A long walk with Martin Luther

Psalm 91:1 - Heretics never cite the Scriptures correctly

2010-06-21T10:50:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:210-211

Psalm 91:1 "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty."

"Then [the devil] says, “Throw yourself down.” See how he acts as he does in many cases for the purpose of persuasion; he even cites the Scriptures. In this way he also conquers the heretics, but not Christ and His church. For the heretics never cite the Scriptures correctly, but always pick out only that by which they might promote their plague. But they are silent about what speaks against them, just as their father and master did here. For if the devil had cited only this part, “that they should keep You in all Your ways” (Matt. 4:6), indeed, according to Luke, who alone writes that he omitted this part, “in all Your ways,” don’t you think the Lord would immediately have hurled his own word back at him, saying, “If they will guard Me in all My ways, why do you not show Me one of these ways, so that you may see whether they will guard Me? But you show Me [a place] where there is no way for Me. But since it is written that they will guard Me in all My ways, you are surely citing that passage foolishly or maliciously, because it has nothing to do with the issue. For from this passage you have no warrant for the statement that they will guard Me in any ways whatever, as you want Me to think and believe, but only in all My ways.” Behold, a skillful enemy anticipated that these things would be raised in objection to him, and therefore he covered it up. So all heretics do also, who adjust all the Scriptures to themselves except for those passages by which they could be refuted. But why does not the Lord show him his trickery in order that he might be confounded? Why does He not show him in this way that He has won the victory, instead of countering with another statement? I believe He acted as He did, in the first place, to teach that a heretic cannot be overcome by staying with the same word, because he slips away and controversies arise. Therefore, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand” (Deut. 19:15; Matt. 18:16). Let law and prophet be adduced with the Gospel. One bare authority can be quibbled about by the contentious and the proud, even if they understand that their own stratagems have been destroyed and detected. Therefore they must be dismissed with the word in which they were uncovered and know themselves to have been uncovered, and we ought to add also other things and at the same time restore with another one the statement which they have corrupted. "

Psalm 91 - Oddballs and the protection of God

2010-06-14T12:13:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:208-209

Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

"The Hebrew reads: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Lord.” I ask you, for God’s sake, why does he add “in the aid” or “in the secret place” of the Most High”? Why “in the protection” or “in the shadow”? Would it not have been enough to say “he who dwells in the Lord” and “who will abide in the God of heaven or in the Most High Himself”? Unless it is because there are those, indeed, because he sees that there will be the proud, the Jews and heretics, who would presume to dwell in God nakedly and want to be directed by God immediately, so to say, rejecting all forms of His aid and protection, with which they ought to have been directed by Him. For these oddballs want to be friends of God and be led by His special control. And so, since they made a shadow for themselves and chose the protection and aid for themselves by means of which they wished to be saved by God, they despise all other shadows and protections of God."

Psalm 91 - Choosing their own ways and set up their own righteiousnesses

2010-06-09T10:55:00.001-04:00

AELW 11:208

PSALM NINETY-ONE

"This entire psalm is an exhortation to the right faith against those who choose their own ways and set up their own righteousnesses, in which they look for God’s help and grace, yea, rather tempt Him, as did the Jews first, then heretics and all their imitators, the oddballs, the superstitious, and the proud in their own mind.

All such people, who are thus driven by spirits of error and borne by the wind of doctrines, have this habit, that they are not satisfied with the boundaries which their fathers set and with the words of the masters which were given them by one Shepherd (Eccl. 12:11); they always want more. And in this they dare like the saints to call upon God as Guide and Protector and hope for the guardianship of angels. It is against the rage and madness of these people that this psalm speaks"

Psalm 90 - You fill in the blank...

2010-06-09T10:50:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:207

Psalm 90:7 "Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us,

and establish the work of our hands upon us;

yes, establish the work of our hands!"

"17. And let the brightness [Hebrew, “beauty”] of the Lord our God be upon us. This is the beauty, “the light of Thy countenance signed upon us” (Ps. 4:6), a spiritual beauty. And direct Thou the works of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands, do Thou direct it. In Hebrew: “Make firm the work of our hands upon us. And establish the work of our hands.” It is easy to harmonize them. But what is the reason for the repetition? Some say it is because of …"(Luther did not finish the sentence)

Psalm 85 - Mercy & Truth

2010-06-02T11:36:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:165-166

"In all these ways Christ is the Truth, for He is the fulfillment of all types and the true and firm salvation and faithful good, neither lying nor vain. (4) Truth, in a way that I think fits better to the theme, is called the faithful setting forth of what was promised over against reduction and omission of what was promised. Thus Christ is the Truth, because He showed forth the promise made to the fathers concerning Him, so that God might be true in His promises, since the salvation which He promised has been given. Hence Lyra well explains it when he says, “ ‘Mercy and truth have met each other,’ that is, they have come together in one Person. For by the mercy of God the Word took on flesh for the purpose of fulfilling the truth of the promise made to the fathers of the Old Testament concerning the incarnation of the Son of God.” For the fact that He promised us the Son was the sheer mercy of God. And so He Himself, in His coming, is Mercy, that is, the result of God’s mercy which He promised. But the fact that God sent Him was the truth and faithfulness of God. And so He is Himself the Truth, that is, the realization of the truth of God offering the promise. Therefore what God the Father promised was Mercy; and what He sent was Truth. And so they are wonderfully mingled and brought together. The fact that God is true in the things promised is His mercy, not our merit. But the fact that He has mercy is His truth. And so, when He has mercy, He becomes true [that is, He keeps faith and promise], and when He keeps faith or remains true, He has mercy. And both are in Christ. If He had given not freely but on the basis of merit, then righteousness and truth would have met each other, and it would not have been either mercy or grace, but a debt. But now He has freely given, so that He might be Mercy and Grace, and true nevertheless, because He had made Himself a debtor by promising and not by receiving. But of what did He make Himself a debtor by promise but sheer grace and mercy? Thus mercy and truth have met each other, namely, as set forth in one deed and work. But if they have met, have they then come together into one as from separate parts? Whence, then, comes mercy? And whence truth? Is mercy from the earth and truth from heaven? It is not the places that should be distinguished in this way, but the inclinations and indeed the results of God’s goodness. For the divine goodness is merciful in one mood and true in another; merciful for our sake, but true for His own sake. And thus in a certain manner they have met each other from different parts when, mindful of us, He wished to have mercy, and, having thought of Himself, He wished to be true. Or perhaps someone could find something else that is better. How have justice and peace now kissed? As Christ is God’s Mercy and Truth for us, so also righteousness and peace are ours from God. Lyra says, “Christ provided righteousness for us and thus gave us peace, appeasing the things that are in heaven and the things that are on earth. For by His suffering He made satisfaction for us according to the way of righteousness, etc.” A good gloss! For as God, angry because of our unrighteousness, did not have peace with us, so, having been turned, He sent this righteousness for us by which He also sent peace at the same time."

Psalm 85 - The truth remains the same

2010-06-02T11:31:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:163

"Therefore the psalm has three parts: In the first the psalmist gives thanks for the blessing of the coming incarnation; in the second he prays for it to come, and in the third he foretells that it will come."

Psalm 85, Verse 9 - Fear is a faithful gurdian

2010-06-02T11:23:00.001-04:00

AELW 11:163

Psalm 85:9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

"He teaches who those are whom he called “converted to the heart” and saints and the Lord’s people. They are the devout and concerned in childlike fear and reverence. They fear that they themselves could be the kind of people described above. For “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 1:7). And not only are they such, they also stay that way, for then come the next words, “that glory may dwell in our land.” Fear is a faithful guardian, preserving the salvation given to us. Without fear it is quickly lost."

Psalm 85, verse 8 - God has spoken to us

2010-05-24T08:51:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:160

Psalm 85:8, Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.

"What He will speak, for the Word of God is perceived only by hearing. It is the nature of the Word to be heard. But when we shall see what He will form and (to put it thus) put into appearance and fashion, it will be different. It is the nature of a form and an image to be seen and not to be heard. Therefore, for the Lord Himself to speak is to give out and manifest His Word, but as something to be heard. Thus God the Father has spoken to us, that is, He has shown us the Son, His Word, in the hearing of faith. And this is the Gospel of God which He had promised before through the prophets, one of whom is here saying, “I will hear what He will speak.” And this speaking, this showing of the Word, this proclamation of the Gospel He accomplished by the ministry of the apostles and their successors, for in them He has spoken to the whole world."

Psalm 85, verse 4 - Convert us, O God our Savior

2010-05-17T11:22:00.002-04:00

AELW 11:15-157

Psalm 85:4. Convert us, O God our Savior, and put away Thy wrath from us.

"Having explained himself how he wanted to be understood, namely, that he is speaking in spirit, he now prays for the things which he had foretold would come. Consequently he is now speaking also about spiritual conversion and wrath. This is, therefore, supremely necessary, because this cannot be done by human strength, only by divine strength. This is true because God is hidden in the flesh, so that no man can recognize Him unless he has been enlightened by God’s spiritual grace. Hence blessed Peter, who had been thus converted and said, “You are Christ, the Son of the living God,” heard Him say: “Blessed are you, Simon, Bar-Jona. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 16:16–17). And in John 6:45 we read: “They shall all be taught by God”; and in Matt. 11:25: “Thou hast revealed these things to the little ones and hidden them from the wise and prudent.” [And again (John 6:44): “No one comes to Me unless My Father, who has sent Me, draws him.”] Therefore no one can be converted to God unless he has first been converted to Christ, as He says (John 14:6): “No one comes to the Father, but by Me.”

Psalm 84 - God can never be exhausted

2010-05-13T10:27:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:144

Psalm 84:4. Blessed are they who dwell in Thy house, O Lord. They will praise Thee forever and ever.

"Since we receive everything from God, there is nothing that we can render Him but praise, and praise to Him alone. For a person cannot praise God only unless he understands that there is nothing in himself worthy of praise but that all that is worthy of praise is of God and from God. But since God is eternally praiseworthy, because He is the infinite Good and can never be exhausted, therefore they will praise Him forever and ever"

Psalm 84:3 - Our first altar

2010-05-11T09:49:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:141

"3 Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God."

"Our first altar is Christ, Himself the Priest and the Sacrifice and our Altar, on which we are placed and offered to God the Father, and in Him we offer all our sacrifices. And He in His body presented us to God, mortified in the flesh but made alive in the spirit. But if He offered us in His body, then His body is our altar, since the offering cannot be made except on the altar. His cross was His altar on which He was Himself given for us, offering us in Himself."

Psalm 81:7, Down to Hell and back again, a sinners tale

2010-05-10T13:23:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:108

"81:7 In distress you called, and I delivered you;

I answered you in the secret place of thunder;

I tested you at the waters of Meribah"

"When the soul has sinned, immediately there begins the clamor and growling of the conscience, which is truly a noisy sound in God’s ears. For this is “a violent taking of spoils with tumult” (Is. 9:5). How does he say at the same place that it is not the despoiling of Christ? This is indeed the manifestation of the storm but the hidden place of calm and peace. On the contrary, in the devil’s case it is an outward show of calm but in secret an uproar and a storm. For in the open he tickles the sense, and inwardly he disturbs the mind. But Christ openly disturbs the sense and inwardly tickles and calms the mind. The devil leads to the heavens and brings down to hell; Christ brings down to hell and back again."

Word Study - Unicorn...רְאֵם (reʾēm) ...continued...

2010-05-05T11:14:00.001-04:00

The word for "Wild Ox, Rhinoceros, Unicorn", occurs in scripture as noted below and is translated in the ESV as wild ox, but sometimes in the Vulgate as unicorn ...

Nu 23:22; (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

"God brings them out of Egypt and is for them like the horns of the wild ox."(ESV)

Num 24:8; (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

"God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows."(ESV)

Dt 33:17 (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

A firstborn bull—he has majesty,and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples, all of them, to the ends of the earth; they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.”(ESV)

Job 39:9, 10; (Vulgate Rhinoceros)

“9 Is the wild ox willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you bind him in the furrow with ropes,or will he harrow the valleys after you?"(ESV)

Ps 22:21 (Vulgate 21:22) (Vulgate Unicornium)

"21 Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!"(ESV

Ps. 29:6 (Vulgate 28:6) (Vulgate Unicornium)

"6 He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild ox."(ESV)

Ps. 78:69 (Vulgate 77:69) (Vulgate Unicornium)

"69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens, like the earth, which he has founded forever." (ESV)

Ps. 92:10 (Vulgate 91:10) (Vulgate Unicornis)

"10 But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil."(ESV)

Isa 34:7 (Vulgate 34:7) (Vulgate Unicornes)

"7 Wild oxen shall fall with them, and young steers with the mighty bulls. Their land shall drink its fill of blood, and their soil shall be gorged with fat."(ESV)

Psalm 78 verse 69 - Unicorns?

