Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Psalm 85. 3. Last Sunday

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Psalm 85. 3. Last Sunday

Psalm 85 5621

25. Trinitatis 070

Willibrord, Apostle of Frisia in the Frankish Empire (Netherlands) ✠ 738

7. November 2021

1. O Mighty and Everlasting God, we most heartily thank You that by Your Word You have brought us out of the darkness of Papacy into the light of Your grace: We beseech You, mercifully help us to walk in that light, guard us from all error and false doctrine, and grant that we may not, as the Jews, become ungrateful and despise and persecute Your Word, but receive it with all our heart, govern our lives according to it and put all our trust in Your grace through the merit of Your dear Son. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Lord, You were favorable to Your land; You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of Your people; You covered all their sin. Selah You withdrew all Your wrath; You turned from Your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away Your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.« To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah

3. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (215-164 bc) was the Greek king of the Seleucid Empire from 175-164 bc. During his reign he attempted to conquer Ptolemaic Egypt, and he persecuted the Jews in Judea and Samaria. In his quest to force the Jews to embrace Greek culture, he committed the abomination of desolation in Jerusalem by setting up an altar to Zeus in the temple’s holy place and sacrificed pigs there in 168 bc (1. Maccabees 1,57; 4,38). This caused Judah/Judas Maccabee to lead a rebellion in 167 bc (the main phase lasted from 167-60 bc, but fighting continued between the Maccabees, Hellenized Jews and Seleucids until 134 bc ). Hanukkah commemorates the 8- day purifying and rededication of the temple following the abomination.

4. Psalm 85 talks about another type of abomination. Our iniquity and sin are a desecration to God, and He pours out His wrath and anger upon sin. Yahweh told Israel: »I am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the 3. and 4. generation of those who hate Me« (Exodus 20,5). God threatens to punish all who break these commandments, therefore we should fear His wrath and not do anything against them (Small Catechism).

5. The Psalmist furthermore exhorts us that Yahweh’s salvation is at hand for those who fear Him. „The Holy Scriptures declare that, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart. To the Lord belongs mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal 1908 page 10).

6. The Psalmist also proclaims: »Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so Yahweh shows compassion to those who fear Him« (Psalm 103,8-13).

7. Just as we seek God’s mercy upon us for our sinfulness, so to do we beseech Him to be merciful to those who have erred in the Church and the State. We beseech our Heavenly Father to visit with fatherly correction all who have erred and gone astray from the truth of His holy Word and to bring them to a due sense of error that they may again with hearty faith receive, and hold fast, His unchangeable truth (The Lutheran Hymnal 103 # 19). Likewise we petition our Heavenly Father and humbly confess unto Him that by our nation’s evil-doing and continual disobedience we have deserved His chastisement, yet we earnestly beseech Him to spare our nation and the world, and help His suffering people, and that they amend their sinful lives and walk obediently to His holy commandments (The Lutheran Hymnal 104-5 # 28).

8. Luther himself exemplified these concerns over Church and State. His reformation was a call to the Church to repent, amend those hurtful practices and piety that were detrimental to hurting souls and return to the preaching of the gospel to comfort those terror-stricken by their sins. This was the context for his 95 Theses, which challenged the efficacy of indulgences (Bainton 60). To the State, Luther recognized its temporal authority given to it by God, counseled against rebellion, but also proclaimed that we must rebuke the State and its leaders when they commit evil (Bainton 190; WA 28,360).

9. Holy Scripture exhorts us in these endeavors. »Yahweh’s salvation is near to those who fear Him, for He will give generously; righteousness will go forth before Him and He will make a path for His steps« (Psalm 84,10.13.14 lxx). »Build yourselves up on your most holy faith, keep yourselves in the love (αγαπη) of God and look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life« (Jude 20-21). In times of trials, tribulations, persecutions, worldly evil and desolations, Jesus Christ is able to keep us from falling and make us stand in the presence of His glory without blemish« (Jude 24). This is most certainly true.

10. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippines 4,7). Amen.

11. Let us pray. O God, You are worthy to be given thanks; be omnipresent among us, so that we withstand the time of the abomination of desolation and flee unto You for salvation. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Psalm 85. 3. Last Sunday

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