved. To this end may God help us all. Amen."

Psalm 8:8 - The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the sea.

AELW 12:135

"This is the last part of Christ’s dominion, a dominion that Adam also received in Paradise...Therefore everything in the wide world belongs to Christ, the Ruler. What emperors, kings, princes, government and subjects, believers and unbelievers, godly and godless people have and own—all this is Christ’s. It is all subjected to Him, all men must be under this King and Ruler, whether in grace or disgrace. Thus Christ has everything in His hand and power. Because He does have everything in His power, His Christians are richly provided for and will get along well, so that they may remain in the world; they will also have enough to eat and drink on earth."

Psalm 8:6 Thou wilt make Him Lord over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet

AELW 12:132

"So Christ is now true man and true God. He is man through temporal birth, born of the Virgin Mary. He is God through eternal birth, born of the Father in eternity. According to His humanity He suffered, was forsaken by God, died, arose from the dead, and by His glorification was made Lord over all. According to His deity He is Lord from eternity. According to His humanity He was made Lord temporally and not from eternity. Therefore all the angels of God also worship this Man. For He is one single undivided person with the deity, and also true God, not two persons. He is true, natural man. For He is called אֱנוֹשׁ, that is, a suffering man and son of man. He is true God. For He is made Lord over all that God’s hands have made. This belongs only to God, as Isaiah says (45:3); therefore He is God and Lord over angels, men, and devils. Emperors and kings on earth are like the king of spades12 in comparison with this King, but Christ is the true King and Lord over everything that God has created. Because He is now to be put into the same power, might, and honor as the Father, it must follow that He is true, almighty God."

More Psalm 8:1

AELW 12:105-106

"This is what it really means to live in heaven, not with the body but with the heart and the soul in faith and hope. By faith in the Word, our heart has taken hold of life in heaven through the power of the Holy Spirit. But we must still wait till the Last Day, when our old “bag of worms”4 will finally be purified and come along, too.   V 12, p 106  Now the flesh still clings to us, and our soul is still languishing in a dark prison, so that it cannot see the glory of our homeland and inheritance in heaven. When the prison is shattered, then we shall see it, not in part through a mirror darkly, but perfectly and face to face, as St. Paul says, 1 Corinthians 13:12."

Psalm 8:1 - How glorious is Thy Name in all the lands!

Psalm 8:1 - How glorious is Thy Name in all the lands!

AELW 12:102-103

"Indeed, the greatness and the glory of this name call for such amazement. If a physician were to be found on earth who could cure one or two incurable sicknesses or diseases, or could even rescue a man from death, what praise and fame do you think such a physician would have throughout the world? If a prince or king had the might and power to make a blind man see, to cast out a devil, or to raise a dead man, everyone would sing and say about him, “This is a lord.” If the Roman emperor could cleanse a leper of his leprosy—if he were not emperor already, they would soon crown him. Yet what would all this be in comparison with what this King and Ruler has done for the children of men, and still does daily and will do throughout the world until the Last Day? He has forgiven many sinners their sins and still forgives them daily. He has made many blind to see and has cleansed many lepers. He has raised many from the dead and made them alive, and on the Last Day He will  raise all men and make them alive. Therefore this is an excellent and glorious name, at which everyone might well be amazed; the richer the spirit and the higher the understanding, the greater will be the amazement among Christians."