Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: 1. Samuel 24,1-20. Trinity IV

1. Samuel 24,1-20 3824

4. Trinitatis. Trinity IV 50

Agrippina of Mineo, Sicily. Virgin, Martyr 262

23. Juni 2024

1. ℣ Yahweh is my Light and my Salvation: whom shall I fear?

℟ Yahweh is the Protector/Strength of my life: from whom shall I be afraid ? (Psalm 26,1 vul lxx mas).

Dominus illuminatio mea et salus mea: quem timebo? Dominus protector vitæ meæ: a quo trepidabo? (vul lxx).

Dominus lux mea et salutare meum: quem timebo? Dominus fortitudo vitæ meæ: quem formidabo? (vul mas).

O Triune God, in Holy Baptism, we entered into a covenant with You in which You promised to be our Father – to provide for us, to help us and to love us. Jesus has washed us with His holy blood, and bestowed on us the garment of His perfect righteousness. The Holy Spirit has been poured on us abundantly and is still crying in our hearts:Abba, Father! He gives witness with our spirits that we are children of God. Amen. (Stark 330; English 242).

2. »When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told: ”Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.“ Then Saul took 3000 chosen men out of all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Wildgoats’ Rocks. And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. And the men of David said to him: „Here is the day of which Yahweh said to you: .הִנֵּ֨ה אָנֹכִ֜י נֹתֵ֤ן אֶת־אֹיְבֶיךָ בְּיָדֶ֔ךָ וְעָשִׂ֣יתָ לּ֔וֹ כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר יִטַ֣ב בְּעֵינֶ֑יךָ ‘Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.’“ Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. He said to his men: „Yahweh forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, Yahweh’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is Yahweh’s anointed.“ So David persuaded his men with these words and did not permit them to attack Saul. And Saul rose up and left the cave and went on his way.«

3. Jesus teaches in today’s Gospel pericope: »Be merciful; for with the measure you use it will be measured back to you« (Luke 6,36a.38c). This is how David treated Saul in 1. Samuel 24. The relationship between Saul and David was complicated: there was a camaraderie between the two, but Saul also envied David’s success. Saul’s bouts of depression only fueled his animosity towards David. Eventually the friction between the two lead to a civil war as the 12 tribes of Israel started siding with King Saul or King David.

4. Although Yahweh had rejected Saul as king and had told Samuel to anoint David as the successor monarch, David showed great restraint and continued to hold Saul with respect. Such piety is often lacking in our political realm, our civil realm, amongst neighbors and we struggle with this as well. Too often we default to the law of retribution: an eye for eye (Leviticus 24,19; Matthew 5,38) or love your neighbor, but hate your enemy (Leviticus 19,17; Matthew 5,43). Hate everyone whom God has rejected; hate all sons of darkness (1. QS 1,4.10) was a popular Jewish opinion put forth by the Essenes in Jesus’ day.

5. Jesus, the Son of David, shows our fallen, envious world a better way. This better way is the way of the cross. Our sin must be revealed and judged. Jesus took our judgment upon Himself on the cross. God’s judgment and condemnation were poured out in full upon the crucified Jesus, for He has born all our sinful judgment and condemnation that the law convicts us of and calls for our punishment; He suffered as one found guilty under the law. On the cross, God’s judgment and condemnation have been poured out, satisfied and fulfilled in Christ Jesus.

6. How does God the Father judge, show mercy and forgive? God judges His Son instead of us. The crucified Christ is the act of a merciful God. His forgiveness of our sins through Jesus is certain and absolute. Thus the Apostle Paul can proclaim: »There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit« (Romans 8,1-4). God is the most gracious giver there is! He gives to us abundantly through Christ Jesus. He holds nothing back, for He pours out His grace so that it overflows. Again Paul: »Sin reigned in death, but grace also reigns through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord« (Romans 5,21).

7. David knew how gracious God is. David was a pious king who daily sought God’s heart and will, but he also committed egregious sins. In his own heartfelt words David cries: »Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow« (Psalm 51,2-3.7). In the Apocrypha we read: »Έαν έπιστρέψητε πρός αύτόν έν όλη τη καρδια ύμων, και έν όλη τη ψυχη ύμων, ποιησαι ένωπιον αύτου άλήθειαν, τότε έπιστρέψει πρός ύμας, και ου μή κρύψει το πρόσωπον αύτου άφ´ ύμων. If you turn to God with all your heart and with all your soul, if you are true before Him, then He will turn to you and will not hide His face from you« (Tobit 13,6).

8. Paul says: »Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all« (Romans 12,17-18). This is the love that Jesus shows to us, and it is the love we in turn show to our neighbor. We first receive forgiveness from God before we forgive; before we are merciful, we must receive mercy from God (Luther 102,15). God shows us forgiveness and mercy through Jesus Christ. „Our Savior gives us all things, physical and spiritual, earthly and eternal, gratuitously [freely] and out of pure goodness“ (Luther 100,10). May the Holy Spirit move in our hearts to love others as Christ loves us and loves them.

9. God of our weary years,

God of our silent tears,

Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way;

Thou who hast by Thy might

Led us into the light,

Keep us forever in the path we pray. (Lift Every Voice and Sing lsb 964,3 2006 James Weldon Johnson 1871-1938).

This is most certainly true.

10. Et pax Dei, quæ exuperat omnem sensum, custodiat corda vestra, et intelligentias vestras in Christo Jesu. The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4,7). Amen.

11. Let us pray. O God, who hast made us heirs of all the victories of faith and joint heirs with Christ of Thy glory if so be that we suffer with Him, arm us with such trust in the truth that is invisible that we may ask no rest from its demands and have no fear in its service. Amen. (Trinity IV, Vespers Collect 2. The Daily Office.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

✠

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, Septuaginta, Vol. I and II 2. Revised Edition © 2006 Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Saturday, June 29, 2024

1. Samuel 24,1-20. Trinity IV

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