2010-05-05T10:09:00.001-04:00

AELW 11:88-89

Psalm 78:69 (maybe worth further study on how... רָ֭מִים ...is translated in the Vulgate as unicornium?

The difference between...??? (Reem and Ruwm?)

7214 רְאֵם [râ’em, râ’eym, reym, rem /reh·ame/] n m. From 7213; TWOT 2096a; GK 8028; Nine occurrences; AV translates as “unicorn” nine times. 1 probably the great aurochs or wild bulls which are now extinct. The exact meaning is not known..(Strong's)

AND

7311 יָרוּם, יָרַם, רוּם, רָם, רָמַם [ruwm /room/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 2133; GK 3727 and 3753 and 8123 and 8225 and 8249; 194 occurrences; AV translates as “(lift”, “hold”, “etc … ) up” 63 times, “exalt” 47 times, “high” 25 times, “offer” 13 times, “give” five times, “heave” three times, “extol” three times, “lofty” three times, “take” three times, “tall” three times, “higher” twice, and translated miscellaneously 24 times. 1 to rise, rise up, be high, be lofty, be exalted. 1a (Qal). 1a1 to be high, be set on high. 1a2 to be raised, be uplifted, be exalted. 1a3 to be lifted, rise. 1b (Polel). 1b1 to raise or rear (children), cause to grow up. 1b2 to lift up, raise, exalt. 1b3 to exalt, extol. 1c (Polal) to be lifted up. 1d (Hiphil). 1d1 to raise, lift, lift up, take up, set up, erect, exalt, set on high. 1d2 to lift up (and take away), remove. 1d3 to lift off and present, contribute, offer, contribute. 1e (Hophal) to be taken off, be abolished. 1f (Hithpolel) to exalt oneself, magnify oneself. 2 (Qal) to be rotten, be wormy.(Strong's)

"69 He built his sanctuary like the high heavens,

like the earth, which he has founded forever." (ESV)

^"69 et aedificavit sicut unicornium sanctificium suum in terra quam fundavit in saecula "(Vulgate)

" 69 וַיִּ֣בֶן כְּמֹו־רָ֭מִים מִקְדָּשֹׁ֑ו כְּ֝אֶ֗רֶץ יְסָדָ֥הּ לְעֹולָֽם׃" (Hebrew)

AND FINALLY...Luther's comments...

"69. And He built His sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which He founded forever. Solinus says: “The unicorn is a most fearful monster, with a savage roar, the body of a horse, the feet of an elephant, a pig’s tail, a deer’s head. The horn protrudes in the middle of its forehead, of marvelous magnificence, to a length of four feet, so sharp that what it strikes is easily pierced by its thrust. It does not come into man’s power alive, and while it can be killed, it cannot be captured.” This is what he says."

Further note on who Solinus is...

"Gaius Julius Solinus compiled a summary of the history, geography, customs, and products of countries of the ancient world soon after A.D. 200. This work, Collectanea rerum memorabilium apparently is deeply in debt to Pliny’s Natural History. It was later revised under the name Polyhistor, which was mistaken for the name of the author."

Psalm 78, Verse 13 - Prosperity and Adversity

2010-05-04T09:07:00.003-04:00

AELW 11:53

Both prosperity and the lack thereof attack us by leading us to worship a false god, that of the perceived riches in money...

13. He divided the sea and led them through, and He made the waters stand as in a vessel.

"Now he begins to list the miracles which were done among our fathers and which they and we have forgotten. The sea is the world allegorically, and the mingling of prosperity and adversity. And through the midst of these He has led the holy apostles and the martyrs, our fathers, into the heavenly realms. And He made them stand, so that from either side neither prosperity on the right nor adversity on the left would be able to overwhelm them. Faith is the vessel which holds these waters and bids them stand and not do harm and by its spirit makes its way through their midst."

And in the Large Catechism...

"Many a person imagines that he has God and everything he needs, provided he has money and property. He relies upon these, boasts about them, and feels so immovably secure that he cares bout no one. But look, he too has a god, named mammon, that is the money and property to which he has given his whole heart. Mammon is the world's favorite idol One who has money and property has a sense of security and feels as happy and fearless as if he were sitting in the middle of paradise. On the other hand, one who has nothing is as insecure and anxiety-ridden as if he had never heard of God Very few can be found who keep a cheerful spirit and neither fret nor complain when they are without mammon."(LC - First Part, The Ten Commandments, paragraph 4)

Psalm 78, Verse 12, The experience of sight agrees with hearing

2010-05-03T10:34:00.001-04:00

AELW 11:52-53

"¹²In the sight of their fathers he performed wonders

in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zoan."

"12. Wonderful things He did in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt and in the field of Tanis. He does not say “in their sight” but “in the sight of their fathers.” Yet they were accused of having forgotten the benefits which they had heard and come to know from their fathers. This is to say that Christ did miracles in the sight of the apostles and their successors among the Jewish people and the Gentiles throughout the world. And not only have we heard, but we have also known them. In German, Wir wissen, dass es also ist [as we have heard and seen], and we cannot deny it. For the experience of sight agrees with hearing [corroborates it], just as then the children could not deny that they had been led out of Egypt. For though they only heard about the exodus, they nevertheless saw that they were in the place to which their fathers had been led. So we, too, though we did not see Christ’s suffering and the wonders by which He led mankind out of the world into the church, we do see by experience that we are in the church. For all that we hear and read agrees with our experience. Therefore, like them we, too, are deservedly rebuked because though we see that we are in a land flowing with milk and honey, we nevertheless forget the works of God by means of which He led us and our fathers into it (that is, His cross and suffering)."

Psalm 78 verse 7, Like a hundredfold of marbles

2010-04-26T10:36:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:45

7. That they should set their hope in God and

not forget the works of the Lord, but keep His commandments.

Here begins the fertility of words in this psalm. For this reason the Lord commanded the Gospel to be preached, that men might learn to believe and hope in God, to love heavenly things and despise the earthly, and that we might always have in memory the works which He did for us in the flesh. They increase hope and faith in a wonderful way. One who has forgotten and has no interest in such great things that the Lord has done for us, one who regards them as small and does not constantly give thanks, he, it is true, neither believes nor hopes in God and has truly forgotten His works. But he puts his hope in other things, namely, the creature, serving the creature rather than the Creator, “who is blessed forever! Amen” (Rom. 1:25). If he had regard for the works of Christ and valued them and believed them to be true, he would undoubtedly understand that they had been set forth for him as an example and as a testimony of things to come, and he would certainly try to imitate Him by believing and hoping in Him and by despising all earthly things as He did. [If anyone would meditate on the suffering of Christ that was done for him and be unmoved by it, he would truly be like marble a hundredfold.]"

Psalm 77 verses 12-14 - The Blind See

2010-04-23T09:50:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:28

"13 Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?

14 You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples."

"13–14. Who is a great God like our God? Thou art the God who workest wonders. He is great because He does great and wonderful things, namely, the ones on which the psalmist said he would meditate. But the question is asked, “How are all His works great and wonderful.?”All the works which He does in the saints must necessarily be great and wonderful, because they have been prefigured by wonderful and great things. But if the literal and deathbound and transitory works were wonderful, how much more will their truth and the realities signified be wonderful and great? But since these were perceptible to the senses, they were thought about, and they were praised with the physical mouth. But here he says that he will treat of them inwardly, namely, in spirit, by contemplating their spiritual elements, where the physical eyes cannot see. And why do we delay? All things done in the past become wonderful to the present day through faith. Faith enlightens the blind, strengthens the halt, and causes the deaf to hear. So the Lord in the Gospel never did a miracle unless He first had the people’s faith, so that He did not simply do a shadowy miracle, but also a true one. Thus we read in the last chapter of Mark (Mark 16:17): “These signs, however, will follow those who believe in Me”; and in Matthew (Matt. 11:5): “The blind see.” And it is truly a great thing to heal and justify the soul, so that it despises everything visible and pins its hope on what is in heaven. Great mighty works!"

Psalm 77 - Verse 6 - Strive to chew the cud

2010-04-16T09:14:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:23

6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;

let me meditate in my heart.”

Then my spirit made a diligent search:

"this happens most fittingly in the night, both literally and spiritually. The night is spiritual. It means to forget everything external and to be snatched up inwardly, and then neither to consider nor to see anything visible. Wherefore they are foolish who say, “What do I have to do with the Bible and the Gospel? I know those things.” O vanity! One must meditate on this, for it is necessary not only to have a cloven hoof, but also to chew the cud;* then, indeed, you will get the point. For this is the garden of nuts (Song of Sol. 6:11)."

*That is, one must get the whole message. Cf. Lev. 11:3.

Psalm 77 - Shifty Eyes

2010-04-15T07:45:00.000-04:00

AELW 11:20

Psalm 77:4 You hold my eyelids open;

I am so troubled that I cannot speak.

"4. My eyes awaited the night watches, that is, so that they might not be watchful in conformity with the devil, by having them wickedly open. The Hebrew puts it better, “I prohibited the upward look of my eyes,” that is, “I did not dare lift them up to heaven because of the knowledge of my vileness and unworthiness,” because he is thoroughly humbled, he also casts down the eyes of the flesh and makes his way as a humble and quiet man. This is the sign of the most genuine remorse and recollection. [But much more does he incline his eyes in the spirit (that is, he does not lift up his thought); see the gloss.BELOW] Just so, on the contrary, the unprincipled and vagrant man scatters his most shifty eyes in every direction. But the sense of our translation is that he who is remorseful also wakes up early and is ready for the works of the Lord. He always tries to be the first and is thoroughly prepared and in this way always anticipates the watches and what must be done."

GLOSS - A marginal addition. The gloss adds: “I forbade my eyes to look up to keep them from being on the lookout according to the flesh, lest I think thoughts of arrogance.” Cf. WA 527, 9–11.

Psalm 77 - The terror of the Law, the sweetness of the Gospel

2010-04-14T08:36:00.003-04:00

AELW 11:19

Psalm 77, verse 2

In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;

in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;

my soul refuses to be comforted.

"This is the trouble of remorse and the total wretchedness of this life, as suggested by blessed Augustine on this passage. [But the fact that he says “my” seems to express the trouble which he stirred up for himself in his meditation.] For the remorseful man understands his wretchedness and sees that he is in the midst of trouble and trial, since in fact the life of man on earth is trial and warfare (Job 7:1). But this salutary knowledge in a wonderful way makes a man remorseful and turns him away from earthly things and turns him toward God. "

Psalm 76 - And after the last plague the people were freed

2009-08-20T08:19:00.003-04:00

AELW 11:17-19

"The first [water, Ex. 7:17 ff.]: “My soul refuses to be comforted” (v. 2). Here the water of pleasure has been turned into blood, so that one cannot drink it or have pleasure in drinking it, for such water is blood and death for the soul.

The second [frogs, Ex. 8:2 ff.]: “And was exercised” (v. 3). Here are born the frogs that weary the soul with their harsh croaking. They are the memories and remnants of past sins that make the soul sick of pleasures.

The third [gnats, Ex. 8:16 ff.]: “And my spirit swooned away” (v. 3). This third sign is effective. The magicians of Egypt cannot imitate it, because here is the finger of God (Ex. 8:18). A man, too, can turn water into blood and pleasure into disgust, as well as stir up the croaking of frogs and the clamor of the conscience, but they cannot produce gnats. These are the tiny flies that sting and bite sharply without noise. They denote the proddings of conscience and remorse.

The fourth [flies, Ex. 8:21 ff.]: “My eyes awaited the night watches” (v. 4). Here follows the putting out of the evil light, so that now one does not want to see the things that are of the world. This is what flies of a different kind do. They keep us from seeing external things. And so “God has given them the spirit of insensibility, eyes that they should not see” (Rom. 11:8).

