Text: Psalm 39:6-13
Have you ever stopped to think, “Why am I so often miserable, while those who hate me seem to be full of riches and prosperity?” or, “Why is it that I am tormented by my sin and made to face the consequences? But when the godless sin, they often get off scot-free.”
The writer of Psalm 39 expresses the reality that we suffer because of our sin. We are chastised by God, disciplined by His hand. All the while, the ungodly build up for themselves riches and prosperity. But to what end? For we are mortal and all is vanity. Yet God teaches us wisdom by His rebuke and delivers us from our sin.
So in our affliction, we say with the Psalmist, “For what do I wait? My hope is in You. Deliver me from all my transgressions, do not make me the scorn of the fool!” “Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not Your peace at my tears!”
Are you convicted because you encouraged an abortion? Are you tormented because you considered abortion, or because you went through with it for yourself? Our transgressions are many, and whatever they are, God’s hand may be heavy against us to discipline our sin with rebukes. But in His mercy, He delivers us from these transgressions because of His gift of forgiveness, won by Jesus Christ in His death on the cross. In Him only is our hope and salvation.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You discipline us as a dear father disciplines his children. Teach us to remember that by this discipline You bring us back to our only Savior, Jesus Christ, to give us Your gift of forgiveness. In the same Jesus Christ, Your Son. Amen.
(Tanner Post, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 39:1-5
Focus verses: “O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you” (verses 4-5).
In our world today, it can be hard to remember that life is fragile and short. Yes, today there have been many advancements in the field of medicine that have increased life expectancy, but still we only live for 80, 90, or, at best, 100 years. As David writes, “Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!”
The fragility of mankind becomes painfully obvious as one approaches the end of life. The hands that were once strong and able to work become weak and weary. The legs that were once able to walk and run for miles are now only able to shuffle from one side of the room to the other. As the end of our days approach, the devil and the world will attack, claiming that the lives of the elderly are not important. They will claim that they should end that life with dignity and extinguish that life before God can call them home in His own time.
In this psalm, David gives us an answer to how the Christian approaches their last few years upon this earth: in trust. We continue to trust in the Lord, for He has provided for us from the very beginning, and He has not forgotten His servants. While our lives here are very fleeting, we also know in whose hands that life is held, and we trust Him to care for that life.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, you are the creator and sustainer of all life. Look upon the elderly and those near the end of life. Continue to care and sustain their bodily need until the time that You call them home to be with You. Through Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost, one God, now and forever. Amen.
(Brian Homan, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 36:7-12
Focus Verse: “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (verse 7).
The world we live in is dark. In this darkness, death and destruction attempt to snuff out life. We all live in it. From pre-born babies in the womb to the elderly, all suffer in this darkness. At times, you may feel there is no hope for you, no relief for you, no choice but to give in to the darkness. You may feel exposed, enslaved by your past decisions.
But God knows your battle. He took upon Himself your flesh and battled the same struggles, though without falling into sin. So take refuge in the shadow of God. Like a hen covering her chicks, God covers you to protect you against the assaults of the devil and your own sinful flesh. Beyond this, God offered himself for your protection. His Son, Jesus, has taken your sin and payed the penalty it brings: death.
Receive the precious, steadfast love of God that is now yours in Christ. This precious love comes from the pierced side of our King on the cross. His love for you is faithful; it will not fade away like the riches of this world. He is always reaching out to draw you into himself. To be hidden in God is to be safe, protected, and secure. In this protection there is life! Under the shadow of His wings, you may live as one who has been forgiven and redeemed. How great is the love the Father has for you, his precious child.
Let us pray: Merciful Father, your love is steadfast and faithful. Grant to me refuge from the world which accuses me, that in this love I may be free from the accusations brought against me and live in righteousness and purity forever. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
(Cory Kroonblawd, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 36:1-6
When it comes to sins against the lives of society’s unwanted, these stem entirely from selfishness. As the Psalmist reminds us, a wicked man flatters himself and has no fear of God. Rather, he plots trouble for his own selfish desires. Is this not the base of the claim that the pre-born are inconvenient in their timing, or the elderly when they are consuming resources that the foolish man thinks could be better used elsewhere, or the disabled and troubled who are told their lives are somehow not worth living?
