June 22, 2021 — Psalm 51           

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from bloodshed, O God,  O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you have no delight in sacrifice;  if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:10-17

I remember singing the Offertory from the SBH (Service Book and Hymnal) “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit.”  This text is taken from the 51^st Psalm. Psalm 51 is one of the penitential psalms. Psalm 51 is often called the “Miserere” which is the opening word of the psalm in the Latin translation. It is a personal statement of awareness of our wrongdoing and need for repentance and penitence.  Verse 17, which reads “The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit” is a wonderful acknowledgment of human sinfulness which is why it is appointed for Ash Wednesday.

Forgiveness begins with recognizing our sin and our need for repentance. We can always count on our Lutheran Liturgy to give us the proper words to lead us in the way of personal and corporate worship and prayer.

Pastor Dave

June 20, 2021 — Acts 2:14–36

“No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:

 ‘In the last days it will be, God declares,
that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams.
Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
 and they shall prophesy.
And I will show portents in the heaven above
and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and smoky mist.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood,
before the coming of the Lord’s great and glorious day.
Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” Acts 2:16-21

We have looked at Luke in our bible study the past few months, and we have discovered that the fulfillment of Old Testament scripture is important to the author of Luke – and it seems that the same is true for the writer of Acts. Remember it is generally agreed upon that the same person who authored Luke also authored Acts. The author of Luke/Acts writes, “This is what was spoken through the prophet Joel.” It seems that Luke believes that all scripture is divinely given and therefore binding upon human life and religious faith. 

The prophecies of the Old Testament appear to instruct and inform the script for Luke’s narrative in both Luke and Acts. So we learn that scripture (Old and New Testament) and the working of the Holy Spirit are instruments by which the way of salvation is marked out for the church. 

People of G-d, the Holy Spirit has inspired scripture and we pray that the same spirit will also inspire our proper interpretation.

Pastor Dave

June 21, 2021 — Psalm 46                       

“God is our refuge and strength,
    a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
    though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
though its waters roar and foam,
    though the mountains tremble with its tumult.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
    the holy habitation of the Most High.
God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
    God will help it when the morning dawns.
The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
    he utters his voice, the earth melts.

 The Lord of hosts is with us;
    the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Psalm 46:1-7

“God is not an employer looking for employees. He is an Eagle looking for people who will take refuge under his wings. He is looking for people who will leave father and mother and homeland or anything else that may hold them back from a life of love under the wings of Jesus.” (Author John Piper)                                                                                            

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” reads psalm 46. Martin Luther paraphrased this line to read “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”  How does this read to a contemporary audience today? What do I mean? What might a mighty fortress be for us today? Where do we go to take refuge from this world? From what do we draw strength? For many we might say the following:  “A mighty bank account is our God”, or “A mighty mansion is our God”. 

To take refuge in something is to put our complete trust in that thing, or person, or church. Psalm 46 is stating, from the beginning, that G-d is the one in whom we are to put our complete trust. What does the Psalmist say then that we are not to fear? It is not a trivial thing, because what verses 2 and 3 describe is nothing less than overwhelming, cataclysmic disaster.  Where did we turn in the waning hours of the September 11, 2001 disaster?  Where did many seek refuge following the Katrina and Wilma hurricanes? Where did you seek refuge during the pandemic of 2020-2021? 

Again I ask, where do we go to take refuge when all around us appears to be falling apart? I would suggest we take a lesson from Martin Luther – “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”.

Pastor Dave