The fifth [death of the cattle, Ex. 9:3 ff.]: “I have been troubled,” or, according to the Hebrew, “I was stunned.” Here he becomes confounded and senseless, when the promptings of the flesh and its lusts are killed like cattle, the tickling of desire and of all that is in the world ceases.

The sixth [boils, Ex. 9:9 ff.]: “And I did not speak” (v. 4). He sends boils and ulcers in the sixth place. These inflict suffering so that they impose silence on all sins, so that there is no desire either to speak or to think of them. Often, indeed, we are not even moved, and still we think and speak about evils.

The seventh [hail, Ex. 9:18 ff.]: “I thought upon the days of old” (v. 5). These are the hard and strong thoughts about the coming Judgment. They crush everything green, everything that sprouts from the flesh.

The eighth [locusts, Ex. 10:4 ff.]: “And I meditated in the night with my own heart” (v. 6). This is the locust, incessantly gnawing at the carnal soul and eating into its vigorous flesh.

The ninth [darkness, Ex. 10:21 ff.]: “And I was exercised” (v. 6). This is a darkness that is felt for three days. During that time nothing can be seen or done, so that, instead of the lust of the flesh and of the eyes and the pride of life, faith, hope, and charity, which those three would darken, might shine forth.

The tenth [death of the firstborn, Ex. 12:29 ff.]: “And I searched my spirit” (v. 6). Here the firstborn are killed."

Psalm 76 - The Name of God is great

2009-08-19T11:47:00.001-04:00

AELW 11:6

Psalm 76:1 In Judah God is known; His Name is great in Israel.

"The name of God is great wherever He is, and He is everywhere. But it is not called great except where it is known to be great, namely, in the mind and heart of one who worships and magnifies Him. Hence “the name is great” is the same as “to have great knowledge concerning it.” But great knowledge is to know its greatness. And this is what it means that God is known in Judah."

Volume 11 - Psalms 76 - 126

2009-08-18T11:27:00.001-04:00

LUTHER’S
WORKS
VOLUME 11
FIRST LECTURES
ON THE PSALMS
II
Psalms 76–126
HILTON C. OSWALD
Editor
HERBERT J. A. BOUMAN
Translator

Psalm 75 - How to study the Bible

2009-08-18T11:22:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:461-462

A LESSON

"All who want to study in the Bible and sacred letters should with extreme diligence take note of this verse for themselves: In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of pure wine (v. 8). That is to say, Scripture is not in our power nor in the ability of our mind. Therefore in its study we must in no way rely on our understanding, but we must become humble and pray that He may bring that understanding to us, since it is not given except to those who are bowed down and humble. Let the misery of the Jews serve as an example. They show their pride in saying: “He has not dealt thus with every nation, and His judgments He has not made manifest to them” (Ps. 147:20). They think that they have Scripture and the cup completely in their hand and power, and for that reason they interpret it in accordance with their own idea. But here the psalmist says that it is in the hand of the Lord. For God can remove Scripture or its meaning from those who do not know and do not pay attention and think that they still have it, as happened to the Jews, since it has been taken away from them. It has been removed in this way, that it has been shown that the cup was not in their hand but in the Lord’s hand, and He gives it to whom He will. Job 9:5: “He has removed mountains, and they did not know it.” So also in the preceding psalm: “They did not know, as in the going out above the highest top, for they put up their ensigns for signs” (Ps. 74:5, 4). “In the going out,” that is, in the outward letter and shadow, and they chose it above the top, that is, they established the literal sense above the spiritual sense.

Thus it happens to all the proud and stubborn who rely on their own puffed-up idea that God tips the truth and the pure wine away from them toward others and leaves them the dregs, as long as they are ignorant So it happens to the heretics, who strongly insist that they have the truth for themselves, and before they understand, they have the dregs, which they drink, for God has taken the pure wine away from them, and He sends them the operation of error, as the apostle says (2 Thess. 2:10), because the cup of pure wine is in His hand. The pure truth cannot stand at the same time with the pride of the heart."

Psalm 74 - Defiling Holy Things

2009-08-17T10:33:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:453-454

"This psalm (Ps. 74) can also be interpreted as referring to our extremely bad morals, for we are as bad as the Turks or worse in the way we profane holy things. This rage of offenses in defiling holy things is lasting long enough, so that the church quite properly prays: “O God, why hast Thou cast us off unto the end? Why is Thy wrath enkindled? What things the enemy has done wickedly in the sanctuary!” Who is the enemy? The devil. But also: “A man’s foes are those of his own household” (Matt. 10:36), and “My friends and my neighbors have drawn near and stood against me” (Ps. 38:11).

First, in the distribution and handling of the church’s endowments and goods, who can enumerate the evils and abuses?

Second, in the luxury, pomp, and pride of the priests.

Third, in the foolhardy way of administering the sacraments, the Word of God, the power of the judiciary and jurisdiction. In these matters things are happening in the church of such a nature that the Lord puts up with them with more displeasure than with the blasphemies of the Turks.

Fourth. See how many monstrosities take place “in the midst of the solemnity” and whether all of God’s festival days are not being suppressed and silenced in the land? Since indeed festivals are today observed so that people may more freely do the evils that they could not do on other days because of their manual labor. Here we do not see our signs, but they put up their ensigns for signs, and they set fire to the sanctuary of God and defile it with every kind of evil lust and sins. In this way God’s name is provoked and blasphemed in our midst. Therefore God seems to have turned His right hand away from the midst of His bosom to the end.

But perhaps it does not yet appear how they have thrown it down with ax and hatchet and have cut down its gates with axes at the same time. The Turk does this in a mystical and literal manner, while we do it spiritually, as shown above in the commentary, not indeed by heretical teachings but by offensive words and deeds, in such a way that the Word of God would now seem to be preached in vain, because there are no gates through which it might enter. But axes, that is, the most serious kind of offenses, have powerfully cut them down."

Psalm 74 - Speech like a cancer

2009-08-17T10:20:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:441

Psalm 74:6. As with axes in a grove of trees they cut down at once its gates.

"This is the condition of the treacherous and heretics, that they are not content with their own destruction but destroy many with them and pour forth their poison and spread it far and wide, as the apostle says: “Their speech spreads like a cancer” (2 Tim. 2:17), and their speech indeed is profitable for the subversion of the hearers (2 Tim. 2:14). Here the psalmist complains of the same thing when he says: “As with axes, etc.” It is not a great thing that trees and stones are destroyed, nor does the prophet lament this. For, according to Augustine, he will not be great who thinks it a great thing that trees and stones fall, and mortals die, but that they are destroyed in spirit, as also the Lord shows as he weeps over Jerusalem. The Romans devastated the Jews physically, but they devastate themselves far worse by means of their teachings."

Psalm 74 - Faith has an exit from visible things

2009-08-12T14:09:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:440

"For faith does not put up evident things, but rather things that do not appear. Nor does it put them up at the entrance from above, but at the entrance from below, or at the exit from below. Note that there is a remarkable agreement in the words. Faith has an exit from visible things and an entrance to the invisible things above, and therefore it is the sign or signs of things that do not appear. Unbelief, on the other hand, has an exit from invisible things and an entrance to visible things from above. That is, the spirit through humility leads upward from the letter and the flesh, while unbelief through pride leads downward from the spirit."

Psalm 73 - Better than others?

2009-08-11T12:33:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:417-418

"How few are there even today whose feet are not moved when they see the prosperity of sinners. When one looks at them in their riches, display of luxury, and gluttony, he stops and looks with open mouth. Indeed, in the presence of some spectacle we stand and gape, and meanwhile forget our own affairs. He is an exceedingly rare person who goes his way with eyes and ears closed. But these things, too, are for many a cause of lukewarmness, because when they look at the corrupt habits of others, they regard themselves as better than those people by far, because they themselves are not like other men. And so, by the very fact of pleasing themselves they become abominable to God, failing to consider that perhaps those people, soon to be converted, will be much better than they. Meanwhile they themselves have buried the talent of God’s grace in the ground."

Psalm 71 - Strengh of Christ

2009-08-06T09:03:00.003-04:00

AELW 19:398-399

"My mouth will tell of your righteousness,

of your salvation all day long,

though I know not its measure."
Psalm 71:15

"My mouth shall show forth Thy righteousness, as if to say: “I add to all Thy praise in this way, that I proclaim Thy righteousness and invisible salvation, for according to what is seen everything appears unjust and lost. For we are struck down and killed, and yet we are saved by that very fact. And as we praise Thee while we are being struck in this way, we confess that this is for our benefit. Others, who praise only the good that they see, do not think so. Thus we are even regarded as unjust, and yet this is our righteousness. And so, always hopeful in evil times, we add praise to total praise.” What follows says the same thing: Because I have not known learning, as if to say: “I do not, like them, make my way in the letter and visible righteousness and the Law, which Moses, or a man, wrote. But I will enter, I will go inside, I will approach inwardly to spiritual righteousness, which is the strength of Christ, which cannot be written in letters like the law of Moses. And this is the whole reason why I am regarded by them as unrighteous, since they have only the letter and the written righteousness. But because of this, the more righteous I am, the more lost I am regarded by those who know only the literal and external salvation and who praise God only in it. But, this having been despised, I do not acknowledge it, and it does not please me. Therefore I will add to all this Thy praise, and I will enter into the power of the Lord.”

But these words seem obscure. Yet when they are taken with reference to the Jews, they will first appear easily understood. Then follows: Thou hast taught me, O God (v. 17), namely, “Thou Thyself, in all these things, so that I may not acknowledge the letter but enter into Thy power, etc.”

Psalm 71 - In sickness and in health...

2009-08-06T08:58:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:398

"But as for me, I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more."
Psalm 71:14

"14. But I will always hope, even when they seek evil for me. Hope is easier in good times but more difficult in bad times. Therefore only a saint always hopes, always blesses, like Job. The next words express the same truth: I will add to all Thy praise, as if to say: “I will praise Thee not only in good times, when there is material for total praise, but also in bad times, when there appears to be no material for praise, except for those who live in hope and in the present evil and visible things see and hope for invisible things at the same time. One who does not see such things, but sees only the present, cannot praise God except in good times, for he does not know what evil is and what it is for. Therefore he cannot add to all praise like the one who hopes. Such a one knows that these things happen not only not unjustly but even serve a useful purpose, which those people do not realize. Therefore he continues:"

Psalm 70 - A footnote

2009-08-05T08:56:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:391, note 8

"This passage Scripture teaches the same as blessed Gregory, who said: “Whenever we look at sinners, we must first of all weep over ourselves in their misfortune.” Behold, how he does not please himself, but is weak with the weak."

to which is noted...

"Similar expressions are found in Gregory’s De pastorali cura, e.g., II, 10: “Whenever something in another person’s weakness displeases you, consider what you are yourself, so that your spirit may curb its tendency to chide him because it fears in itself what it chides in others.” WA III, 446, n. 1."

Psalm 70 - Make haste O God, to deliver me

2009-08-05T08:51:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:391

Psalm 70:1
"Make haste, O God to deliver me;
make haste to help me, O Lord"

"Therefore this psalm, whose opening words we recite so often day and night, is to be commended to all priests, so that they will not mumble it so coldly and perfunctorily, but help the church of God with this prayer with all their heart. For if the church were helped, we, too, would be saved, since it is our mother hen and we are its chicks. It is not without reason that the Holy Spirit decreed the opening words of this psalm as the beginning in every canonical hour. Therefore remember to say: “O God (since there is no one else to help the church except Thee, our God), be pleased to deliver me (that is, do Thou help me, so that tyrants, heretics, and those easily offended may not oppress me. And when I shall have been helped by Thee and first have salvation for myself, I can easily come to the assistance of others with Thy help), therefore hasten to help me.” Truly, we are not without tyrants and persecutors today who oppress the poor and do not judge the causes of widows and orphans. Since none but the rich and the powerful can afford the ceremony and din of the court, the poor man who is drawn to court will have spent more than he ever had before justice would be done to him. Against them we must pray that those whom they persecute be patient. Furthermore, there is no lack of heretics and many scoffers, full of inconstancy and trifles."

