“Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous. Praise befits the upright. Praise the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth. He gathered the waters of the sea as in a bottle; he put the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” Psalm 33:1-9

“The 33rd psalm is a psalm of thanks to God in general for His blessings, for helping His faithful people in all kinds of distress, and for not letting them perish. He is able to help because He made all things and still creates all things with a word, so that nothing is impossible with Him. God is also so good and true that He will help and willingly helps, as He has promised in the First Commandment: “I will be your God,” that is, I will be your comfort, help, salvation, life, and all good things, and I will stand against anything that would do you harm. That’s what it means to “be God.” But the psalmist particularly thanks and praises the mighty blessing of God, that He guides the whole world, even the hearts, thoughts, intentions, anger, and fury of the kings and princes, not as they will, but as He wills. And He finally frustrates all their intentions, so that they accomplish nothing as they really want. What they intend to do against the righteous He immediately turns aside and overthrows. This is the particular joy and comfort of His saints against the arrogant and overweening insolence, the thrashing and threats of the raging nobles and the ruthless tyrants, who suppose that they can with threats devour all the saints of God and hurl God Himself down from heaven. But before they have half begun, they lie in the dust. Consider the people of Sodom against Lot, Sennacherib the King, and our tyrants today—how totally countless intentions have been dashed up till now.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

While we are in this period of waiting and sheltering in place, what I miss most about worship is the music. When I do a service that is just the spoken word, there is an element that, as Lutherans we have become so accustomed — and that is the organ and other instruments and voices that join together in praises to G-d. Musical instruments have their place in the place and the manner in which we rejoice in the Lord. The church organ, the church choir, the church bells, the church trumpet, the church flute, etc. are not to be despise. It’s not to be viewed as a distraction to worshipping the Lord. Having instruments accompanying our singing and our worshipping the Lord is appropriate – actually, it’s commanded in this psalm. With hearts and voices and instruments tuned to sing G-d’s praise, we join in a long line of worshippers who have done the same before us.

When the congregation once again gathers to sing and shout praises to G-d, I will appreciate even more the instruments and voices that bless our worship every time we gather.

PRAYER

We thank You, Lord, for all the good that You have shown us from the days of our childhood. Continue to multiply Your mercies upon us, keep us in Your fear and favor, cause us to walk in Your praise, protect us from all enemies, both visible and invisible, and grant us, like Simeon of old, to depart in peace, through Christ, our Savior.

Amen.

March 31st — Psalm 31

“In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be put to shame; in your righteousness deliver me. Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily. Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me. You are indeed my rock and my fortress; for your name’s sake lead me and guide me, take me out of the net that is hidden for me, for you are my refuge. Into your hand I commit my spirit; you have redeemed me, O Lord, faithful God. You hate those who pay regard to worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. I will exult and rejoice in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have taken heed of my adversities, and have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege. I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.” Psalm 31:1-10, 21-24

“The 31st psalm is a universal psalm of thanks, a psalm of prayer, and a psalm of comfort, all at the same time. It is spoken in the person of Christ and of His saints, who, on account of the Word of God, are plagued their entire lives—inwardly with fears and troubles; outwardly with persecutions, slander, and contempt. Yet they are comforted and delivered by God out of all of them. This psalm belongs in the Second and Third Commandments and in the First and Second Petitions.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

“In you Lord, I seek refuge.” We can never know for certain who wrote these Psalms, but many of them are attributed to King David. And of course, we know that David had his dark days. His affair with the wife of Uriah the Hittite caused him much grief. He lost his child — he lost so much. And yet, if he did write this Psalm, he gives voice to his ultimate relationship with G-d — it is in the Lord that he found refuge. He goes on to say: “Be a rock of refuge for me, a strong fortress to save me.”

Often times we believe that we have done too much to be worthy of G-d’s love and grace. We believe that whatever sin we have committed is too much to be forgiven. Again, this is why we read the Psalms — and should pray the Psalms. These are words written by sinners just like us. And it is in their words, we find hope — and strength: “Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord.”

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, we thank You for taking from us that heavy load of our sins which we could not bear, but which You bore in Your own body on the tree, ransoming us from eternal death. Grant us patience and resignation in suffering with You, that we may willingly take up our cross daily and follow You through suffering to glory.

Amen.

April 1st — Psalm 32

“Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you. Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.” Psalm 32

“The 32nd psalm is an exemplary psalm of instruction that teaches us what sin is, and how one might be freed from it and be righteous before God. Our reason does not know what sin is and tries to make satisfaction for it with works. But the psalmist says that even saints are sinners. They cannot become holy or blessed except by confessing themselves as sinners before God, knowing that they are regarded as righteous only from the grace of God, apart from any service or work. In short, our righteousness is called (in plain language) the forgiveness of our sins. Or, as it says here: “sins not counted,” “sins covered,” “sins not to be seen.” Here stand the clear plain words: All the saints are sinners and remain sinners. But they are holy because God in His grace neither sees nor counts these sins, but forgets, forgives, and covers them. There is thus no distinction between the saints and the non-saints. They are sinners alike and all sin daily, only that the sins of the holy are not counted but covered; and the sins of the unholy are not covered but counted. One would have a healing dressing on and is bandaged; the other wound is open and undressed. Nevertheless, both of them are truly wounded, truly sinners, concerning which we in our books in other places have abundantly bore witness.” (Martin Luther, Reading the Psalms with Luther)

“Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven” — I would say that all of us feel that way — those who are in the business of seeking forgiveness and spending serious time focusing upon our sinfulness. I know this does not sound like something to spend every moment of every day focusing time on — pondering our sinfulness. But, there are no words that have more meaning to me and to so many Christians than the words: “Your sins are forgiven.”

As a pastor I get to see the smile on people’s faces, or the relief that is evident when they hear those words: “Your sins are forgiven.” These words life-affirming — they are redeeming — they are to be an integral part of our daily if not weekly walk of faith.

The Psalmist continues: “I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you.” While we have so much time these days sitting, social distancing, and many, many more who are asked to shelter in place, we have a lot of time on our hands to think. And to read! Take the time in your day to look to G-d to say “I confess my transgressions to you, Lord” — and know that when you do, our Lord is saying back to you “Your sins are forgiven.”

PRAYER

O God, our heavenly Father, with whom is grace and much forgiveness, be merciful to us who were born in sin and cannot but sin and fall short every day. Forgive us our many transgressions and account them against us no more, but make us Your heirs through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, who was delivered into death for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.

Amen.