The lutheransermons's Podcast

Preparing for Worship - March 19, 2023

The Scriptures this week use the imagery of people being blind and deaf, and yet how the Lord can help and give hope, especially through the gift of Christ our Savior and His Word and work in and for us.

The Psalm is Psalm 142. David wrote this psalm, likely when he was hiding in a cave, alone, like a “prisoner,” when he was being pursued by King Saul, who wanted to kill him. He was in great danger and had been “brought very low” by his persecutors, who are “too strong” for him. He felt “his spirit fainting away within him,” and no one seemed to notice or care. (You could read more about this on your own in 1 Samuel 18:6ff. and in chapter 20ff., when David said, “There is but a step between me and death” (1 Samuel 20:3).) It is as if David felt hopeless, blinded by all his “troubles and complaints,” until he finally remembered to turn to the Lord, his “refuge,” and cry out to Him. Then he regains hope that he will be able to “give thanks” to the Lord, who “will deal bountifully with him,” in His own way and time.

The Old Testament lesson is from Isaiah 42:14-21. The Lord has “kept still for a long time,” waiting for His people to follow Him as they should. Too many, though, of His own “servant messengers,” the people of Israel, have become blind and deaf and have even fallen into idolatry and worship of false gods. Like an expectant mother, whose time for labor has come, the Lord must gasp and pant and cry out, in judgment for His people’s rebellion, but then, in time, with joy and guidance for the blind, turning “their darkness into light” and showing that they are “not forsaken.” Jesus quotes from the beginning of Isaiah 42 as referring to Himself, in Matthew 12:18-23 and then literally heals a blind and mute man. Jesus is the true light of the world, who is blind and deaf to the temptations of this sinful world and only follows His heavenly Father’s will, “pleasing” Him in perfect “righteousness,” in our place, as our Savior.

The Gospel lesson is from John 9:1-41. Jesus shows that He is the Promised Savior, as He heals a man “blind from birth.” He does this even on the sabbath day, showing God’s New Covenant and not limiting His mercy only to certain days and people. The religious leaders show that they are spiritually blind and “guilty,” as they reject Jesus and cast away the blind man now healed, even though he is only speaking the truth. The man is not only healed physically, but spiritually, for he is brought to believe that Jesus is the “Son of Man,” another Old Testament name for the Promised Savior, and he worships Jesus as “Lord.”

In the Epistle lesson, Ephesians 5:8-14, Paul proclaims that through the light of Christ, people who were spiritually asleep and, even worse, spiritually dead (spiritually “blind at birth,” as we all are), became living “children of light” and they themselves “light of the Lord.” They are now producing “fruit” in their lives that is “good and right and true… and pleasing to the Lord,” instead of “shameful, unfruitful works of darkness.” It is all because “Christ now shines on them,” as their Savior. That is the promise of the Lord for all, including us, in Christ.

Bible Study - Psalm 141

Psalms 140-144 have a number of similarities. All are written by David, and all talk about dangers he is facing and the need for the Lord’s help. David sees his enemies as setting “traps” and “snares” and “nets” by which to capture him. (See, for example, Psalm 140:4-5.)

Today we will focus on Psalm 141, though. Many think that David wrote this psalm when his son Absalom had overthrown him and seized the kingdom in his place and now wanted to capture and do away with him. David had escaped from Jerusalem, but was in great danger. In Psalm 141:1, David calls upon the Lord to “hasten,” to hurry to help him.

He has a problem, though. Normally, he would go to the tabernacle, to the tent of meeting in Jerusalem where animal sacrifices would be offered every morning and evening, and he would pray and offer his own sacrifice to God, as well. (See Exodus 29:38-42.) Incense was also burned as part of this, representing the prayers rising to the Lord in heaven. (See Exodus 30:7-8. Look also to the vision that John saw in Revelation 8:1-4 of heaven and smoke of the incense being combined with “the prayers of the saints,” so that the prayers would come before God.)

David’s problem was that he could not go to Jerusalem to make the proper sacrifices and have the incense burned as needed. Would his prayers reach God? He asks, in Psalm 141:2, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before You, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Standing and lifting up one’s hands toward the Lord in heaven was a common way of praying in the Old Testament and sometimes also in the New Testament. See 1 Timothy 2:8, where Paul says, “I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling.” Certainly David’s prayers were answered, though he could not do his praying in the prescribed Old Testament way.

The exact posture for prayer does not matter, though, either. In other places in Scripture, people kneel or bow their heads or fall down with their faces to the ground or just stand and pray, etc. In another vision that John sees in Revelation 5:8, “the prayers of the saints” are the incense that rises to God. Literal incense is no longer needed, or any of the Old Testament ritual, now that Jesus has come to be the Savior of the world and made the “once for all” sacrifice on the cross as the Lamb of God, to take away the sin of the world.