It is selfish to consider such possibilities because God alone has brought about their life and He alone is able to end it. The wise man seeks not to understand God’s motivation or to correct God’s plan, but rather seeks to help the pre-born’s mother provide for her child’s needs, visits the elderly to give them company and learn from their life, and engages with those whose life is difficult in order to ease their burdens.
As verses 5-6 remind us, the Lord is in control of all things, and His love is beyond our understanding. But He saves all for His purposes, and we are given to simply receive with thanksgiving.
Let us pray: Our Heavenly Father, we come before in You in awe of Your continued love and faithfulness towards us. Help us to act wisely and not like wicked men, to protect those to whom You have given life, no matter if they are pre-born, elderly, or in need of special care. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
(Caleb Stoever, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 22:22-31
Focus Verses: “You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel! For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him” (verses 23-24).
David wrote this psalm to remind and encourage God’s people to praise and worship Him. But perhaps you just don’t feel in the mood to praise anyone. You look back on the last few days, months, years, and what stands out most are the afflictions you suffer. Perhaps you’re burdened with guilt, pressure, or loneliness.
Well, David knew suffering too. Earlier in the psalm he says that he was scorned, despised, and mocked—made to feel less than human. He is even so bold as to shout, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He felt as though even God had abandoned him.
But had God really turned His back on David? No, of course not! David trusted that the Lord would deliver him from his affliction. What’s more, David trusted that the Lord would deliver the whole world from its affliction. David rightly believed that you will be rescued from your suffering! Many generations after David, Jesus would join the psalmist in crying out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” on the cross (Matt. 27:46).
Jesus was afflicted, so that we would be delivered from our afflictions. God the Father did not ultimately abhor His Son, but heard Him when He cried to Him and raised Him from the dead Easter morning. So also we will be raised when Christ returns to a life free of guilt, pressure, and loneliness. Let us therefore, in spite of our troubles, glorify the Lord!
Let us pray: Dear Lord, through Your Son’s death and resurrection You have given to us salvation. Please help us remember that Your mercy is infinitely greater than our afflictions, so that we may glorify You. Amen.
(Daniel Fickenscher, Sem III)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 22:9-21
No one goes through life on this earth without suffering, pain, and loss. Without Jesus, life would be little more than a series of losses leading to the final loss of death. But Jesus will not leave us in such hopelessness. Martin Franzmann put it eloquently in LSB 834: “O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth / Thy living finger never wrote / that life should be an aimless mote, /a deathward drift from futile birth.” Jesus always pulls us up to something greater, something more, something beautiful.
Jesus himself experienced great loss on our behalf. The verses for this meditation, Psalm 22:9-21, are part of the psalm that more than any other expresses the depths of the suffering that Jesus endured in His own body on the cross—the suffering, pain, and death that we all deserve. But Jesus’ suffering pulls us up from our sin, misery, and suffering, to life and hope.
In the famous resurrection icon, Jesus grasps Adam’s hand, pulling him up from his grave. That is our eternal destiny. In Jesus, there is forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. There is hope for a future, a destiny beyond what we can see but that we will one day fully know. Verse 10 proclaims, “from my mother’s womb you have been my God.” These are words about Jesus, but they are also words about us. Jesus’ Father is our Father—and in Jesus, we will stand before His merciful face for all eternity.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You have been our God from before our birth. In Your mercy, through Jesus Your Son, bring us through this vale of tears to Yourself in heaven. Amen.
(Josef Muench, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 22:1-8
Focus verse: “To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.” (Verse 5)
The words every pregnant mother and father fear hearing are, “Your baby is going to die; she is incompatible with life.
“But you do have options,” the doctor goes on. “We can therapeutically terminate the fetus.”
Silence. Silence from the doctor. Silence and screaming all at once in your mind. Why, God? Why us, why my baby? Why have you left us, what have we done? What do we do?
Therapeutic termination—murder? Murder the one You have given me because a doctor has tried to predict the future? No, surely not! Which of us is compatible with life? Your Word says that we are already dead in trespasses and sins. Our lives were never ours; they are Yours. You are the One who has come to us to care for, love, and protect us! You are the One who loved us and sent Your only Son to die that I and my children might live. In my Baptism, I received Your Spirit, which brings me life and reminds me of the love and compassion You showed me.