Psalm 69 - Without fear

2009-08-04T11:14:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:367-368

"16. For Thy mercy is kind, as explained in the gloss. At the time of the martyrs mercy was very kind, because the wretchedness was very bitter. So it was also at the time of the heretics. This is now much more the ease, but to none except a few. For to the few the great wretchedness of the church appears in its peace, which the Lord bewailed above all when He wept over Jerusalem and said (Luke 19:42): “If you had known even now, in this your day, what makes for your peace; but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Thus if we, too, would know the things that make for our peace, namely, since they are worse than every affliction, we would without doubt act differently. As I have said, everybody would shape and make the biggest affliction for himself. For thus it is written: “Thou hast prepared a table before me against all who afflict me” (Ps. 23:5). Let no priest under any circumstances approach the altar, unless he is burdened with many afflictions and filled with many miseries. But since peace and security do not let us see such things, let us labor and show what we ought to consider, that we may see many miseries, so that thus we may magnify and make propitious the mercy of the Lord. For it is not possible to make the mercy of God large and good, unless a person first makes his miseries large and evil or recognizes them to be such. To make God’s mercy great is not, as is commonly supposed, to think that God considers sins as small or that He does not punish them. Indeed, this especially means to reduce mercy. For how can one who regards evil as something small regard as something great the good by means of which the evil is removed? Hence our total concern must be to magnify and aggravate our sins and thus always to accuse them more and more, and earnestly judge and condemn them. The more deeply a person has condemned himself and magnified his sins, the more is he fit for the mercy and grace of God. This is what the apostle has forbidden, that we should please ourselves in even one point (Rom. 15:1), but that we should above all and in all things be displeased and thus with Job fear all our works (Job 9:28). For he who is pleased with himself cannot stand in the fear of God and be without presumption. But what is worse than being without fear?"

Psalm 69 - The foolish heir

2009-08-04T11:10:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:361

"there is no greater iniquity than the highest equity, no greater injustice than the highest justice, no greater loss than the greatest gain, so there is no greater adversity than prosperity and no greater danger than no danger at all. This is so because it makes people careless. “When they shall say, ‘peace and security,’ then shall sudden destruction come upon them” (1 Thess. 5:3). Nothing is safe where everything is safe, nothing so sick as when everything is healthy; there is no temptation when all is temptation, no persecution when all is persecution. Thus the devil now fights the church with the greatest persecution, because he fights with no persecution, but rather with security and idleness. Therefore woe to us, who are so snatched away by present things and foolishly do not see the devil’s trap! We act like the foolish heir who knew only how to squander the magnificent estate left by his parents and did nothing to build it up but always carried away from the pile."

Psalm 69 - To which I would humbly add..."Christ is still Lord of the Church."

2009-07-30T09:41:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:351-352

"This psalm speaks literally about the suffering of the Lord in His own person. At the same time all the sufferings and weaknesses of the church are also told here. These can be classified in three groups.

The first was the trouble and persecution in the time of the martyrs, and because this was perceptible, it was easily understood as referring to it [namely, the persecution and punishments]. And there God really chose the weak things to put the strong to shame (1 Cor. 1:27). His church was weak at that time, and through that weakness it conquered, not by the power of this age.

The second was the presence of heretics in the time of the teachers [error and heresy]. And there God really chose the foolish to put the wise to shame (1 Cor. 1:27), that is, those who are wise in their own eyes. The church conquered their wisdom through the foolishness of faith.

The third is now the prevalence of the lukewarm and the evil [peace and security]. For surfeit now reigns to such an extent that there is much worship of God everywhere, but it is only going through the motions, without love and spirit, and there are very few with any fervor. And all this happens because we think we are something and are doing enough. Consequently we try nothing, and we hold to no strong emotion, and we do much to ease the way to heaven, by means of indulgences, by means of easy doctrines, feeling that one sigh is enough. And here God properly chose the things that are not to destroy the things that are. For one who from a sincere heart considers himself to be nothing without a doubt is fervent and hastens toward progress and that which is good. Concerning all three of these he prays here: Save Me, O Lord, for the waters have come up to My soul (v. 1). The waters were the sufferings which the Jews inflicted on Christ. The waters were the persecutors of the martyrs, let loose against the church by demons. The waters were and are the heretics let loose against the same church by the same demons. The waters are the vast number of lukewarm and nominal Christians let loose on the church to the present day by the same demons. In the past the psalmist cried out against tyrants and heretics. He is still crying out now against those half-Christians, saying: “The waters have come up to My soul,” and other words to follow. All of these are now going strong. About them Mal. 1:8 says: “If you offer what is lame and the sick, is it not evil? Offer it to your leader to see if it will please him, or if he will regard you with favor, says the Lord of hosts.” For in fact this kind of praying and singing is going on in the churches, in a sluggish spirit and on one foot (that is, with the body only), namely, the left one so that if that kind of homage were offered to a man, it would be despised. How much more, then, will it be spurned by so great a majesty! And the whole presence of the devil is against us, to make half-Christians in this way. We think he is gone, but he is very much present. Indeed, he does not fight us with adversity or heresy, because he perceives that there he would be overcome, but with prosperity, security, and peace. All of these come because we are without the fear of God and do not consider ourselves as altogether nothing but think that we are doing enough, as I said earlier. Therefore the church is in a bad way, for “Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter” (Is. 38:17). As Bernard says, “What was bitter under the tyrants is more bitter under heretics and most bitter under peaceful and secure conditions.” Therefore these waters are now coming up to His soul."

Psalm 68 - Fear is the highest form of worship

2009-07-29T15:33:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:346

"The more the saints come to know the goodness, wisdom, and majesty of God, the more they conduct themselves with fear and reverence toward Him, so that they truly rejoice in Him with fear. Consequently, if you are not yet filled with awe and reverence, fear and trembling, do not think you know God. “Serve the Lord with fear” (Ps. 2:11), and “Let all the ends of the earth fear Him” (Ps. 67:7). Ps. 47:2 “For the Lord is high, terrible.” “How terrible is this place” (Gen. 28:17). This fear is the highest form of worship of God, and it is not worship unless it is one of perfect love and faith and hope. It is offered in a most excellent way by the angels. For “the pillars of heaven tremble before Him” (Job 26:11). About this Ps. 19:19 says: “The fear of the Lord is holy.” Hence also Jacob in Gen. 31:42 swears by the “Fear of Isaac,” his father. This is one of the names of God used because of the excellence of the gift."

Psalm 68 - According to Luther, my glory is receding ;-)

2009-07-29T15:30:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:341

"any community is a kind of mountain. Hence the church is a mountain. Therefore on the crown (that is, on the chief priesthood) are the hairs as its ornament. For baldness is the head’s disgrace, as hair is its glory. For the hair of the head is its glory and adornment (cf. 1 Cor. 11:7 f.)."

Psalm 62 - The power and hope of the mercy of God

2009-07-27T09:41:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:301

"Between these two, namely, fear of the power and hope of the mercy of God, we must always take our stand, so that in this way we are ground for the Lord between the upper and lower millstone and are crushed between the upper and lower teeth and are passed into the bowels of Christ. Indeed, the work of every creature shows us this instruction, like gold in a furnace and every work in its workshop."

Psalm 60 - So great a majesty speaks to you...

2009-07-24T09:17:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:286

"God has spoken in His holy place. I think it is the first grace and a marvelous honor from God when it has been given to someone so to read and hear the words of Scripture as if he thought he was hearing them from God Himself. How will not such a person feel all his hair stand on end when he thinks of it that so great a majesty is speaking to him? Thus Job 26:14 reads: “And when we have heard scarcely a drop of His Word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of His greatness?” But we read and hear that Word so sluggishly, as if it were offered us by sheer accident or without anyone behind it. And we neither see nor feel how great He is who is speaking. Hence the church deservedly claims this happy boast in saying, “God has spoken in His holy place.” And therefore I will rejoice, he says, since the Word of God is a good and excellent word."

Psalm 59 - A beggar suffers poverty in the hope of future things...

2009-07-23T10:01:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:279

"only the poor have the Gospel preached and it is preached by Christ and the apostles, it is not proper for us to be well off in this life, but rather to suffer poverty in the hope of future things. "

Pslam 59 - Pride of the Spirit

2009-07-23T09:45:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:275

"From this[below] it is clear how correctly Scripture calls such iniquity their own “inventions” in Ps. 81:12: “They shall walk in their own inventions,” because the things established and desired are their own. But this is spiritual idolatry, not to be still but rather to fight back, and this is the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit, because it is precisely through pride of the spirit that grace is resisted. Pride refuses to give in to God, but prefers to yield to itself."

To prefer	inanimate things things of feeling things of reason	to God is	great greater the greatest	iniquity.
This is produced by		greed. wantonness. pride.
And these three are in the world		the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16)

Psalm 54 - The Name of God is Christ Himself

2009-07-22T09:56:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:252-253

I will give praise to Thy name, for it is good. He does not say, “for it bestows good,” but because of its being good, not bestowing good; as if to say: “Because of the name itself, not because of any advantage to be gained by it.” For in the preceding Ps. 52:9 we read: “The name of the Lord is good in the presence of His saints,” that is, the name of the Lord does not give the saints anything good beyond what it is in itself, but it is in itself their good thing. And so He gives Himself, and He does not give, but is Himself the good and complete blessing of the saints. For as it is said that “God gives Himself to the saints,” which means that “God is the good of his saints,” so also His name gives Him to them, that is, it is their good. But the name of God is Christ Himself, the Son of God, the Word by which He verbalizes Himself and the name by which He calls Himself in eternity."

Psalm 54 - Not with bustle and worldly power

2009-07-22T09:49:00.003-04:00

...but in the Name of the Lord

AELW 10:249-250

"The saints, however, are in silence and patience and in hope (spes), not in physical activity (res), like those people, for they are saved by the name of the Lord. This does not come about except in hope and patience and silence, whereas the ungodly seek to be saved in bustle and physical activity (res), indeed by the vanity of physical activity. Thus Ps. 44:5 declares: “Through Thy name we will despise those who rise up against us.” Then follows (Ps. 44:6): “I will not trust in my bow.” Again Is. 52:12 says: “You shall not go out in a tumult,” and Is. 9:5: “For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled with blood, shall be burned and fuel for the fire,” that is, those who desire to be saved through impatience and in worldly tumult will be condemned and will perish. This actually happened in the destruction of Jerusalem, where the Jews, having rejected Christ, who saves in silence and hope, sought to save themselves against the Romans in tumult and physical activity itself in conformity with the world and were burned up with the whole city, for they were not in humility and patience. So Christ acted. He gained the upper hand over the devil and the yoke of his burden, not with bustle and worldly power but in the name of the Lord, so that, as in the case of Midian, the demons would kill and destroy themselves (Is. 9:4), for He sent a sword on earth and came to set a man against his father (Matt. 10:34, 35). And so a good strife comes in order that a bad peace may be disrupted. This is what the prophet has in mind when he says (Is. 9:4): “Thou hast overcome the yoke of his burden, as in the day of Midian,” for there the enemies were slain without the sword and the shedding of blood, simply by the sound of the trumpets (Judg. 7:22). And the reason is: “Unto us a Child is born” (Is. 9:6). This is “humility,” namely, in the name of the Lord. We must not attempt to be saved by our own powers or by the world’s resources, but in humility, that is, in the name of the Lord, being fully aware of the fact that we possess absolutely nothing of salvation in ourselves, so that we may not trust in our bow, and our sword will not save us."

Psalm 53 - God is sought

2009-07-22T09:45:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:247

"Or that seek after God. First, God is sought as if He were lost. One who has never had a certain thing wants (quaerit) it; but he who has lost something he had seeks (requirit) it. But man had God in the beginning and then lost Him in Paradise through disobedience. And he has become so ignorant that he does not seek God. Indeed, man, completely immersed in the flesh, wants (quaerit) and seeks (requirit) sins and evils.

Second, God is sought, that is, again and again. This means He is sought continually, constantly, always, and persistently, going from day to day, from strength to strength, and thus coming closer and closer. For God appears to those who have faith in Him, and is found by those who do not tempt Him (Wisd. of Sol. 1:2). But first it is a matter of knowing, and then of seeking. For he who does not understand does not seek; he who does not know does not love. I desire nothing unknown. But fools, because they have only feeling, and do not understand but merely feel, always and constantly seek themselves and their own interests, and therefore they all busily turn aside (that is, they turn downwards to themselves; they do not lift themselves up to spiritual things). And thus they become unprofitable, useful neither to themselves nor to God nor to their neighbor, indeed, harmful to all, especially to themselves, They exist only numerically, and in other things they are a hindrance."