In fact, all such sacrificial rituals can no longer properly be done, in Old Testament terms, because the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD and has never been rebuilt. Even Jews can now only pray in the way David does in Psalm 141:2. Tragically, they are missing what is needed most, because most all do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and the Savior and the Son of God, in and through whom alone they can reach the Father in heaven. They are rejecting the Promised Messiah they have been waiting for all these years. (See John 14:6 and Romans 5:1-2 and Hebrews 8:8-13, quoting the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah, which tells us that now that Jesus the promised Messiah has come, there are no longer two covenants, but only the New Covenant, centered in Jesus. Also, see passages like John 4:25-26 and John 9:35-38 and John 10:24-30, where Jesus clearly identifies Himself as the Promised Savior.)

Go back now to Psalm 141:3-4. We sometimes say that people can sin against God in their thoughts, words, and deeds. David prays that the Lord would help him resist temptation to evil in all those ways. Today we often speak of what our minds are thinking. The Scriptures more often speak of what comes out of our hearts, as well as minds, meaning much the same thing. (See how Jesus says, in Mark 7:18-23, “…From within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery”… (and on and on)… All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”) So, David prays, in Psalm 141:4, “Do not let my heart incline to any evil,” to be thinking about and dwelling on such evil, for that, he knows, can lead him to act and “busy himself with wicked deeds.” David also knows that his words can be evil, and so he also prays, in v.3, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips.” (How often don’t our own words get us into even more trouble and conflict, too?)

David also knows that the people he associates with can be a negative influence on him, especially if he is “keeping company” with “men who work iniquity” (sins) and “wicked deeds.” He might also be tempted to participate in their sumptuous living and “delicacies” they might enjoy, because of their evil gains that came at the expense of others (Psalm 141:4).

Many proverbs and other Scriptures warn all of us of these dangers. Proverbs 1:4 says, “If sinners entice you, do not consent” and Proverbs 4:14-15 warns, “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on.” Paul warns, in 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” We also know the ultimate fate of the rich man “who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day” and would not honor God or help others (Luke 16:19-31). In short, David’s prayer in Psalm 141:3-4 is a good one for all of us to pray, as the temptation to “be conformed to the ways of this evil world” are great (Romans 12:1-2).

David knows, as well, that he needs faithful people of God to discipline and correct him when he is drifting from the Lord’s path. He says in a dramatic way, “Let a righteous man strike me… let him rebuke me.” Such correction would “a kindness” to him and like an “anointing with oil” that would restore and strengthen him. (David may have been thinking of his own earlier sin with Bathsheba, and how good it ultimately was that God sent the prophet Nathan to him to confront him with his wrong and bring him to repentance and renewal with His Lord (2 Samuel 11 and 12 and Psalm 51).

David prays, “Let my head not refuse such discipline” (Psalm 141:5). We all need such correction at times, by which others show that they care about us. Proverbs 27:5-6 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend,” and Proverbs 15:5 says, “A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent.”

David has now dealt with his own need for the Lord’s help and correction and direction for his life. Now he returns in his prayer to his concern about his enemies and the continual need for help “against their evil deeds” (end of Psalm 141:5). If David wrote this psalm after his own son overthrew him, he was in very real danger. The next two verses of Psalm 141 are difficult to understand, and scholars don’t always agree about what it all means. Here is what seems to make the best sense, from what I can read.

David knew what God had promised him (even with promises of the coming Savior through his family line in the future) and he trusted that God would help him through this very difficult time, as He had helped him when King Saul had been out after him in earlier times. That meant, in v.6, that the “judges” and others who had wrongly supported Absalom (or whoever David’s current enemies were) would be defeated, would be “thrown over the cliff.” (This was a way that enemies were sometimes gotten rid of. See 2 Chronicles 25:12 or see how people from his own hometown became so angry with Jesus that they took him to a hill on which their town was built so that they could thrown him down the cliff” (Luke 4:28-30).) Jesus was spared, and David eventually would be rescued and restored as King, and people would be able to hear his “pleasant words” again (Psalm 141:6).

David also knew that he would eventually die and his bones and the bones of others would be scattered around and above Sheol (which here seems simply to mean the place of the dead) (Psalm 141:7). However, this burial would be like it is when one is “plowing and breaking up the soil” with the intention of there being new crops (Psalm 141:7). Eventually, there would be new life coming, even though one’s body dies. Remember the vision of the dry bones that Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 37 and all those bones coming back to life; or the words of Paul in the great resurrection chapter of 1 Corinthians 15. Read v.42-44: “So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable… It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body.”

