Psalm 30,1-3a.4-5; Psalm 16,10.114. 16. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Psalm 30,1-3a.4-5; Psalm 16,10.11 4717

16. Trinitatis  061

Remigius, Bishop of Reims, France. Apostle of Franconia, Bavaria ✠ 533 ✠ 

1. Oktober 2017 

1. O Jesus Christ, whose Name is Faithful, build up Your Church and adorn her with Your Glory, so that all the nations may be blessed by her.  Amen. (Gradual). 

2. For You, O Lord, will not abandon my life to Sheol, or let Your Holy One see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my enemies rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to You for help, and You have healed me. O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You restored me to life Sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints, and give thanks to His Holy Name. For His anger is but for a moment, and His mercy is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy arrives with the morning. 

3. The Psalmist declares: »O Lord, You will not abandon my life to Sheol, or let Your Holy One see corruption.« The concept of Sheol is one probably not well-known to many of us. Sheol is an old Hebrew understanding about death in the old testament. It is simply the condition of physical death; we could also say Sheol is the grave. At death, the soul resided in one of two places: hades (hell), a place of torment, or Abraham’s abode (Sheol/hades), a place peaceful rest. Sheol was a temporary rest area where the righteous stayed until the resurrection of the body and full entrance into Paradise. Thus the Psalmist believes that Sheol is a temporary residence and an even better existence is to be eagerly anticipated. 

4. The Psalmist continues: »O Lord, You make known to me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.« For the Jews, this path of life was connected to Abraham and Moses: boys got circumcised, the people learned the Scriptures, offered sacrifices at the temple for forgiveness awaited the arrival of the Messiah. The new testament explains how Jesus fulfilled the expectations of the old testament: Jesus was circumcised, taught the Scriptures to the crowds, offered Himself up as the sacrifice for the world’s sin and proclaimed Himself to be the Messiah, that is, the Christ. Jesus Himself declares: »I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one approaches the Father except through Me« (John 14,6).  He then told His disciples: »In a little while, you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy and no one will take your joy from you. Take heart; I have overcome the world« (John 16,16.20.22.33). 

5. The sorrow Jesus spoke of was His impending betrayal, arrest, condemnation and execution on the cross. Jesus hung on the cross as one cursed (Galatians 3,13). The disciples fled in fear at being rounded up and punished for having Jesus as their teacher. Good Friday was a sad day for them, for they believed everything Jesus was had been thwarted and defeated. The joy Jesus spoke of was His impending resurrection on Easter Sunday. This event proved Jesus is the Christ and that sin, death and hell have been conquered. The gates of hades have been torn down and the gates of heaven flung wide open!  

6. The Apostle Paul tells us that »in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might arrive to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith« (Galatians 3,14); and also: »All of us who have been baptized into His crucifixion were therefore buried with Him by baptized into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in the newness of life« (Romans 6,3-4). Through Christ, in Holy Baptism, »the Lord has lifted us up and has not let our enemies rejoice over us.« This is one of the themes repeated over and over again throughout the Bible: God sweeps aside His enemies and lifts up His people. He cursed the Devil, but promised salvation to Adam and Eve. He drowned the world in a Flood, but saved Noah and his family. He swept Pharaoh’s army aside, but spared Israel. He punished His Only Son on the cross, and forgave us all our sin. »The Lord hears our cry for help and He saves us.«

7. The Prophet Ezekiel proclaims: »The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never draw to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness« (Lamentations 3,23). Once again, on this the Lord’s day, we comforted by the very words of Jesus: »I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet he will live« (John 11,25). This declaration by Jesus is the promise we cling to; it is our certainty when trials and tribulations afflict our souls. Our Lord’s mercy has been exhibited before our eyes yet again this morning with three precious Baptisms. God calls people into His family, and He has don so again publicly this morning. In response to His goodness »we sing praises to the Lord, and give thanks to His Holy Name.« We also acknowledge God’s presence in each of our lives, for as His children we are heirs to His heavenly good fortune. The Apostle Paul speaks of this fortune, writing: »God gave us a spirit not of fear but a spirit of power, love and self-control, which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel« (2. Timothy 1,7.10) and this gospel assures us that we are right now justified before God, for whoever has Jesus has eternal life (1. John 5,12-13). God does not abandon us; He sent Jesus to redeem us and open up the glories of heaven for us. Trust in Jesus and rest in His promise.  Amen. 

8. Let us pray. O Lord, Thou Redeemer of all the Earth; send forth the grace of Your Testament, so that all who hear and receive are blessed.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Soli Deo Gloria

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4^th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27^th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.  

All quotations from the Book of Concord are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using Die Bekenntnisschriften der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche, 12. Edition © 1998 by Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.