You gave me this life to care for, to love and to protect. So I will cry to you, Lord, because You are the one who rescues us. We trust, and You do not put us to shame. You love us with an everlasting love, which brings us everlasting life.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we give thanks that you have shown us that true life is more than what we see or comprehend because You have made us eternally Yours. Forgive us when we do not value the life You give to us, which You have sanctified in our baptism and into faith. Keep us to life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Brittni Brown, Deaconess Intern)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 19
Focus verse: “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (Verse 10)
What are “they”? “They” are what was previously mentioned: the law, the testimony, the precepts, the commandments, and the rules of the Lord, more to be desired than gold. In keeping them there is great reward. “They” are of the Lord.
But errors, faults, sins, and transgressions are of the world. As Christians, we are called to seek the law of the Lord and, in Christ, we will revive the soul of the world. We are called to speak the testimony of the Lord and make wise the simple secularists. We are called to hear the precepts of the Lord and follow His commands so that our eyes would be enlightened, lest we sleep the sleep of death. We are called to fear the Lord and keep His decrees and thereby sanctify ourselves and the world. We are called to live in Christ, and he who is in Christ will be blameless and innocent of great transgression. As Christians, we are called to seek the things above, where Christ is—we are called to seek Christ. Seeking Christ and walking in His way is our religion.
Yet ours is not a gnostic religion, it is an incarnate religion because we have the Incarnate God. Therefore our religion takes an incarnate, not gnostic, form. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, to adopt children and care for mothers, to take our own mothers and fathers into our homes, to build Christian hospitals, orphanages, and schools, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always kept Your commandments perfectly, that we do not always love our neighbor or You rightly. We give thanks that You have visited us in Your body, keeping the law perfectly for our sake. Help us to love our neighbor as You have loved us. In Jesus name, Amen.
(Ian Kinney, Sem II)
Life Devotion
Text: Psalm 17:8-15
Focus Verse: “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Verse 8)
The phrase “apple of my eye” commonly refers to someone or something that one cherishes above all else. The phrase is used three times in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy, Psalms, and Zechariah, to refer to what God cherishes above all else. In each case, the apple of God’s eye is His people. Yes, people—not one single person, but all His people. In Psalm 17:8, David asks God to keep him as the apple of His eye—but what of all the others who are also loved and cherished by God? It is clear that God has room for each of His creations to be the most precious, most beloved in His sight.
And what does He do for those who are the apple of his eye? He keeps watch over them and protects them. David says that God “fills their womb with treasure; they are satisfied with children.” God’s treasure, the apple of His eye, He places in the womb where mother and father can guard and protect and fully enjoy the gift they have been given to care for. God’s gift, His creation, is given to us to care for and to protect. It is the responsibility of each of us to take the task He has given to us with utmost seriousness, but also to remember that He is the One in whose steadfast love and outstretched wings we seek refuge when we fall short of what He has called us to do.
Let us pray: Dearest Lord, You see in us what we cannot see in ourselves and refuse to see in those around us. Remind us today that we are the apples of Your eye and that You entrust us to care for each of Your precious creations. Amen.
(Paul W. Marks, Sem II)
Life Devotion
The Epiphany of Jesus
Text: Psalm 67
Focus Verse: “God, our God, shall bless us.” (Verse 6)
During the time of Epiphany, the Church celebrates the unveiling of God in his son, Jesus Christ. The light slowly unfolds. At the start, only one Jewish girl knew about the coming of the Messiah, this child Jesus within her womb. Yet what began with Mary soon was known by her husband Joseph, by the shepherds, the wise men, then Jerusalem, the light growing and spreading throughout the world. Through this child within Mary’s womb, God would be gracious to the world, would make His face to shine upon the world.
Psalm 67 says, “God, our God, shall bless us.” As the nature of God is revealed to us, we know him to be a God who brings blessing. Simply the birth of this baby Jesus is a blessing: God dwells with us. But when He comes to dwell with us, He brings light and life. He dies on the cross so that we might have life. God shall bless us and has blessed us, our God who gives us the breath in our lungs and the beating of our heart, our God who gives us life eternal. And for this life, “let the people praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!”
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, You have blessed us with light and life. Give us eyes to see that light and life, that we may ever praise you for these your gifts. Amen.
(Martin Hill, Sem I)