David closes Psalm 141 by thinking again of his enemies and praying that he would be protected  and that the evildoers would be caught in their own nets and traps (Psalm 141:9-10). In a sense, that is what happened with David’s son, Absalom. He was a very handsome man with long, flowing hair. His hair was caught in an oak tree, and he was snared there and was killed (2 Samuel 18:9-15) - to the great sorrow of David, because he still loved his rebellious son.

I have one more comment on the mention of traps and snares and nets, in these closing verses and in other places in Psalms 140-144, etc. Here they mainly refer to the enemies of God’s people and their attacks upon David and others of God’s people. Sometimes, though, there are warnings that God’s own people would be caught in such traps and snares, if they rebelled against God themselves and refused to trust in and follow Him.

God had a plan for His people, beginning with Abraham - a plan to bring the Savior from the Jewish nation. They needed to survive and be God’s people, so that eventually from them the Savior, Jesus, would come and be a blessing available to them and all nations and peoples. To protect and preserve His people, God asked them to remove others peoples and stay separate from them. He knew they could be corrupted by wicked, unbelieving people and lose their identity as God’s own chosen people if they kept company with them in their wicked deeds and iniquities, as David described and warned about in Psalm 141:4.

Unfortunately, many of God’s people did not listen to and follow the Lord. Listen to the warning from God in Exodus 23:31-33, for example: “I will give the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. You shall make no covenant with them and their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare for you.” See similar things said in Deuteronomy 7:16, Joshua 23:13, Judges 2:3, and many other places.

Fortunately, some of God’s people, like David, did remain faithful to the Lord. David says, in Psalm 141:8, “But my eyes are toward You, O God, my Lord; in You I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless.” God did care for David and the remnant of God’s people who believed in the Lord; and from the family line of David, Jesus, their Savior and our Savior did finally come. There are plenty of enemies against Christ and the Christian faith today, setting snares and traps and nets, in order to harm us. May we too keep saying, with David, “My eyes are toward You, O God, my Lord; in You I seek refuge; (in You I trust); leave me not defenseless.” And may we keep seeking to serve our Lord in thought, word, and deed.

Preparing for Worship - March 12, 2023

Most of our readings this week have mention of water and how important it is for us -in a physical and spiritual way. God knows, and He provides for us.

In the Old Testament lesson, Exodus 17:1-7, God’s people, on their way from captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land, came to a place where there seemed to be no water. God had just provided manna, bread from heaven, in a miraculous way, but they forgot about that and feared that Moses had brought them out in the wilderness to die. They were really questioning and “testing” God Himself, and Moses cried out to the Lord for help. God had Moses strike a rock with his staff, and water enough came out to provide what was needed for everyone.

The psalm is Psalm 95:1-9. The psalmist calls upon all of us to praise the Lord for His creation and preservation of all things. We are His sheep, and He cares for us as our great God and King above all. The psalmist mentions the story in our Old Testament lesson and calls upon us not to be hard-hearted and doubt God and try to test Him, as the people did then. The Lord is “the Rock of our salvation,” and we thank and praise Him with joy.

The Gospel lesson is another of several long readings we have this Lent from the Gospel of John. Last week we heard of being “born again” to a whole new life of faith in Jesus, through “water and the Spirit” in the gift of our baptism and the Word of God (John 3:1-21). Today we see in John 4:5-26 (27-30,39-42) Jesus helping a thirsty Samaritan woman at a well, who has many spiritual problems and needs. He shows her that He is the promised Messiah, the Christ, who has come into the world for her and for her fellow Samaritans and for Jews and for all people. He provides the “water” that brings eternal life, as people are brought to belief in Him. The woman becomes a witness for Jesus and tells the people of her town to come and see Him. Many Samaritans came and heard Him and came to believe in Him “because of His Word.” They said, “This is indeed the Savior of the world.”

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 5:1-8, Paul assures us that we, too, have been justified, counted right with God, through faith in Jesus. While we were “weak, ungodly sinners,” Christ died for us. Through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and His saving work for us, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, given to us” through our own baptism and the Word of God. We too “have peace with God” and “access to the grace in which we stand” and “hope of the glory of God,” and even our “sufferings” in this life can help us grow in “endurance” and Christian “character, as well as that “hope” in Christ.

Bible Study - Psalm 120

As I mentioned last week, I had never paid much attention to Psalm 120. It is a very short psalm. The author is not identified, and it is not possible to tell just when it was written or an exact situation being spoken about. Many think it might have been written when many of God’s people were carried into captivity or exile and faced enemy people and ideas, or soon after that when some of them were starting to return to Israel, when they were finally able to do so, but also faced opposition in Israel.

