Devotional thoughts for Sunday

Sunday 12. October 2014 

Trinity 17 

O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. (Psalm 119,97) 

Psalm 119 is the great psalm about God's law. But we should not think of "God's law" as merely rules and regulations. The psalmist exhorts us to meditate upon God's covenant. For the psalmist, that was the Mosaic covenant given at Mt. Sinai. This covenant involved God's merciful redemption of Israel from Egyptian slavery, the promise of a new homeland in Canaan and, yes, rules and regulations for living, in particular the Ten Commandments. 

Jesus fulfilled this Mosaic covenant and gave us a new one. This new testament was given at Mt. Calvary. This testament involved God's merciful redemption of all men and women from the slavery of sin, death and the grave. Jesus shed His own precious blood to redeem us from Satan and eternal separation from God in hell. By Jesus' resurrection, death has been overcome, the grave has been opened and hell has been emptied. All who believe in Jesus have victory over the devil. Jesus has made us righteous. 

This is why the Church from the earliest days of the apostles set aside Sunday as her day of worship. Jesus rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Church now worships her ascended Lord each Sunday. This is our day where we gather together to hear the Word of God and receive the Sacrament of the Altar. We love God's Word and we meditate upon it daily, but especially on Sundays do we gather to worship God and receive from Him all the good blessings He gives us through the Holy Spirit. 

Prayer: O Lord of the Sabbath, You gave Your servant David the bread of the Presence on the Sabbath to teach him that You desire mercy and not sacrifice. Be merciful to us by healing us from all our sins and diseases, so that we may be merciful to others as You have been merciful to us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God, now and forever.  Amen. (1099, Treasury of Daily Prayer)