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Luther’s Works: The American Edition, published by Concordia and Fortress Press between 1955 and 1986, comprises fifty-five volumes. These are a selection representing only about a third of Luther’s works in the Latin and German of the standard Weimar Edition, not including the German Bible.
From Luther’s thorough-going expositions of Psalms 68, 82, 90, 101, 110, 111, and 112 it is evident at once that the Reformer had a keen insight into secular and ecclesiastical affairs as they existed in his time. But it is no less apparent that his understanding and his statements had a prophetic quality—a quality which, among other characteristics, makes his commentaries altogether timeless in their significance. “The commentaries in the present volume,” writes editor Jaroslav Pelikan, “like those in Volume 12, are derived principally from Luther’s classroom and from his pulpit; but they do not all owe their origin to his activity as a professor and a preacher. This collection of commentaries also provides some insight into Luther’s work as an author.” From explication of the religious and moral life of his day to the elucidation of differences between Jewish and Protestant interpretations of Psalm 111, Luther’s literary breadth and depth provide the reader with an unrivaled uniqueness of commentary on these Psalms.