This psalm caught my attention, when I was studying Psalm 121, in the last few weeks. Psalm 120 begins with the psalmist clearly “in distress” and very troubled, so that he needed to “call to the Lord” (Psalm 120:1). What was especially troubling him? “Lying lips” and “deceitful tongues,” some of which were attacking him so much that he cried out, “Deliver me, O Lord” (Psalm 120:2).

We have an old saying, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” That is not the way the Scriptures speak. Lying and deceiving can be very harmful. especially when aimed at others. Read Proverbs 25:18: “A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.” Listen to the words of David in Psalm 57:4: “My soul is in the midst of lions; I lie down amid fiery beasts - the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.”

Are we living in a time similar to that of the psalmist? People are very divided from one another. What used to be called “civil discourse” has often become very uncivil. How many children are hurt by bullying and mean things said by others? How many teenagers are confused and led astray by lies and deceitful ideas they hear about on social media? Are our politicians known for being truthful or more for trying to attack and cancel others? What comes out of our own mouths? We know we are to try to speak the truth, but do we too often back down because we know we will be attacked by others for what we might say? Can we also speak the truth in love, as the Scriptures say?

The psalmist wants God to deliver him, but he does know how that will happen. He asks in Psalm 120. v.3:  “What shall be done to “deceitful tongues?” Verse 4 might be literally translated: By “Arrows of a Mighty One, sharpened, with burning coals of broom“ (from a broom tree, whose wood burns longest and hottest). There are many people who try to be high and mighty, but the only one who is truly mighty is God Himself.

Psalm 89:8 says, “O Lord of hosts, who is mighty as You are, O Lord, with Your faithfulness all around you?” Isaiah 42:13 says, “The Lord goes out like a mighty man… He shows himself mighty against His foes.” In other words, The Lord God is the ultimate Judge, and He will will bring judgment in His own way and time, as he knows best, in a just and fair and faithful way.

The Lord may bring judgments with “arrows” and “fire” and will do so on the last day. See Deuteronomy 32:22-23, where both fire and arrows are mentioned. See also Psalm 64:3-4, 7-8, where even now the wicked may “whet their tongues like swords, who aim bitter words like arrows, shooting from ambush at the blameless… But God shoots His arrows at them; they are wounded suddenly. They are brought to ruin, with their own tongues turned against them.”

(If you paid any attention to the Alex Murdaugh murder trial in South Carolina in the US in recent weeks, you heard of his lying and deceiving to so many people for so long. But finally, it seems that his own tongue turned against him when he testified, and he was then quickly found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.)  he ultimate judgment for him or anyone is up to God, of course, not up to us.

What then are we to do when we face lies and deceits? The psalmist says in v.5: “Woe to me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar!” Meshech was a name for a people and area far to the North of Israel, maybe as far away as the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Kedar was an area far to the South and East of Israel, in the Arabian desert, where nomadic people lived and moved about. Both of these groups of people were considered to be uncivilized and barbarian, rough and quarrelsome people, as the commentator Franz Delitzsch said. These two groups were so far away from each other in location that the psalmist could not be living among both, but he was among people acting just like them. This was having a negative impact upon him and his own life and way of thinking.

“Woe is me,” he says, and then adds, “Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.” Isaiah 48:22 and 57:18 both say, “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.” In Verse 7 of Psalm 120, the psalmist concludes, “I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war.” He seems to be realizing that he has been spending too much time in the wrong situations with the wrong kind of people. He was being drawn away into very negative and critical speaking that only wanted to tear others down as they were doing to him and others. He still needed to speak the truth, but to try to do it in love and in ways that showed care for people.

Listen to what David wrote in Psalm 109:1-5: “Be not silent, O God of my praise! For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues. They encircle me with words of hate and attack me without cause. In return for my love they accuse me , but I give myself to prayer. So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” David had no illusions about always being loved and respected for trying to do the right things. (He also knew his own sins and failings and the need to keep confessing his sins and receiving God’s forgiveness.)

And he knew he needed to take the time to pray and call upon his Lord and then try to show some love and good, even for those attacking him. As Jesus Himself taught us, in Matthew 5:43-45, “I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father Who is in heaven. For He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Thank the Lord that He does that for us all - for how right and just are our own words and mouths, at times?)

Let me mention one more thing suggested by words from Psalm 120 - the words about “burning coals” in verse 4. Proverbs 25:21-22 says, ”If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head…” People can be shamed and awakened by our doing good to them, in response to evil they have done to us. Paul quotes this passage in Romans 12:20. Read Romans 12:14-21 for all he says, that fits with what the psalmist was learning in Psalm 120, about overcoming evil with good.