Psalm 51 - Opened by Faith

2009-07-21T14:14:00.000-04:00

AELW 10: 242

"O Lord, open Thou my lips. This properly belongs to the church, because the mouth of the whole Scripture has now been opened and the praise of Christ is publicly proclaimed. But it is opened by faith, without which it is closed, and silent, as it is written: “I have believed, therefore have I spoken” (Ps. 116:10). For faith opens the mouth especially toward God (thus we are now speaking) and concerning God speaking in truth."

Psalm 51 - This checklist won't sell many books

2009-07-21T14:11:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:235

"Against Thee have I sinned, that Thou mayest be justified" (Psalm 51, v. 4)

"this should be understood thus by setting forth some theses.

First. All men are in sins before God and commit sin, that is, they are sinners in fact.

Second. To this God Himself bore witness through the prophets and established the same at last by the suffering of Christ, for it is on account of the sins of men that He made Him suffer and die.

Third. God is not justified in Himself, but in His words and in us.

Fourth. We become sinners then when we acknowledge ourselves to be such, for such we are before God."

Psalm 50 - אֵ֤ל׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֡ים יְֽהוָ֗ה - God, God, God

2009-07-20T13:40:00.003-04:00

AELW 10:230

Psalm 50, verse 1
אֵ֤ל׀ אֱֽלֹהִ֡ים יְֽהוָ֗ה el - 'elohiym - YHWH God, God, God

Psalm 50:1

The Mighty One, God, the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

"God, God, God has spoken (that is, He will speak, in the future). This is what the Latin translation should be [Deus, deus, deus], for in the Hebrew we have three names of God. Consequently Jerome put it thus: “The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken.” He translates the first name etymologically, namely, אֵל. But (according to the apostle) God spoke anciently in the prophets, but at last in these days in the beloved Son (Heb. 1:1–2). What, then, has He said?

He has called the earth, because He came to call sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). He sent His own Word. This is what He spoke. For “to speak” (loqui) is to send and direct the word openly to someone else. “To say” (dicere), however, is only to bring the word forth and to establish and determine it distinctly. It is not so with “speak” (loqui). Such a difference in these two words is plain in the Scriptures. For whatever God said came into being and was done. And thus His Word always comes into being and is done, as is stated in many Scripture passages. For then God speaks without intermediary through the internal Word, and that is omnipotent and efficacious. But quite often He also spoke many things that were not done and heard and received by men. Therefore God’s speaking and God’s Word differ greatly. Hence He has spoken in the beloved Son according to His flesh."

Psalm 45 - Grace is poured upon Your lips

2009-07-18T11:33:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:215-216

"Grace is poured upon Your lips. Experience has made this clear and continues to do so. For when Christ and the apostles preached invisible and incomprehensible things, which eye has not seen, etc., and for the sake of these ordered people to despise all visible things, good as well as evil, they would never have prevailed if there had not been an attracting grace in their word. Not so Moses or any human lawgiver. For they commanded only temporal things, and if they had commanded invisible things, they would never have been persuasive, because there would not be grace but rather indignation and wrath on their lips. Therefore here too, the prophet said: "My tongue is the pen of a writer." For the tongue of Moses was not such a pen when he spoke the letter. Therefore, when he urged something absent, future, or difficult upon the Jews in the wilderness, such as taking the enemies by storm or eating of meats, etc., there was no grace on his lips, because they were not moved except by the bare word. But in the new law my tongue, he says, which speaks spirit and whose speech is the utterance of the heart, is always covered with grace. For wherever the Word of the Spirit is preached, it is not preached without result. For "grace is poured upon Your lips." Therefore, a distinction must be made here: The lips of Christ transcend personal ones."

Psalm 38 - Pleasure is an illusion of the soul

2009-07-16T08:31:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:181

"in truth every desire and worldly pleasure is an illusion of the soul, because the desire and concern for it is always greater than the experience itself. But the opposite is true in spiritual things. For in things of the flesh the desire burns sometimes for days and nights and hours, but the experience lasts only a moment and is mixed with disappointments, according to the saying (Prov. 14:13): “Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning takes over the ends of joy.” Therefore, is not the soul truly deceived which is most ardently kindled with desires and hopes as for something great and lasting, only to find that when it comes it fades away as it comes? Since the pleasure is in a moment, its beginning and end are the same. It rages and stops at the same time, and when it begins it comes to an end. Yet the wretched soul is snatched into it with such great burnings, because it is one to be deceived. So the birds are deceived by the snares. So a boy is deceived by copper coins instead of gold. Indeed, such a deception with regard to gold and silver and other wares is very common, and the appearance deceives everybody. They are inflamed by the appearance, but when they learn what it really is, they are deceived. And God lets this happen so that He may thus instruct us about all things which are of the flesh, because they are vanity and a deception of souls. For we, too, have deserved to suffer even that literal illusion of things from each other, because we love this injurious and pernicious illusion of the soul, so that thus the letter runs with the mystery. If you show me a yellow coin, and I am incited to regard it as gold, but you give me a copper one, are you not deceiving me? So the devil and the world show their delights, and we are strongly aroused. But he gives us wormwood, and in a moment we are not deceived, since it is indeed true, “Not everything that is yellow is gold.”

In spiritual things, on the contrary, the desire is less and the experience is greater, because the spiritual good has genuine substance. When you find a hard nut, you despise it; but open it, and the kernel will be most agreeable. So also the appearance of wine is sometimes sickening but its taste is very smooth."

Psalm 33 - Affliction in the world, peace in the Lord Christ

2009-07-15T09:44:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:152

"Some rejoice in the Lord by taking pleasure in the blessings of spiritual salvation. It is these the apostle encourages with the words (Phil. 4:4): “Brethren, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice.” At the same time these people have sadness in the world, for “blessed are those who mourn” (Matt. 5:4). Thus they have affliction in the world and peace in the Lord Christ at the same time. Therefore we read in 2 Cor. 1:4: “Who comforts us in all our affliction.” Others, however, take their pleasure in the world, in the flesh, in the devil, in evil things, and rejoice when they have done evil (that is, in doing evil). This should not be understood in the sense that they rejoice over the evil deed, but that their joy is not in good works but in evil, for they rejoice in things of the flesh. And about these the Lord says: “Woe to you who laugh now. Truly, I say to you, you shall weep.” And again: “Woe to you who have your consolation here” (cf. Luke 6:25, 24)."

Psalm 32 - Made Holy, made a Saint

2009-07-15T09:35:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:151

"It is to be observed that in Scripture a saint denotes one whom the scholastic theologians call one “who is established in grace that bestows grace.” Thus Is. 55:3 reads: “I will give you the faithful holy things of David,” or “the sure mercies of David,” for He has made many holy. Consequently the apostle always calls the Christians saints (Rom. 1:7)."

Psalm 32 - Blessed are they whose inquities are forgiven

2009-07-15T09:28:00.003-04:00

AELW 10:145

"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. This is at once in opposition to the hypocrites, who do not need forgiveness and, like healthy people, have no use for a doctor. For they do not think they have iniquities but rely on themselves as righteous and do not eat with the tax collectors and sinners, because they are not like other people (cf. Luke 15:2; 18:9 ff.). So the Pharisees rejected Christ, who bears the sins of the world, because they have none. And they say, “Are we blind?” And He said to them, “If you were blind, you would not have sin; but now that you say: ‘We see,’ your sin remains” (John 9:40–41).

Let us hear, then, what the line of argument is here. No one is blessed except the one whose iniquities are forgiven. Therefore the corollary is: No one is without iniquity, no one is not a child of wrath, and so he needs to have his sins forgiven. But this happens only through Christ. Therefore no one will be saved on his own, but through Christ alone. And this is also the argument of blessed Paul’s entire Epistle to the Romans, to which almost all the words of the epistle speak, as is clear to anyone who looks into it. For he says (Rom. 1:18, 17): “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven”; again: “The righteousness of God is revealed, etc.” The meaning is this: No human being knew that the wrath of God is upon all men and that all are in sin before God, but through His Gospel He has revealed from heaven both how we may be saved from that wrath and by what righteousness we may be set free, namely, through Christ."

Psalm 31 - Vanity is the absence of truth

2009-07-14T13:16:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:139

"You have hated those who regard vanities. Because God is a God of truth, He rightly hates vanities, that is, the absence of truth, as is everything that is outside of Christ who, or rather, whose faith and Word, is the truth promised of old in the Law. Supervain is more than vain. Those who after such great brightness of the Gospel still obstinately look to their own Messiah act inanely beyond all inanity and vainly beyond all vanity, for they expect a Messiah in earthly things. But I, he says, will hope in the Lord, that is, in spiritual things with which the Lord of truth is, for those things are both true and truths, and I will rejoice, not in the pleasure of the world, but in Thy mercy."

Psalm 29 - Glory and Honor

2009-07-14T09:12:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:133

"Glory and honor are distinguished in this way, that honor is reverence shown to the honored person, while glory is the pouring out and spreading of such honor upon many, namely, that many may know him who is to be honored and the honor. Thus they differ in the manner of backward and forward movement, of flux and reflux. For to the extent that a person is honored, the people are turned toward the honored one. But to the extent that one is glorified, that honor is diffused to those who honor, so that more people may honor more and more."

Psalm 28 - Deeds correspond to words, gestures of the body to the state of mind

2009-07-13T11:21:00.002-04:00

Psalm 28, verse 2

"Hear my cry for mercy

as I call to you for help,

as I lift up my hands

toward your Most Holy Place."

"Lift up hands. Augustine says, “I am crucified for them, when they ought to become Your temple.” Second, it is to be understood thus: Hands are literally raised to heaven during prayer. In the third place, it denotes that works ought to be lifted up, they ought to be spiritual and heavenly and directed toward God. And for such and with such people prayer is effective. On the contrary, to drop hands refers to earthly works, etc. Therefore he prays in vain who does not lift up his hands in a mystical and genuine elevation. For deeds should correspond to words, and the gestures of the body to the state of the mind."

Psalm 27 - To be hidden

2009-07-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:125

"Tabernacle is the church or the body of Christ, which, however, in a mystical sense is also the church. And in it is hidden every believer. This hiding must not be understood in a physical sense, because the saints are certainly placed on the candlestick (cf. Mark 4:21). This does not mean, however, that all his glory is in his soul alone, but rather because man is called inward and hidden in that he does not live in a worldly and carnal fashion, that is to say, he withdraws himself from the life, the customs, and the activity of the world. Indeed, as the apostle says (2 Cor. 10:3), that even though they live in the flesh, they do not wage war according to the flesh. And 1 Peter 4:4 says: “They are surprised that you do not join them, etc.” Therefore to be hidden is nothing else than not running with those who live carnally, something the carnal people certainly see plainly. Yet they do not live like those who live spiritually."

A Note...

2009-07-09T11:43:00.003-04:00

Just for the record. Volume 10 of the American Edition of Luther's Works records his lectures on the Psalms. There are not notes for every Psalm, so if it looks like big jumps here, I'm just tracking with Luther....

Psalm 18 - God turns everthing to good

2009-07-08T09:23:00.001-04:00

AELW 10: 123-124

"in dealing with the saints, God turns everything to good contrary to what they feared, so that what seemed evil and unfavorable to the saints will be proved to have been the very best, and what is propitious and choice to the wicked God subsequently turns into the most unfovorable and the opposite of what they hoped for. In line with this, Ps. 112:10 says: “The desire of sinners shall perish,” and Is. 47:10–11 says the same. For such a person despises spiritual goods and loves the physical."

Psalm 18 - Was the blessed Martin Luther watching the nightly news?

2009-07-08T09:18:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:123

"the perverted think that the whole world is ruled by rashness and error, that God is sleeping here and is unjust there, and they see the vices of all very clearly; they even see the mote in the neighbor’s eye, but not the beam in their own (Matt. 7:2 f.)."

Psalm 18 - When they have prosperity, they abuse it, and when they suffer adversity they complain.

