O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heav’nly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
(LSB 357 st. 5)
And I will place on his shoulder the key of the house of David. He shall open, and none shall shut, and he shall shut, and none shall open.
(Isaiah 22:22)
Sin is the burden that no one can shoulder. No matter how hard we try, it always leads to death. And no matter how pious we long to be, no matter how often we confess, the burden of sin is always before us. It is a burden that no one can shoulder. But thanks be to God, the Key of our salvation has been revealed. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us today, God has given the key of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the House of David who has taken your burdens upon His shoulders and carried them to His cross to die. The Key of life, Jesus, has overcome sin, death, and the devil for you, and He has opened wide our heavenly home and closed the path to misery.
Let us pray: O Key of David and scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no one can close, You close and no one can open: Come and rescue the prisoners who are in darkness and the shadow of death. Amen.
(Jerry Smith, Sem IV)