None of this is easy for any of us. I have read a newspaper for most of my life, to keep informed. But recently, I decided to cancel the paper I had been reading because it had much in it that was misleading and untruthful and even challenging to the Christian faith. I did not need those lies and deceit. However, I soon found myself reading my I-phone and I-pad, doing what my wife calls “doomscrolling,” reading too much bad news that also was not helpful, day after day. I need to remember to read God’s Word more and more and keep asking the Lord to help me keep speaking the truth, both Law and Gospel, but in a loving and caring way, that truly helps people.

Above all, I need to and we all need to keep our eyes on Jesus our Savior and what He first did for us sinners to rescue us. Micah 5:2-5 is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus. “And He shall be our peace”and “shepherd us in the strength of our Lord.” The Lord’s continued blessings on your week.

Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Lent - March 5, 2023

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Lent, based on:

Genesis 12:1-8

Romans 4:1-8, 13-17

John 3:1-21 

Sermon originally delivered March 20, 2011

Preparing for Worship - March 5, 2023

We continue to look at God’s plan for salvation in this Lenten season, as it was revealed in the Scriptures and especially in Christ our Savior. The Old Testament lesson tells of how God initiated this plan already in Genesis 12:1-9, when he called Abram (later Abraham) to leave his home and country and go to a land that God would show him. God promised to bless him and make of him a great nation and from his descendant all families on earth would be blessed. Abram went, as God directed him, and was led to Canaan, where he built altars to the Lord, the One True God.

The Psalm is Psalm 121. The psalmist looked up to the hills of Jerusalem and the temple, and above all, to the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. Six times he speaks of the Lord as the Keeper of him and Israel and all who looked to Him in faith. The Lord needs no sleep and watches over and shades His people night and day, seeking to keep their feet from stumbling and to keep them looking to Him for their help. Only He could keep them from evil and bless them forever. (See also the podcast Bible study for this week, which is on Psalm 121, and gives much more detail.)

In the Gospel lesson, John 3:1-21, Jesus revealed that He was the Son of God, sent from the God the Father to be the Savior of the world. He came not to condemn but to save the world, as people were “born again” of water and the Spirit in baptism and brought to believe in Him. Whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned but has the gift of eternal life. Whoever does not believe is still is under condemnation. Of course, anyone can still come to faith in Jesus at any time, by God’s grace and blessing.

In the Epistle lesson, Romans 4:1-8, 13-17, Paul makes it clear that even Abraham was not saved by his goodness. Only by his belief in God and His promises was he counted righteous in God’s eyes, and his sins were forgiven and not counted against him. Jesus is the Promised Offspring of Abraham. As people trust in Jesus as Savior, they are also children of Abraham, no matter what nation they come from, Jews or non-Jews. They too are saved by God’s grace and forgiven of all their sins and given a new life and a whole new existence, in and by Christ Jesus, who justifies the ungodly.

Bible Study - Psalm 121

Someone told me, recently, how important and comforting Psalm 121 was in a very difficult life situation this person was going through. This person read that psalm every day and read it to another important person, as well, and the Lord gave them the help and strength needed to get through that challenging time, with His grace and blessing. As I looked at that psalm, I also noticed Psalm 120, a psalm I had never paid much attention to. Psalm 121 has enough to say to us this week, but I may talk about Psalm 120 and another short psalm next week. The psalms are so relevant to our lives, still today.

Psalms 120-134 are all called, in their introduction, “A Song of Ascents.” These were psalms that were sung by temple singers as people came into the house of God, and more likely, songs that people were taught to sing as they approached Jerusalem and the tabernacle or later the temple and the area where it was built.

Psalm 121 begins with the words, “I lift up my eyes to the hills” (v.1). This is literally what Jews would do as they approached Jerusalem. It was located in a high, hilly area, and so the Scriptures often speak of Jesus and others “going up to Jerusalem.” (See Mark 10:32 as an example of that.) The temple was their place of worship, where God had appeared to His people and shown His glory. It was the focus of God’s presence and blessing for His people, on Mt. Moriah and in the high area of Zion, in Jerusalem.

God’s people knew, of course, that God was not confined to the temple in any way. The psalmist asks, “From where does my help come?” And he answers: “My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth” (v.1-2). The Lord is the Creator of all things and is above and beyond all things. The fact that He is the Creator is continually emphasized in the Scriptures. His eternal power and Deity are seen in the majesty of all that He has made. He is our heavenly Father, and “our lifting our eyes to Him” also emphasizes that reality.

At the same time, the Lord is God, and He can be everywhere at any time and can take care of us, not always as we wish or desire, but as He knows is best. (See Matthew 28:20 - “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” See also Hebrews 13:5 - “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”) The psalmist uses this picture image: “He will not let your foot be moved” (Psalm 121:3). We will have stability in the Lord, no matter what our current circumstances are. (See Psalm 66:9: “God has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.” See also Proverbs 3:23,26: “Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble… for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your feet from being caught.”)