2009-07-08T09:12:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:122

"the saints make use of all creation, and all things work together for them for good for the purpose of enjoying God. On the contrary, the wicked enjoy the whole creation and make use of it rather than of God, and so they pervert everything, not that God and the creature become something else, but they are perverted in the heart and regarded as something else than what they are. And this is what Eccl. 1:2 calls vanity. Again, in a similar way with regard to reward and punishment [anagogically], for the saints have pleasure in all things, as the psalmist says (Ps. 92:4): “Thou, O Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work.” On the contrary, the whole world will fight against those who have no understanding, and all things are perverted for them. Therefore even the evils of this life are holy, harmless, and chosen for the good, because they sanctify and increase their merits. They are harmless things, because they help rather than hinder. They are chosen things (that is, voluntary and agreeable), because they lovingly carry the cross of the Lord and joy-fully bear the sufferings of Christ. On the contrary, however, evils hurt the wicked much more, because through them they fall into blasphemies and curses and impatience, and they always become worse: they go from good to bad, and from bad to worse. Therefore all things are perverted for them, because when they have prosperity, they abuse it, and when they suffer adversity they complain."

Psalm 18 - The prayers of Saints

2009-07-08T09:11:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:121

"Smoke in a good sense denotes the adoration of prayer that ascends to the throne of God, as in Rev. 8:3–4, “There was given to him much incense, which represents the prayers of the saints … and the smoke of the incense (that is, the petitions of the prayers) rose up from the hand of the angel.” In Song of Sol. 3:6 we read: “What is that coming up like a column of smoke arising from aromatic spices, from myrrh and frankincense?” For prayer, especially earnest prayer, is the ascent of the mind to God. On the contrary, smoke used in a bad sense is blasphemy and insolence against the Most High and superiors, as in Rev. 14:11 and 19:3: “And the smoke of their torments (that is, the blasphemy of the damned) goes up.” Also Ps. 104:32: “Who touches the mountains, and they smoke,” that is, He strikes down the proud, and they are filled with rage and wrath. Thus an angry person breathes smoke from his nostrils and snorts like an enraged horse."

Psalm 17 - The hidden things of God

2009-07-07T08:59:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:112

"The hidden things of God are threefold. First, according to approval. For thus He knows what He approves and does not know the things He disapproves. In this sense it is taken here. [Thus Ps. 11:7: “His countenance has seen uprightness.” Above (v. 2): “Let Thine eyes see the things that are equitable.” Hab. 1:13: “Thine eyes are pure, Thou canst not look on iniquity.”] Second, according to punishment. Thus He knows and sees what He punishes or wants to punish. Ps. 51:9 “Turn Thy face from my sins.” And above, Ps. 10:11: “He turns away His face so as not to see to the end.” However, He takes no notice, if you will, of the things that are hidden, which He forgives. Ps. 32:1: “Blessed are they whose sins are covered.” The things that are open are spoken of in the opposite way. Third, more in keeping with the argument or identical with the first, the hidden things are those which, humanly speaking, are openly carried on and which lie open in the view of men. These are the things that are something in the eyes of the world but are nothing in the eyes of God, as 1 Cor. 1:27 says: “He has chosen the weak things of the world.” On this account he adds here I will appear in Thy sight in righteousness (v. 15), “where not Thy hidden things but Thy bright things are.” Therefore, what is hidden before God is clear before the world, and vice versa."

Psalm 17 - The right hand is Christ

2009-07-07T08:56:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:111

"The right hand is Christ, the Son of God, as Ps. 118:16 says: “The right hand of the Lord has made strength,” for the Son of God is the strength, power, and wisdom of God, 1 Cor. 1:24, 30. Second, the right hand of God is the grace or faithfulness or work of God. Thus blessed Augustine correctly says by way of explanation that the right hand means God’s propitiation and favor, according to Ps. 45:4: “Thy right hand shall conduct Thee wonderfully.” The left hand, however, is God’s rule or freely given grace, which is common to all. Third, the right hand is the awarding of glory in the future, as Matt. 25:33–34 says, “He will place these on His right hand and those on His left, and then He will say, etc.” Therefore the right hand is, first, Christ; second, it is the merit of Christians; and third, it is their reward. However, the hand of God is impartial for all His works. But the left hand is only the bestowal of this life. Therefore the right hand of God is the gracious strength of God with which He helps the elect."

Psalm 16 - The desires of Christ

2009-07-01T13:49:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:105

"Desires of Christ are the killing and crucifixion of the flesh and the contempt of all visible things, as well as the sanctification of the spirit and love of the invisible. But it is the great wonders of God that bring this about. Therefore He does these wonders only in them, that is, the saints, and even for them or to them, because only the spiritual and the saints understand these wonders. But to the unwise they seem foolish and their life madness, as the apostle says (1 Cor. 1:23): “To the Gentiles folly and to the Jews a stumbling block.” These are indeed wonders, that what is weak in the eyes of the world is strong in the eyes of God, and in each case the opposite is true: What is exalted before men is abominable before God, etc. (Luke 16:15). In these it is all the will of Christ, which the Father accomplished through His Spirit “in the saints,” and for the saints themselves unto glow and understanding."

Psalm 9 - Suffer with all your powers

2009-06-29T10:09:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:91-92

"Confess is a single word in Hebrew that among Hebrews means as much as all these among us: praise, give thanks, recompense and acknowledge a benefit received. From this word comes “Judah” and “Jew,” that is, such a confessor or praiser or acknowledger of the blessings of God. And of such “Jews” “Jesus of Nazareth” is king (John 19:19 f.), leading them in His title of glory.

Some people confess with their lips only. They are the ones who say one thing in the heart and another with the mouth, like the sinner who has evil intentions and sings to God nevertheless. Concerning them Ps. 78:36–37 says: “They lied to Him with their tongue, but their heart was not right before Him.” Others confess with their heart, but not with the whole heart. These are the ones who confess with half a heart and do not do, or do sluggishly, what they say and understand. But those confess with the whole heart who are ready to do and suffer with all their powers, just as it is in their hearts."

Psalm 8 - Strength destroyed by weakness

2009-06-25T10:41:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:89

"Who ever heard of strength being destroyed by weakness? Who has seen glory crushed by shame and not rather by greater glory? But this is what Christ did. In lowliness, weakness, and shame He stripped the whole world of its strength, honor, and glory, and altogether annihilated it and transferred it to Himself "

Psalm 8 - Raining the saving rain of the Word

2009-06-25T10:37:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:88

"Heavens (v. 3) is the name here given to the apostles, the preachers of a new and heavenly law, because they preach heavenly things and things that come down from above. Therefore Bernard, On Canticles, sermon 27, says: “The church has her own ‘heavens,’ spiritual men, outstanding in life and judgment, pure in faith, strong in hope, broad in charity, elevated in contemplation. And these, raining the saving rain of the Word, thunder with rebukes, flash with miracles, proclaim the glory of God. They are stretched like tents over the whole earth.” And the apostle agrees, saying (1 Cor. 15:49): “If we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” Therefore he says: When I see, that is, “believe” and “approve,” I will not be envious like “the avenger” and “the enemy” (v. 2). And, in my opinion, this is the meaning, that after the avenger and his law have been destroyed, a new law and “the heavens,” its proclaimers, are to be received. He will achieve this destruction not by [riotous] force, but by the humility of his people, that is, by the preaching of the humble and the evangelization of the poor"

Psalm 7 - Life on earth, Life in Heaven.

2009-06-24T10:08:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:84

"Life on the earth is the substance of this world by means of which bodily life is preserved. And the life in heaven is the Word of God and grace, by means of which the life of the spirit is preserved."

Psalm 7 - Those who are friends only to friends are confused.

2009-06-24T10:06:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:83

"[it] is not enough before God, that someone does good only to the good and to friends, unless he is roundly and completely the same person to all the good and evil, to friends and enemies. For this is the Christian religion, to be just to all without a selection according to the person and physical partiality. Just as the fig tree produces figs, whether it stands among thorns or among roses, so it is with the vine (cf. James 3:12). “A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit” (Matt. 7:18). But those who are friends only to their friends are confused. Concerning them the Lord says (Matt. 7:16): “Are figs gathered from thistles?” Thus they do not gather thorns from fig trees, because they are thorny to enemies, but gentle to friends."

Psalm 6 - Rebuked in mercy

2009-06-23T14:16:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:81-82

"Now draw together the weight of feelings in this psalm, and you will see that it cannot be heard without many tears. (1) Everyone who has been rebuked is afraid that the wrath of God is upon him. This fear makes him very uneasy and seems long, and therefore he prays “not to be rebuked in anger,” but in mercy, that is, that this very thing that was mentioned be done to him. (2) He is afraid he will be chastised without fruit while there is only wrath. Therefore he sighs the same prayer because of these two, for it is hard to be struck by one who is angry and to be struck only in a punitive way without constructive result. (3) He is “weak” and unable to withstand or repel these. (4) He cannot easily bear it. And these again are two burdens, namely, that he cannot escape them, and yet cannot bear them either. Therefore he calls himself “weak” and says that his “bones are troubled.” (5) His soul is not only “troubled” because of these, something that happens with all of them, but it is by itself troubled also through its own suffering, and that exceedingly. (6) This fear and excessive trembling seems endless to everyone who experiences it. Therefore he says, “How long?” This delay is an intensification of all those other woes. (7) He says “Turn” because the Lord’s being turned away is cause for weeping. (8) So that the “mercy” of God may not be lost but be glorified, there is here again another kind of feeling of love to God and of worship. (9) “For in death there is no one who remembers Thee,” that is, “who will promote Thy fame before others.” (10) “In Sheol there is no one to confess,” even if he were to “remember Him,” but rather he utters curses. This is a remarkable verse, that the saints dread blasphemy of God more than hell. Thus someone prayed that if he were damned, he would nevertheless praise and glorify God. Therefore he does not say here, “Lest I be in hell,” but, “Lest there be no remembrance of Him,” which is what happens in hell. And not for this reason, that it is hell, does he pray that he may not come to hell, but for the reason that there is no praise of God there. Therefore he prays that his body may be saved from death and his soul from hell. (11) “He has toiled in his groaning” in a singular way. (12) “He washes his bed every night, etc.” (13) He “waters his couch with his own tears.” (14) He abhors his sins [because those which agitate him are great] with a holy and intensive “rage.” (15) All afflict him, and he is alone among them all."

Psalm 5 - God shows no partiality

2009-06-22T09:12:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:76

"[verse] 4. For Thou art not a God who delights in wickedness, that is, in an esteeming of persons. It is as if he were saying: “My salvation is in faith and grace, and not in the Law or physical descent.” Otherwise God would be unjust, one who would receive all who are children of Abraham after the flesh and his heirs, even though many among them are ungodly and evil; therefore, to choose and receive them thus without distinction [without discrimination] would be a manifest injustice. But now the Lord “comes to judge the earth” (Ps. 98:9; 1 Chron. 16:33), and He rules in judgment, because He receives neither according to the flesh nor according to the person. But “he who believes will be saved” (Mark 16:16). Therefore Peter says, Acts 10:34: “Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality.”

Psalm 4 - A psalm for the end, a psalm for victory, a psalm for invitation.

2009-06-17T11:27:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:45

"because he [King David] is so certain, he does not say “invitation” (which can fail with many), but “victory,” as if to say: “This psalm is so efficacious a stimulus that it makes him so sharp that he will without a doubt achieve the victory.” For that reason it was rightly made “for victory,” as if in a war the soldiers were animated with so much ardor that victory might without a doubt be taken as a foregone conclusion. Hence it can be said: This drum is not simply a stimulus, but it is efficacious and perfect; it causes the accomplishment of that to which it incites and the achievement of the goal. For the same reason some read “for the end,” namely, what is intended by the stimulus, and the end must be pre-understood or be in view at the same time, so that in one statement all three are understood: לַמְנַצֵּחַ, the invitation [effectively inviting] to the victory and the intended goal, as if to say: “He invites in such a way that its goal will not be left unattained.” Therefore it is an invitation “for the end” and the intended “victory,” that is, efficacious and relevant and bringing about the attainment of the goal. Therefore all of these expressions make good sense: “A psalm for the end,” “a psalm for victory,” “a psalm for invitation.” Hence the psalm says the same things."

