Preparing for Worship - September 12, 2021

The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 116:1-9. The writer is not identified, nor are the specific problems he has been dealing with; but he “loves the Lord” because when he “was brought low, the Lord saved him,” and “delivered his soul.” This is a good Psalm for any of us, when we are struggling. It reminds us that “the Lord is gracious… and merciful,” and he will hear our “pleas for mercy.” We can trust Him and call on Him all our life.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 50:4-10. In prophecy, the coming Servant of the Lord, our Lord Jesus, says that he will “not be rebellious” but will listen to and do what He has been “taught” by His Heavenly Father, even if it means being “struck” and “disgraced” and “spit upon.” He says, “The Lord God helps me; who will declare Me guilty?” Yet he will be declared guilty, as He suffers and dies in our place to pay for our sins, in His love for us. 

In the Epistle lesson, James gives a very strong indictment of us and our human condition. He uses the example of our tongues. “We all stumble in many ways.” None of us is perfect, even if we are teachers. We can sometimes create a “forest fire” of trouble with our tongues, as if we were speaking  words from hell instead of words from heaven.
“No human being can tame the tongue.” How much we all need the mercy and forgiveness Jesus came to bring to us.

The Gospel lesson is from Mark 9:14-29. A boy is possessed by a terrible evil spirit; but the disciples cannot cast out that spirit, even though they have been given such power, through Jesus. It seems as if they were trying to use their own power and forgetting to pray and ask Jesus for His help and power. Jesus then called His generation a ”faithless generation.” The boy’s father admits his lack of faith, crying out, “I believe; help my unbelief!” No one has perfect faith; but Jesus is the perfect Savior. He is able to and does cast out the evil spirit from the boy, and He brings us to new life and hope and faith in Him, too, by His mercy and His Word and promises.