Then, six times in the next six verses, the Lord says that He will be our keeper: “He Who keeps you,” “He Who keeps Israel” (v.3-4), "The Lord is your Keeper” (v.5), “The Lord will keep you,” “He will keep… The Lord will keep…” (v.5,7,8). The Lord can do all this, because, as v.3-4 says, “He Who keeps you will not slumber… neither slumber nor sleep.” We all need sleep, and yet how hard it is to get at times, when our children are small and need to be nursed or fed or are crying or fearful. We also have worries and fears that keep us awake, when we toss and turn and wonder what will happen and what we should do. Sometimes we must work very long hours and lose sleep, to get our work done or to earn enough to keep up with inflation. And on and on.

Yet this psalm reminds us that we also have our Lord always awake and watching over us. The Scriptures teach us, “Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7). We do not have to handle everything ourselves. The Proverbs 3 passage we looked at earlier also says, “If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:23). Psalm 127 tells us, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for He gives to His beloved sleep” (Psalm 127:1-2).

The Scriptures teach us to work hard and do what we can (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12), but this psalm and many other Scriptures remind us to “lift up our eyes to the hills,” to our Lord, above all, to help us and keep us. As sinful, struggling human beings, we have trouble doing that, though. Our faith is not always so strong, and our everyday cares and concerns can overwhelm us. Psalm 121 is a good psalm to read often, as it reminds us of God’s promises for us.

This Psalm also tells us that the Lord is “our Shade.” He keeps us and protects, day and night (Psalm 121:5-6). In earlier days, some people thought that people could be harmed by the light of the moon and become lunatics, moonstruck, and lose their minds, just as people could have sunstrokes in the hot sun. Whatever it is that we fear, rational or sometimes not so rational, the Lord gives us the strength we need to carry on.

Again the Book of Proverbs reminds us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). Lean upon the Lord, your keeper in all things, and especially lean upon the grace and mercy of God shown most clearly in Jesus our Savior. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for us, in our place, give us the faith and confidence that the Lord will keep us not only in this life but for eternal life as well.

The Psalmist says in closing, “The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” (See also Deuteronomy 28:6.) Jesus also taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). The Lord will deliver us from much evil in this life, and forgives us for our own evil and sins, as we look to and trust in Him, and He will keep us from and deliver us from all evil, finally, in the perfection of eternal life in heaven. That is what this psalm promises and what our Lord gives us in Jesus. “From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”

Sermon for the 1st Sunday in Lent - February 26, 2023

Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent, based on:

Genesis 3:1-21 

Romans 5:12-19

Matthew 4:1-11 

Sermon originally delivered March 13, 2011

Preparing for Worship - February 26, 2023

This Sunday is the First Sunday in Lent, and our focus changes to the specific work of Jesus to break the power of sin and Satan and bring the Lord’s forgiveness to us. The Old Testament lesson is Genesis 3:1-21, the story of the fall into sin. The devil, Satan, identified in Revelation 12:9 as “that ancient serpent,” came to Eve and asked what God actually said when he gave the command about the tree in the garden. He manages to confuse her about God’s Word and then directly contradicts that Word and offers her something that sounds very pleasing to her, if she would eat of the forbidden tree. She thinks in her mind and then eats of the tree, and Adam, who was with her, also eats. Sin had thus come into the world, with all of its many consequences, including Adam and Eve being divided from one another and from God. God spoke of the consequences, including a corrupted creation and death, but also gave the first Gospel promise, that Satan would eventually be defeated by an Offspring of Eve. God also showed His care even for sinners, by clothing Adam and Eve.

In the psalm, Psalm 32, David spoke of the agony of trying to cover up his own sin by himself. He was consumed by guilt, until he finally confessed his transgressions to the Lord and received His forgiveness. Several words to describe sin are used in this short passage: transgression, iniquity, deceit, and sin itself. Even David’s silence was a sin. God’s forgiveness is described as sin being “covered” and “not being counted against” David and as a cleansing of his spirit. God becomes his Deliverer and Preserver from trouble and a Hiding Place for him. David then offers prayer to God and knows that he is blessed, as he trust in the Lord (v.10, after today’s reading).

Paul, in Romans 5:12-19, explains how sin and death came into the world through Adam and then death spread to all people, because everyone sinned. Even though there was not yet the Law given to Moses, people still did wrong, violating the natural knowledge of God and His will written in their hearts and on their consciences (Romans 1:19-20, 2:12-15). Adam was a “type” of Christ, because his one sin brought sin and condemnation for all. “Through his disobedience, the many (all) were made sinners.” In contrast, “by Christ’s righteousness and obedience” (and His saving work on the cross and in His resurrection) “the many will be made righteous.” He has done enough to save and forgive all sin and all people. And “those who receive the abundance of grace  and the free gift of righteousness reign in life” (not death) “through the one man Jesus Christ.”