Psalm 4 - Excursus

2009-06-17T11:05:00.003-04:00

Psalm 4 is one of my favorites, I use it quite often in visits to the homebound and those who are near to death in this world, near to life eternal.

I especially like the versified version as authored by Henry V. Gerike. That version can be purchased through Concordia Publishing House.

I know it is pricey, but included in this CD is 27 Psalms with wonderful settings which you can cut and paste or print out for bulletins.

Personally, I have printed out the text for Gerike's Psalm 4 and put it in the back cover of my Pastoral Care Companion. I found great comfort in singing this to my father in his last breaths, as well as sharing this with many others.

I pray you will find comfort in the words of this Psalm and from Christ to which all scripture points...

Psalm 2 - The Rod of Iron...The Gospel that puts the mis-shapen in order

2009-06-16T14:47:00.003-04:00

"Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Psalm 2:9

AELW 10:35-36

"Rod of iron is the holy Gospel, in which Christ's royal scepter in His church and kingdom and which Esther kisses in devout faith (Esther 5:2). It is called a "rod" because it directs, convicts, reproves, and upholds, etc. But it is called a rod "of iron" for a threefold reason.

The first is that it is hard and opposed to the flesh, since it points to the cross and martyrdom according to the flesh, to "beak it to pieces like a potter's vessel," namely, poverty, humility, and patience, which are three horns of the cross against greed, the lust of the eyes, against the pride of life, against sensual pleasure and lust of the flesh (1 John 2:16)

...The second reason is that it is inflexible and of an invincible straightness.

...The third reason is that , like iron, it crushes and crumbles, subdues and shapes everything, as Dan. 2:40 tells us. So the Gospel puts the misshapen in order, that is, it disciplines the undisciplined, it crushes the great(that is, it humbles the proud) [It bends what stands erect, that is, it puts down the puffed up], it smoothes the rough places (that is, it calms down the angry), it lengthens the short (that is, it banishes sloth), etc.

Valuable obedience is hidden

2009-06-15T14:23:00.002-04:00

AELW 10:16-17

"God does not want sacrifice but obedience (1 Sam. 15:22) He does not care about our great works, because He Himself can do greater works. All He asks for is obedience. So also Saul spared the fat cattle and the exceedingly fat Agag (! Sam. 15:9). Many people imitate this and at times perform great and useful works according to their own idea but meanwhile neglect to do anything lowly that is commanded. Yet in that lowliness the most valuable obedience is hidden, just a the vilest kind of disobedience is concealed in that valuable usefulness. Like a treasure hidden in a field (Matt. 13:44), so is the value of obedience to a worthless and contemptible command. Again, like the bones of the dead and the whole filth in a tomb whitewashed on the outside, so is disobedience most foul in a great and notable work (Matt 23:27). Therefore hear the command and teaching of the Holy Spirit: "But his delight is in the law of the Lord (namely, the law of the superior), etc."

Blessed is the Man

2009-06-11T09:53:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:11

"The first psalm speaks literally concerning Christ thus:

1. Blessed is the man. He is the only blessed One and the only Man from whose fullness they have all received (John 1:16) that they might be blessed and men and everything that follows in this psalm. He is “the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29), “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20), so that He might also be the firstfruits of those who are awake, namely, in the Spirit. For it is also written in the roll of this book concerning Him, to do the will of God (Ps. 40:8). He is a “man” in a threefold sense: first, because He is a man of manly virtue; second, because He is not a boy to be educated but is manly in grace; third, because He has a bride. This is the Man whom a woman has embraced, because as a bridegroom He went forth not only after but also from His chamber (cf. Ps. 19:6), having His own bride from the beginning."

Luther's lectures - The sensus principalis is Christ

2009-06-10T11:12:00.001-04:00

AELW 10:xi - xii

"In general, Luther here still follows the traditional manner of his day, presenting a fourfold interpretation of a passage and labeling these interpretations as literal (or historical), allegorical, tropological, or anagogical, but in the printed preface to the Biblical text he announces from the very beginning that all prophecy and every prophet should be interpreted as speaking of Jesus Christ, “unless it is evident in clear words that the reference is to someone else.” Yet after this identification of the prophetic meaning of the Psalter, Luther is not averse to adding extended applications of the meaning according to the fourfold pattern of scholastic hermeneutics. His interpretations are, however, all under the control of his basic rule that none of them may come forward with anything that is not elsewhere expressly stated. “Otherwise Scripture would become a mockery.” Christ is in all interpretations the beginning. Thus whenever Luther makes use of the fourfold interpretation in these Dictata super Psalterium, he sees to it that it is under the guidance of the sensus principalis, which is Christ. This unity prompts him to say: “In this way all four interpretations of Scripture come together to one magnificent stream.” In fact, he can lump all four under a single heading: “All of these are Christ at the same time."

Lectures on Psalms - Luther in the margins

2009-06-10T11:09:00.000-04:00

AELW 10:ix

"On October 22, 1512, the new doctor was with appropriate ceremony received as a colleague by the faculty senate and apparently immediately began his preparations for lectures on the Psalms.

These preparations included providing the Latin text of the Vulgate for the convenience of the students. Accordingly, Luther contracted with Johann Grunenberg to print, in a special edition with wide margins and generous interlinear spaces, the Latin text of the Psalter together with appropriate headings and short summaries of the contents of the individual psalms. Into the white space of one of these printed copies Luther then wrote his own interlinear and marginal notes, copied perhaps from slips of paper used during his preparation. These notes are the so-called glosses—brief explanations, mostly of a grammatical and philological nature, of individual words and phrases of the Biblical text. The students were expected to enter into their own, identical copies of the Psalter what Luther dictated from his. This was the normal way to begin such lectures. The glosses would then be followed by the so-called scholia—a wider interpretation of as many phrases or statements of the text as the lecturer chose, touching theological concepts and questions near and far and providing a wide range of support from Scripture generally and from the works of previous recognized interpreters. Again Luther had carefully written out his scholia in complete sentences, but in the lecture hall he may have spoken freely on the basis of his written plans, adding new ideas that came to mind and deleting whatever by that time may have seemed less appropriate."

Easter Acclamation

2009-04-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

AELW Volume 10 - First Lectures on the Psalms I - Psalms 1-75

2009-02-25T13:58:00.003-05:00

LUTHER’S
WORKS

VOLUME 10

FIRST LECTURES
ON THE PSALMS
I

Psalms 1–75

The great Law gives way to the even greater Gospel

2009-02-25T13:54:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:311

"It remains true, as is said in chapter 18:18, that after Moses Another was to be raised up like Moses, namely, Christ; to Him the great Moses yielded, as to One far greater in worth and power, as we saw there. It also signifies this, that nothing greater can be taught and transmitted, so far as laws are concerned, than the Law of Moses. For all things reach their climax in him, except that the great Law was to give way to the even greater Gospel."

God is left behind

2009-02-25T13:44:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:294

“They sacrificed to demons which were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come in of late, whom your fathers had never dreaded” (v. 17), that is, to the idols of the field, namely, in groves, in valleys, and on mountains, about which nothing had been said to them in the Law and they had heard nothing; but since their ears itched when someone brought up some new worship, they streamed up mightily and left behind the God whom they had learned from their fathers."

He who serves this God is safe

2009-02-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:291

“All His ways are justice” (Deut. v. 4); that is, the whole life of His believers is right and true, going forward in the Word and commandment, not in their own ways and ideas. So God is faithful, without sin, righteous, and true. All this he says about God as He is worshiped and believed, not only about the nature of God; as if he declared against false gods and worshipers: He who serves this God is safe; he has a faithful God, with whom he is at peace. In this worship there is no sin, but there is pure righteousness and uprightness; and all these things are faithful, certain, and solid. On the other hand, for idol-worshipers nothing is secure, nothing is faithful and certain; but their wandering and uncertain conscience always shifts, and whatever they do in their life is sheer iniquity and evil, however they seem to themselves to be otherwise."

One God alone....All other gods are empty, false, and worthless

2009-02-25T13:38:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:290

“For I will proclaim the name of the Lord” (v. 3); that is, I will sing that the one God alone should be invoked and worshiped, against the idolaters who will be among my people, “Ascribe greatness to our God’; that is, do not desire to worship any other God or to ascribe any majesty or power to anyone except our one God” for His alone is the majesty, greatness, and power. All other gods are empty, false, and worthless."

Doctrine be healthful and that the hearer be teachable

2009-02-25T13:36:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:290

"He desires, however, that his teaching drip down and flow like the rain and dew (v. 2), just as drops and a shower over herbs and grass, that is, that it be strong and fruitful. He does not want to sing in vain and tell the story to a deaf person when he sings of great and necessary things, that is, concerning the true God who is to be worshiped, and of the danger to those who forsake God and turn to idols. Drops, rain, and dew he contrasts with clouds without water, which are human teachings that do no good. Therefore he wants his word to be a rain, not an empty cloud. And herb and grass he contrasts with stones, sand, and similar barren things, on which the rain fails in vain, even though rain is healthful; that is, he wants hearers in whom the Word brings fruit. For both are required: that the doctrine be healthful and that the hearer be teachable."

Ash Wednesday - I wound and I heal - 02-25-09

2009-02-25T13:33:00.001-05:00

Deuternomy 32:36-39

"For the Lord will vindicate His people

and have compassion on His servants,

when He sees that their power is gone,

and there is none remaining, bond or free.

Then He will say: Where are their gods,

the rock in which they took refuge,

who ate the fat of their sacrifices,

and drank the wine of their drink offering?

Let them rise up and help you,

let them be your protection!

See now that I, even I, am He,

and there is no god beside Me;

I kill, and I make alive;

I wound, and I heal;

and there is none that can deliver out of My hand."

Sin and death draw back and yield to grace

2009-02-23T13:18:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:284

"Moses is the minister of the Law, which does not lead to fulfillment, that is, to righteousness, but shows sin and demands grace, which it does not confer. Therefore he dies and stays on this side of Jordan in the land of Moab, that is, in the righteousness of works. Joshua succeeds him as leader; this is the ministry of grace. He leads the people into the Land of Promise, that is, to true righteousness in Christ; and the Israelites cross over the Jordan dry-shod, that is, as both sin and death draw back and yield to grace."

Thundering against the work-righteous

2009-02-18T11:37:00.003-05:00

AELW 9:279

Deuteronomy 30:11 " For the commandment is not too hard for you. "

"Paul’s play on the words of Moses—“Do not say in your heart: ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down, etc.)”—thunders against the work-righteous. For when they fulfill the commandment by works and by their own powers, they deny that Christ ascended into heaven or descended into hell; that is, they deny that He died for us and rose again that we might be justified by the Word of faith and fulfill the Law. For he looks to their inner self when he says: “Do not say in your heart: ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” It is as though he were saying: The ungodly does not believe that Christ ascended into heaven; he leads Christ down from heaven, since he does not believe that the faith which fulfills the Law is granted through His resurrection."

February 18 - Martin Luther - Doctor and Confessor

2009-02-18T11:32:00.002-05:00

AELW 9:9

Going backwards a few pages but appropriate on this day...

(written to the reverend father and lord in Christ, Sir George von Polenz, lawful bishop of the church at Samland, to his father honored in Christ the Lord, grace and peace.)

The Lord, however, who works all in all (1 Cor. 12:6) and who has also begun His good work in you (Phil. 1:6), keep and prosper you, that in this life too you may become a truly great bishop in the Word of God, and that in the life to come, when the chief Shepherd and Bishop will appear, you may receive an unfading crown (1 Peter 5:4). To Him, I pray, commend me in your holy prayers; and in His grace farewell. Amen. Wittenberg, 1525.

Your Doctor Martin Luther

FOR US

2009-02-16T14:05:00.001-05:00

AELW 9:215-216

Deuternomy 21:22-23

"And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance."

"But what shall we say about Paul? In Gal. 3:13, he applies this passage to Christ, saying: “Christ became a curse for us. For it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who hangs on a tree.’” Jerome is strangely confused by the same passage when he argues that Moses speaks of a hanged evildoer, but that Christ never committed a sin. But he does not see that Paul speaks most simply and that Paul understands Moses to be enunciating a general rule that applies to Christ directly and according to the literal sense, without any allegory. For if every hanged person is cursed by God, as Moses teaches, then Christ, too, is cursed of God. And if every hanged one is an evildoer, then Christ, too, is an evildoer. Therefore the issue was not in what sense Christ was without sin but in what sense He had sin. Nor was this the issue, how He was blessed and therefore not subject to this hanging, but how He was or could be subjected.

