O Lord We Praise Thee
In Thanksgiving Bow Before Thee!
O Lord We Praise Thee is a communion hymn par excellence. It is only fitting that it would be the Hymn of the Day for Maundy Thursday. Maundy means “mandate” or “command” and comes from Middle English (maunde) by way of the Latin mandātum. On this day Christians remember that after washing His disciples feet He gave them a novum mandātum, that is, a “new command.”
What did Jesus command His disciples to do? 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13:34-35).
Jesus, the Lord of the universe, got down on His hands and knees and washed His disciples feet. Then, He told them to treat each other as He had just treated them, to love one another and that is how people will know they are Christians. True Christianity does not seek power and influence. Instead true Christianity serves and seeks to serve, it seeks opportunities to show love and to treat each other in and with love. In so doing Christians witness to the God of creation, the One who made you, redeemed you, and sanctifies you.
Jesus washes His disciples feet during the Passover meal. After the meal Jesus gives the sign of His new covenant - Holy Communion. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Paul record the scene:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.”
In the same manner after supper He took the cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you and all peoples for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
This holy meal is celebrated to this day. Christ comes to His people and gives them the good gift of forgiveness through this holy eating and drinking. Our hymn takes us through the mysteries of this meal.
O Lord, We Praise Thee
O Lord, we praise Thee, bless Thee, and adore Thee,
In thanksgiving bow before Thee.
Thou with Thy body and Thy blood didst nourish
Our weak souls that they may flourish:
O Lord, have mercy!
May Thy body, Lord, born of Mary,
That our sins and sorrows did carry,
And Thy blood for us plead
In all trial, fear, and need:
O Lord, have mercy!Thy holy body into death was given,
Life to win for us in heaven.
No greater love than this to Thee could bind us;
May this feast thereof remind us!
O Lord, have mercy!
Lord, Thy kindness did so constrain Thee
That Thy blood should bless and sustain me.
All our debt Thou hast paid;
Peace with God once more is made:
O Lord, have mercy!
What is the Sacrament of the Altar?
–Answer: It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, for us Christians to eat and to drink, instituted by Christ Himself.
What is the benefit of such eating and drinking?
–Answer: That is shown us in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins; namely, that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.
How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?
–Answer: It is not the eating and drinking, indeed, that does them, but the words which stand here, namely: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins. Which words are, beside the bodily eating and drinking, as the chief thing in the Sacrament; and he that believes these words has what they say and express, namely, the forgiveness of sins.1
May God bestow on us His grace and favor
That we follow Christ our Savior
And live together here in love and union
Nor despise this blest Communion!
O Lord, have mercy!
Let not Thy good Spirit forsake us;
Grant that heav’nly-minded He make us;
Give Thy Church, Lord, to see
Days of peace and unity:
O Lord, have mercy!2
Communion comes from the Latin communionem and means “fellowship, sharing, or mutual participation.” When we partake in Holy Communion we are not only in fellowship with God but with the congregation gathered around us, the church around the world, and the church through out all time. God has gathered a community together through the calling of the Holy Spirit given in baptism. He then centers the life of that community around this special and sacred meal. Christians eat it remembering they are sinners, that Jesus died for them, and He forgives them. And, they eat it in agreement with those around them, not in division, but as one body with many parts.
If you are curious to know more about this, go to a Lutheran church today and attend a Maundy Thursday service. If you would like to find a Lutheran church near you click on one of the below links:
Martin Luther, “The Sacrament of the Altar,” BookOfConcord.org, 1998, https://bookofconcord.org/small-catechism/the-sacrament-of-the-altar/.
Text: tr. The Lutheran Hymnal, 1941, alt.; (st. 1): German, 14th cent.; (sts. 2–3): Martin Luther, 1483–1546. Text: © 1941 Concordia Publishing House.