In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 4:1-11, we see Jesus being led into a time of temptation by the Holy Spirit. In contrast, we pray, “Lead us not into temptation.” Jesus had to battle Satan directly and be tempted as we are, yet without sinning, and fulfill all righteousness in our place (Matthew 3:15 and Hebrews 4:15). Jesus had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights and clearly “was hungry.” Satan tried a temptation about food and other temptations, even quoting Scripture (out of context) and identifying Jesus for Who he really was, “the Son of God,” but Jesus resisted him every time, using the truth of Scripture passages against him. Jesus was a true man, as well as God’s Son, and these temptations were not at all easy for him. When Satan left for a time, angels came and were ministering to Jesus.

Bible Study - Psalm 107

Psalm 107 is the third in a series of psalms that describe the history of God’s Old Testament people. Psalm 105 begins with the covenant with Abraham and tells of Jacob and Joseph and times in Egypt, and then God’s rescue of His people from slavery in Egypt through Moses, and the wilderness years, before they reached the Promised Land by God’s mercy and blessing, and God gave them “lands of the nations” (Psalm 105:44).

Psalm 106 tells of God’s mighty deeds and His steadfast love for His people. It also tells of how sinful and rebellious His people were, while they traveled to the Promised Land, and again and again, as they lived in the land God gave them. Instead of following the Lord, they followed the ways of the nations around them and their false gods and idols. Finally, God “gave them into the hands of the nations, so that those who hated them ruled over them” (Psalm 106:41). (Many of the people were carried away into captivity by the Assyrians and later on by the Babylonians, as a consequence of their sins.) A faithful remnant of the Israelites cried out to God, “Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations” (Psalm 106:47).

Psalm 107, then, describes how the Lord answered these prayers and brought some of His people back again to Israel, after the Babylonian captivity. The psalm begins with a prayer that is still used today by many people, before or after meals. “Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy, His steadfast love, endures forever!” (Psalm 107:1) Verses 2-3 reminded His redeemed and rescued people to tell others what He had done for them, “redeeming them from trouble and gathering them in” from every direction, from wherever they had been scattered. (See also Isaiah 62:12.)

This rescue plan of God is described in a highly poetic way in Psalm 107, giving four situations in life in which people were faced with great trouble and even death. As Dr. Roehrs describes it in the Concordia Self-Study Commentary, the exiles in various places “needed help just as desperately as people saved from (1) death from hunger and thirst in a desert wilderness (verses 4-9); (2) from imprisonment and hard labor (verses 10-16); (3) from illness that could lead to death (verses 17-22); and (4) from being lost in a terrible storm at sea (verses 23-32).” In each case, the people “cried out to the Lord for help and He delivered them” (verses 6,13,19,28) and they are reminded to “thank the Lord” (verses 8,15,21,31).

Some of the translations are a little misleading in that they use the word “some” in verses 4,10,17, and 23, as if these particular problems happened only to “some” of the people. The Hebrew actually says, “They wandered… (v.4), “They sat… (v.10), and so forth. That indicates that many of the people may have faced more than one of the difficulties described. They all faced very challenging times where they were in captivity and in getting back to the land of Israel, and the poetic descriptions fit them in various ways.

Skip ahead in Psalm 107 to verses 10-16. Many of the Israelites were taken into captivity by force. They knew why this had happened. It was because of their “rebellion against the Words of God” and against the “counsel” he and His prophets had given them (v. 11). (See Isaiah 63:10 and Zechariah 1:4 as other examples  of this sin and evil.) The Israelites had some freedoms, but were under the control of others and were largely servants and slaves to others.

Think of Daniel and his friends in Babylon. They could serve in high positions one moment but could quickly be thrown into a lion’s den or a fiery furnace, as we hear in the Book of Daniel. Yet they knew the promise of the Lord made so simply in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” “They cried to the Lord” (Psalm 107:13) and “He delivered  them.”

Verse 16 quotes words from Isaiah 45:1-4, predicting that much later, God would use a Persian leader, Cyrus, to begin to bring freedom to “Israel, His chosen people.” See also the prediction in Isaiah 49:8-9, where the Lord would “say to the prisoners, ‘Come out.’” Some of this was also predicting the work of the ultimate Rescuer, our Lord Jesus. See the prophecy of Him as the Servant of God and what He would do in Isaiah 42:6-9, to free people from the prison of their sins.