Here Paul solves the whole difficulty with one word, saying (Gal. 3:13): “He became a curse FOR US.” For Us, I say, not for Himself. With this word he plainly teaches that someone has twofold sin, and that a hanged person will be a curse of God: once for Himself and for His own sin, like all others; at another time for others and for the sin of another. That applies only to Christ, who says in Ps. 69:9: “The insults of those who insult Thee have fallen on Me”; and Is. 53:4: “He carried our sins”; and again (Is. 53:8, 10): “For the sins of My people I struck Him, and the Lord wished to bruise Him because of Our sins.” Whether, therefore, one is hanged for himself or for another, the simple sense of the Law remains: everyone hanged for sin is a curse before God. Therefore in bearing our sin for us Christ was indeed made a curse, just as the text literally states. As He was also circumcised and put under the whole Law because of us, while on His part He was free from all Law. So He who knew no sin was made sin, that we should be the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). So He was made a curse, who knew no curse, that we should be a blessing of God in Him.

To remove this curse of God from the wood, lest the land be defiled, means to preach and believe the Gospel of the cross, namely, that the cross is glory, death is life, sin is righteousness, curse is blessing, destruction is salvation; or, as Paul says (Gal. 6:14), “to glory in the cross of our Lord, that the world be crucified to us, and we to the world,” according to the saying (Matt. 5:10): “Blessed are they who endure persecution, etc.” Otherwise, unless this is preached and believed, there is nothing more evil, nothing more abominable, than the cross and death. By this false assumption and scandal of the cross the whole world is defiled, since to the unclean nothing is clean, to the clean all things are clean (Titus 1:15). The one effect occurs through the Word; the other, without the Word."

Of Faith and Works

2009-02-11T09:57:00.001-05:00

AELW 9:184-85

"First and foremost, the Prophet of whom Moses speaks here must be heard; that is, our salvation begins, not with any work of ours but with the hearing of the Word of life. Hence also the Law precedes, to humble, to reveal sin, and to teach that we can do nothing by our own strength. Rom. 4:15: “The Law brings wrath,” and brings it so completely that the people not only do not do the Law but will not even hear it, for it kills them. For this reason they seek another Word, one which can make us alive before we do any works, as you have seen here. Through the hearing of the Word the Holy Spirit is given; by faith He purifies the heart. Rom. 10:17: “Faith comes from what is heard,” not indeed to all who hear but to whom God wills. For the Spirit blows where He wills (John 3:8), not where we will. But when the Holy Spirit is received by faith, then we are justified by Him without any work of our own, only by the gift of God, and we experience peace and a good conscience toward God (Rom. 5:1), and joyfully and confidently we cry: “Abba, Father” (Rom. 8:15). Now there is no more fear or slavish flight from the face of the wrath of God; there is childlike access to God through grace, in which we stand and boast (Rom. 5:2–3).

But when the heart is inwardly justified and at peace through faith in the Spirit, then outward actions soon follow in various ways. First there is confession by the mouth to salvation (Rom. 10:10), and the Word is outwardly preached. By this we are inwardly saved, and others are saved through us, just as we are saved through those before us, that the kingdom of Christ may increase. This is the source of persecution, the cross, and trouble over the Word in the world, which hates light and life because it loves darkness (John 3:19). Thus faith is tested and perfected till hope is made perfect, which makes us sure of our salvation. Secondly, that old man of ours in whom there are the remnants of sin which fight against the Spirit with the law in his members (Rom. 7:23), is attacked, so that we do not do what the Spirit wishes. Here the mortification of the flesh takes place. Thirdly, good works are produced, witnesses of faith and the Spirit toward one’s neighbor in love, kindness, peace, goodness, etc. (Gal. 5:22). This is the summary and the true order of Christian life, which depends on the Word and begins with it, and extends to the works of love toward one’s neighbor."

Not ABLAZE®, but CONSUMED® like a fire

2009-02-09T12:04:00.004-05:00

AELW 9:181

Dt. 18:16. Just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb.

"In this passage Moses shows with what fervor and longing of the heart the Word of grace should be desired. It is truly that gift of God about which Paul seems especially to be speaking when he says to the Ephesians (3:20): “God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” He hates lazy and cold petitioners, who hope to gain their end through much speaking (Matt. 5:7); he wants sighings that cannot be uttered (Rom. 8:26). Certainly no one can have all this who spends his days in a good life and dwells in the land of luxury. This is only for those who are moved to despair by the feeling of death and the bite of sin, so that, like the people of Israel, they refuse to go on hearing the voice of God or seeing the mighty fire, that is, the power of the Law and the prick of sin, namely, death and the wrath of God, which already consumes them like a fire, so that they long to hear the Word of life."

The Prophet is Christ Himself

2009-02-04T15:07:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:178

"The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your brethren—Him you shall heed."(Dt 18:15)

"In this passage we have those two ministries of the Word which are necessary for the salvation of the human race: the ministry of the Law and the ministry of the Gospel, one for death and the other for life. They are indeed alike if you are looking at their authority, but most unlike if you are thinking about their fruit. The ministry of Moses is temporary, finally to be ended by the coming of the ministry of Christ, as he says here, “Heed Him.” But the ministry of Christ will be ended by nothing else, since it brings eternal righteousness and “puts an end to sin,” as it is said in Dan. 9:24. Therefore the Levitical priesthood is wholly ended here and set aside, because it was established to teach Moses. But if the priesthood is ended, the Law is also ended, as it is said (Heb. 7:12): “When there is a change in the priesthood, there is necessarily a change in the Law as well.” Thus this Prophet can be none other than Christ Himself."

Not Luther, but a good quote

2009-02-03T21:54:00.002-05:00

"The latest assaults upon the old-fashioned denominationalism are made, every now and then, by some new church,the statistics and leading features of which are somewhat as follows:

ministers, one;

members, intermittent from the sexton up to a moderate crowd, according as the subject of the sermon advertised on Saturday takes or does not take the fancy of those who spend the Lord's day in hunting lions;

churches, one (over, if not in, a beer saloon;)

creed, every man believes what he chooses;

terms of membership, every one who feels like it shall belong till he chooses to leave."

(pagination mine)

From...."The Conservative Reformation and Its Theology"p. 123, Charles P. Krauth, 1871

Strange gods, false gods...

2009-02-02T10:51:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:130-131

"Strange gods, we have often said and say again, are not only an external idol but much rather an erring notion or conscience devised about the true God. For as the conscience is, so is God. If you believe that God is worshiped by sacrifices of this or that kind, in this or that place, and that without a Word of God, then you have already lost the true God; and that notion concerning sacrifice to which you cling under the name of the true God is your god. If you believe that God is worshiped through cap and tonsure, poverty, obedience, fasting, food, or drink (since here you do not have a Word of God), then cap and tonsure, or that notion about cap and tonsure, is your god. Therefore just as you have an inner assumption about the cap in place of God, so you extend this outwardly and set up, wear, honor, worship, and value the cap as an external idol according to the likeness of the inner notion.

See, this is what it means to make and follow other gods; it means to worship gods whom you do not know, because you do not feel or understand that in the place of the true God you worship a notion and an idol. Nor do you notice how uncertain you are in that worship, and how you think or know nothing concerning the true God, since you think about Him without His Word. But He cannot be known or thought of except through His Word. So you see that every way of inventing and worshiping strange gods is nothing else than that godless notion by which we choose and believe that we can please God without the Word of God, by this or that work, at this or that place, by this or that rite, when He is not of that sort and yet under His name another is falsely concocted in the heart. From this follow various names just like those of the idols. Thus one is called Baal, another Ashtaroth, another Dagon, another Moloch, Peor, Camos; and there are other names. Just so our monks are named, one from white clothing, another from black; and by his name and work each is outwardly different from the others. These all are prophets whom their dreams deceive. They say: “Let us go and worship strange gods.” That is, “Let us choose new rites without the Word, under the name of the true God.”

Not carried away by feeling...

2009-01-07T12:07:00.004-05:00

AELW 9:123

Deuternomy 12:1. These are the statutes and ordinances, etc.

"All this He commands in order that in the worship of God the people may not be carried away by its own feeling, however holy and good, but may be governed by the Word; for if man does not live without the Word even with respect to the belly, how much less does he live without the Word in the work of God and in the spirit! God wants our conscience to be certain and sure that it is pleasing to Him. This cannot be done if the conscience is led by its own feeling, but only if it relies on the Word of God. Therefore if they should worship God in a place chosen by themselves, even if they pleased themselves thereby, nevertheless they would not be sure that they were pleasing God. They were sure that they were pleasing Him only if they made offerings in a place set apart through the Word of God."

What would I lack?

2009-01-07T12:02:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:111

Deuteronomy 10:18. He loves the sojourner, giving him food.

Look at those delightful promises of God: “Who is not partial”; likewise, “Who takes no bribe”; likewise, “He executes judgment for the fatherless and the widow”; likewise, “He loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing” (vv. 17–18). With these words God clearly consoles all the wretched, lost, and afflicted in the whole world and draws their hearts to Himself, that they may believe in Him and trust in His goodness, as the one and only God demands. If He does not regard persons, I already have something because of which to glory, to puff up my heart, and to be proud against all the kings, princes, rich and strong men of the world. By them I am despised and deserted as poor, mean, and weak. Yet I am certain that I am regarded, sustained, and cared for by Him who is the God of gods and the Lord of lords (as Moses also teems and is magnificent with words here), the powerful one, fearful above all my despisers. What, therefore, would I lack, if some lord of a few servants despises me, while the Lord of all lords and the God of gods deems me worthy of His care?"

When want bears down upon you

2009-01-07T11:53:00.000-05:00

AELW 9:95-96

He is a God to us and dispenses everything bountifully also when everything is most hopeless. He is willing and able to turn a rock into your drink, a desert into your food, nakedness into beautiful clothing, poverty into wealth, death into life, shame into glory, evil into good, enemies into friends—and what not? He can give and change everything from everything, everything into everything, everything from nothing, everything into nothing. Only be concerned that you believe, and where want prevails, do not break down or be concerned. And again, where abundance prevails, do not be puffed up or carelessly forget God. Whether everything is on hand or everything is lacking, cling to your God always with the same heart, knowing that He who gives plenty will give it even when want bears down upon you."

A Blessed New Year in the "Abundant riches of His goods"

2008-12-31T11:45:00.001-05:00

AELW 52:157-158

God be praised, what an abundant, rich, and mighty thing is faith! It makes of man in every respect a god to whom nothing is impossible, as Christ says in Mark 9[:23]: “Can you have faith? All things are possible to him who has faith.” And so also Psalm 82 [:6] says: “You are gods and all of your children of the most High.” Fittingly his name this day is called Jesus, that is, Savior; we call a savior someone who helps, redeems, saves, and who is wholly salutary for everybody; such a one the Hebrew language calls Jesus. Thus spoke the angel Gabriel to Joseph in his sleep, Matthew 1[:21]: “She will bear a son, and you shall call him Jesus, for he will save his people, freeing them from their sins.” Here the angel himself explains why his name should be Savior, Jesus, namely, he is salvation and redemption for his people. We have heard how this comes to pass through faith, to which he conveys all his rights and goods which he has over sin, death, and the law. He makes the believer justified, free, and blessed. Now just as circumcision signifies our faith, as we have heard, so the naming of the children signifies that we, through faith, become known before God through our distinctive names. For all those who do not believe, God does not know, as Psalm 1[:6] says: “God knows the ways of the just, but the way of the unjust will vanish,” and Matthew 25[:12]: “Truly, I say to you, I know you not.” What then is our name? Without a doubt, as Christ bestows upon us all that is his, so he also bestows upon us his name. We all are called Christians after him, children of God after him, Jesus after him, Savior after him; as he is called, so we are called, too, as St. Paul writes in Romans 8[:24]: “You have been saved in hope”; for you are like Jesus or a savior. There is therefore no limit to the status and honor of the Christian estate. These are the abundant riches of his goods which he pours out over us, in order that our hearts become free, cheerful, peaceful, and undaunted, and so willingly and joyously keep the law. Amen."