O Emmanuel
O Emmanuel, our king and our Lord, the anointed for the nations and their Savior:
Come and save us, O Lord our God.
Reading: Isaiah 33:13–24
Isaiah 33 tells us that the Lord’s coming will be a terror of a sight for some. The hypocrites ask, “Who can dwell with the fire?” The question is answered, however, with a description of the Zion to come: those who are penitent, those who have repented, will dwell. We hear echoes of the Baptizer’s call to repent and be baptized. In so doing, we can look to our Lord’s return not with the fear of the hypocrites, but having the peace of the baptized. We will dwell with our Lord, forgiven of our iniquity, in Zion, the new Jerusalem, our quiet home.
Prayer: O Lord, give us the gift of Your Holy Spirit that we in repentance might walk righteously and speak uprightly; that we who look longingly for the coming of Your Son, our King who saves us, will dwell with Him in His majesty; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Hymn LSB 333:4
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us.
Keep our hearts believing,
That we, grace receiving,
Ever may confess You
Till in heav’n we bless You.
(Brett Witmer, Sem IV)