Psalm 107:17-22 speaks of Israelites who had been “fools through their sinful ways” and now suffered “affliction (v.17). Some were “near to the gates of death” and could not or would not even eat any food any more (v.18). This seems to refer to very serious illnesses. Again, “they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them from their distress” (v.19). There was “healing” and “deliverance from destruction,” at least for some (v.20).

Psalm 107:23-32 talks about those who were able to work and travel on ships. They saw the majesty and power of God in “great waters” (v.23-24), but also the danger of storms and waves, which left them “at their wits’ ends,” with “their courage melted away in their evil plight,” their impossible situation, where they could not help themselves (v.25-27). Again, “they cried to the Lord” and “He made the storm and waves be stilled and hushed,” and “brought them to their safe, desired haven” (v.28-30). This passage again also reminds us of our ultimate Savior, our Lord Jesus. More than once, He stilled storms and rescued His disciples on the Sea of Galilee. (See Mark 4:35-41 and 6:46-52. If the disciples knew Scriptures like this one, it seems as if they would not have had to ask, ”Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”)

Go back then to Psalm 107:4-9. No matter where God’s people were scattered by captivity, as both the Northern and Southern Kingdoms were overthrown and Jerusalem and much of their homeland was destroyed, it was not easy for them to get back to Israel, even when they finally had the freedom to do so. Other Scriptures tell us that some did not even want to go back to Israel, with all the “starting-from-scratch” and rebuilding that would be necessary. For those who did go home, it was a long, hard journey for many, “wandering in desert wastes… hungry and thirsty and with fainting souls” and discouragement and finding no good “city” or place to dwell in, as they traveled and when they finally reached their destination (v.4-5). Again, it was only as “they cried to the Lord in their trouble,” that “He delivered them from their distress” (v.6-7).

Then, over time, they could see that the Lord “satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things” (v.9). In all these different circumstances, God’s people are called to “thank the Lord for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man” (v.8,15,21,31). As Psalm 107 ends, the people are reminded that the Lord can bring judgment, “turning rivers into a desert,” because of evil, as had happened during the time of captivity (v.33-34).

But the Lord can also “turn a desert… into springs of water with many blessings,” as he was now doing for His people (v.35-38). And whether they are “diminished and brought low” if necessary, in God’s judgment and plans (v.39-40) or “raised up out of affliction” by the “steadfast love of the Lord” (v.41-43), let “the upright” in the Lord “see it and be glad.”

Psalm 107 takes us, though, only to the return of God’s people to Israel. Still to come would be the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple and eventually the coming to our Lord Jesus, as true man from the Jews, and as the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, and the Savior for His own people and the whole world, (“all the children of man,” as said in this psalm four times and as we heard predicted in Psalm 2, last week). The last verse of Psalm 107 is for us, too: “Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”

Aren’t we much like the children of Israel? We have many joys, but also a whole variety of troubles and difficult circumstances in our lives. We have the old saying, “When it rains, it pours” - meaning that one bad situation can come after another and another, and we wonder if we can carry on. We are headed to our own Promised Land, the eternal life we have through our Savior, but we probably have a lot of living ahead for us before we are called home, according to His wisdom.

“You are my God. My times are in Your hands,” says Psalm 31:15. We are called to be wise, as Psalm 107:43 says. Four times the psalmist says the same thing, ”They cried to the Lord in their trouble” and then trusted that He would “deliver” them, as he knew best. That is repeated and repeated, because we, too, may forget the blessing of prayers and the need to continue to cry to the Lord with our needs. He wants us to ask. It is a sign of faith and trust in Him. Four times it is also said, “Let them thank the Lord for His steadfast love, His mercy, and for His wondrous works to the children of man.” How often do we forget to thank the Lord for so, so many blessings we clearly do have, along with the challenges we face?

Finally, the psalmist himself speaks of the “goodness” of the Lord (Psalm 107:1) and calls upon “the redeemed of the Lord” (which includes us, through Jesus and His sacrifice for our sins and His bringing us to faith) to “say so,” also (v.2). The psalmist calls us “to offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of the Lord’s deeds in songs of joy”(v.22). And we are called to gather with other believers and “extol the Lord in the congregation of the people,” and extol Him in the assembly of the elders” (v.32). That is especially where psalms were to be used - in worship with fellow believers, as well as in our own personal worship and devotions.

“Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things” (v.43). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7 and many other places). And most of all, let us “consider the steadfast love of the Lord” (v.43), which we see most clearly in the gift of His Son, Jesus, in His Word and works for us and His forgiveness earned for us. “Listen to Jesus,” we heard the Father saying to us, too, at the Transfiguration of our Lord last week. The Lord’s continued wisdom and love and mercy be with you all.