1321 A Song of the Ascents. Remember, Jehovah, for David, all his afflictions. 2 Who hath sworn to Jehovah. He hath vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob: 3 'If I enter into the tent of my house, If I go up on the couch of my bed, 4 If I give sleep to mine eyes, To mine eyelids—slumber, 5 Till I do find a place for Jehovah, Tabernacles for the Mighty One of Jacob. 6 'Lo, we have heard it in Ephratah, We have found it in the fields of the forest. 7 We come in to His tabernacles, We bow ourselves at His footstool. 8 Arise, O Jehovah, to Thy rest, Thou, and the ark of Thy strength, 9 Thy priests do put on righteousness, And Thy pious ones cry aloud. 10 For the sake of David Thy servant, Turn not back the face of Thine anointed.
11 Jehovah hath sworn truth to David, He turneth not back from it: Of the fruit of thy body, I set on the throne for thee. 12 If thy sons keep My covenant, And My testimonies that I teach them, Their sons also for ever and ever, Do sit on the throne for thee. 13 For Jehovah hath fixed on Zion, He hath desired 'it' for a seat to Himself, 14 This 'is' My rest for ever and ever, Here do I sit, for I have desired it. 15 Her provision I greatly bless, Her needy ones I satisfy 'with' bread, 16 And her priests I clothe 'with' salvation, And her pious ones do sing aloud. 17 There I cause to spring up a horn for David, I have arranged a lamp for Mine anointed. 18 His enemies I do clothe 'with' shame, And upon him doth his crown flourish!
1331 A Song of the Ascents, by David. Lo, how good and how pleasant The dwelling of brethren—even together! 2 As the good oil on the head, Coming down on the beard, the beard of Aaron, That cometh down on the skirt of his robes, 3 As dew of Hermon—That cometh down on hills of Zion, For there Jehovah commanded the blessing—Life unto the age!
1341 A Song of the Ascents. Lo, bless Jehovah, all servants of Jehovah, Who are standing in the house of Jehovah by night. 2 Lift up your hands 'in' the sanctuary, And bless ye Jehovah. 3 Jehovah doth bless thee out of Zion, The maker of the heavens and earth!
17 And this declaring, I give no praise, because not for the better, but for the worse ye come together; 18 for first, indeed, ye coming together in an assembly, I hear of divisions being among you, and partly I believe 'it', 19 for it behoveth sects also to be among you, that those approved may become manifest among you; 20 ye, then, coming together at the same place—it is not to eat the Lord's supper; 21 for each his own supper doth take before in the eating, and one is hungry, and another is drunk; 22 why, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or the assembly of God do ye despise, and shame those not having? what may I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I do not praise!
23 For I—I received from the Lord that which also I did deliver to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was delivered up, took bread, 24 and having given thanks, he brake, and said, 'Take ye, eat ye, this is my body, that for you is being broken; this do ye—to the remembrance of me.' 25 In like manner also the cup after the supping, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood; this do ye, as often as ye may drink 'it'—to the remembrance of me;' 26 for as often as ye may eat this bread, and this cup may drink, the death of the Lord ye do shew forth—till he may come;
27 so that whoever may eat this bread or may drink the cup of the Lord unworthily, guilty he shall be of the body and blood of the Lord: 28 and let a man be proving himself, and so of the bread let him eat, and of the cup let him drink; 29 for he who is eating and drinking unworthily, judgment to himself he doth eat and drink—not discerning the body of the Lord. 30 Because of this, among you many 'are' weak and sickly, and sleep do many; 31 for if ourselves we were discerning, we would not be being judged, 32 and being judged by the Lord, we are chastened, that with the world we may not be condemned; 33 so then, my brethren, coming together to eat, for one another wait ye; 34 and if any one is hungry, at home let him eat, that to judgment ye may not come together; and the rest, whenever I may come, I shall arrange.
(Read 1 Corinthians 11:17-22)
The apostle rebukes the disorders in their partaking of the Lord's supper. The ordinances of Christ, if they do not make us better, will be apt to make us worse. If the use of them does not mend, it will harden. Upon coming together, they fell into divisions, schisms. Christians may separate from each other's communion, yet be charitable one towards another; they may continue in the same communion, yet be uncharitable. This last is schism, rather than the former. There is a careless and irregular eating of the Lord's supper, which adds to guilt. Many rich Corinthians seem to have acted very wrong at the Lord's table, or at the love-feasts, which took place at the same time as the supper. The rich despised the poor, and ate and drank up the provisions they brought, before the poor were allowed to partake; thus some wanted, while others had more than enough. What should have been a bond of mutual love and affection, was made an instrument of discord and disunion. We should be careful that nothing in our behaviour at the Lord's table, appears to make light of that sacred institution. The Lord's supper is not now made an occasion for gluttony or revelling, but is it not often made the support of self-righteous pride, or a cloak for hypocrisy? Let us never rest in the outward forms of worship; but look to our hearts.
(Read 1 Corinthians 11:23-34)
The apostle describes the sacred ordinance, of which he had the knowledge by revelation from Christ. As to the visible signs, these are the bread and wine. What is eaten is called bread, though at the same time it is said to be the body of the Lord, plainly showing that the apostle did not mean that the bread was changed into flesh. St. Matthew tells us, our Lord bid them all drink of the cup, Matthew 26:27, as if he would, by this expression, provide against any believer being deprived of the cup. The things signified by these outward signs, are Christ's body and blood, his body broken, his blood shed, together with all the benefits which flow from his death and sacrifice. Our Saviour's actions were, taking the bread and cup, giving thanks, breaking the bread, and giving both the one and the other. The actions of the communicants were, to take the bread and eat, to take the cup and drink, and to do both in remembrance of Christ. But the outward acts are not the whole, or the principal part, of what is to be done at this holy ordinance. Those who partake of it, are to take him as their Lord and Life, yield themselves up to him, and live upon him. Here is an account of the ends of this ordinance. It is to be done in remembrance of Christ, to keep fresh in our minds his dying for us, as well as to remember Christ pleading for us, in virtue of his death, at God's right hand. It is not merely in remembrance of Christ, of what he has done and suffered; but to celebrate his grace in our redemption. We declare his death to be our life, the spring of all our comforts and hopes. And we glory in such a declaration; we show forth his death, and plead it as our accepted sacrifice and ransom. The Lord's supper is not an ordinance to be observed merely for a time, but to be continued. The apostle lays before the Corinthians the danger of receiving it with an unsuitable temper of mind; or keeping up the covenant with sin and death, while professing to renew and confirm the covenant with God. No doubt such incur great guilt, and so render themselves liable to spiritual judgements. But fearful believers should not be discouraged from attending at this holy ordinance. The Holy Spirit never caused this scripture to be written to deter serious Christians from their duty, though the devil has often made this use of it. The apostle was addressing Christians, and warning them to beware of the temporal judgements with which God chastised his offending servants. And in the midst of judgement, God remembers mercy: he many times punishes those whom he loves. It is better to bear trouble in this world, than to be miserable for ever. The apostle points our the duty of those who come to the Lord's table. Self-examination is necessary to right attendance at this holy ordinance. If we would thoroughly search ourselves, to condemn and set right what we find wrong, we should stop Divine judgements. The apostle closes all with a caution against the irregularities of which the Corinthians were guilty at the Lord's table. Let all look to it, that they do not come together to God's worship, so as to provoke him, and bring down vengeance on themselves.
