Meditations in Psalm 119
LAMED
89 Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in the heavens. 90 Your faithfulness is to all generations; You have founded the earth, and it remains. 91 They stand to this day according to Your ordinances; for all are Your servants. 92 Unless Your law had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction. 93 I will never forget Your commandments; for with them You have given me life. 94 I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your commandments. 95 The wicked have waited for me to destroy me; but I will think on Your testimonies. 96 I have seen an end to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
“Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in the heavens. Your faithfulness is to all generations; You have founded the earth, and it remains. They stand to this day according to Your ordinances; for all are Your servants.” Psalm 119:89-91
How long will God’s Word endure? How long will its truth and promises stand?
Jesus said, “For truly I say to you, Till the heaven and the earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle shall in any way pass from the law until all is fulfilled” (Matt. 5:18).
God created the heaven and earth by His almighty Word, and the earth continues to this day in accord with God’s commandment. The heavens and the earth still stand.
God’s Word is sure. It is settled in the heavens. His faithfulness continues to all generations. His promises still stand.
Thus, from the time of Adam’s fall to the present, God reaches out to fallen mankind offering mercy and forgiveness in the Messiah and Savior, His Son Jesus. God has not changed His way of dealing with mankind. From generation to generation, God calls sinful and rebellious people to repent of their self-centered and evil ways and look to Him for mercy and forgiveness. From Adam up until Christ, He called upon sinners to place their hope and confidence in the Messiah who would come. From Christ to the end of the age, He calls upon us to trust in the atoning sacrifice of the Savior who has come and redeemed us to God with His innocent sufferings and death for the sins of all the world. Those who repent and place their hope and confidence in the crucified and risen Christ are saved and given eternal life. Those who reject God’s gracious calling and gift, stand condemned for not believing in the only-begotten Son of God (cf. John 3:18).
God is still faithful to His Word today. He calls upon this generation to acknowledge its rebellious and sinful ways and repent, looking to Him for mercy, forgiveness and life everlasting in the Son, Jesus the Messiah, our Savior!
O LORD God, thank You for Your faithfulness to all generations. Thank You for the certainty of Your Word and promises to us. Graciously move us to see and acknowledge our sinful and rebellious ways and to look to You for mercy, forgiveness and life everlasting for the sake of the atoning sacrifice of Your Son and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Unless Your law had been my delight, I should then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your commandments; for with them You have given me life.” Psalm 119:92-93
Though God’s commandments are enlightening and reveal to us the holy will of God, they also condemn us as sinners. “The soul that sins, it shall die” (Ezek. 18:20).
In the psalm, the words “law” and “commandment” or “precept” are used in a broader sense and include the entire message of God’s Word. Thus, it is the Word of God which keeps us alive when our souls are afflicted with grief and sorrow over our sins. God’s Word comforts us with the good news of forgiveness and life for the sake of the sufferings, death and resurrection of God’s Son and our Savior, Messiah Jesus.
Thus, unless God’s Word had been our delight, we would have perished in grief, sorrow and despair because of our sins and God’s judgment upon sin. We hold fast to God’s Word and never forget God’s promises of pardon and forgiveness in Christ Jesus, for with them He has raised us up from spiritual darkness and death and made us alive to God through faith in Jesus. He gives us life everlasting through the gracious consolation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved), and has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6).
O LORD, thank You for Your Word and the gracious promises of Your Word which comfort and assure me of Your mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. Through Your Word, You have raised me up from spiritual death and despair to faith and life in Your crucified and risen Son, Christ Jesus, my Savior. May I ever hold fast to Your Word and place my hope in Jesus! In His name, I pray. Amen.
“I am Yours, save me; for I have sought Your commandments. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me; but I will think on Your testimonies.” Psalm 119:94-95
We truly do belong to the LORD God – doubly so – for He has both created us and redeemed us. We look to Him both to save us from our sin and the punishment we deserve and to save us from our enemies – the wicked who wait to destroy us because of our testimony to the truths of God’s Word.
We have sought God’s commandments. Again this is to be understood in a broad sense and includes all of God’s Word. We place our hope and confidence in the mercy and forgiveness of God which is revealed to us in God’s Word. Trusting in Christ Jesus for forgiveness and life everlasting, we do seek to live according to God’s commandments – as a fruit of our faith in Jesus, we seek to please Him by living according to His will revealed to us in the law.
Though the wicked, those around us in this world, would silence and destroy us, we think on the testimonies of God. We cling to the truth revealed to us in the Bible and take comfort in the fact that God will keep His Word and graciously keep us in the faith and bring us safely through the attacks of our spiritual enemies and take us to Himself in heaven.
“But evil men and seducers will go forward to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue in the things that you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work” (2 Tim. 3:13-17).
O my Savior, You have created and redeemed me. I am yours. Move me to continue in Your Word and hold fast to its teaching. Graciously keep me from the attacks of the devil and the unbelieving around me and preserve me unto Your heavenly kingdom. I ask this for the sake of Jesus, who shed His blood for me upon the cross. Amen.
“I have seen an end to all perfection; Your commandment is exceedingly broad.” Psalm 119:96
Everything in this world has its limits and shortcomings. All the doctrines and philosophies of man fall short. Even the greatest and wisest thoughts and ideas of man are limited and flawed.
God’s commandment – His revealed Word – on the other hand, is exceedingly broad. It doesn’t fall short. It is forever settled in heaven and reveals to us all that we need to know about our Savior Jesus Christ and about God’s will for our lives.
“From a babe you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work” (2 Tim. 3:15-17).
O LORD, all the glory and wisdom of men are like the flower that fades and the grass that withers, but Your Word endures forever as a witness to all generations. Man’s wisdom and teaching has its limits and shortcomings. Your Word is perfect and reveals all we need to make us complete in Christ Jesus. Grant that we would continue in Your Word and hold fast to Jesus, God’s only-begotten Son and our Savior. Amen.
Epitome of the Formula of Concord
VIII. The Person of Christ
1] From the controversy concerning the Holy Supper a disagreement has arisen between the pure theologians of the Augsburg Confession and the Calvinists, who also have confused some other theologians, concerning the person of Christ and the two natures in Christ and their properties.
STATUS CONTROVERSIAE
Chief Controversy In This Dissension
2] The chief question, however, has been whether, because of the personal union, the divine and human natures, as also their properties, have realiter, that is, in deed and truth, a communion with one another in the person of Christ, and how far this communion extends.
3] The Sacramentarians have asserted that the divine and human natures in Christ are united personally in such a way that neither has realiter, that is, in deed and truth, in common with the other that which is peculiar to either nature, but that they have in common nothing more than the name alone. For unio, they plainly say, facit communia nomina, i.e., the personal union makes nothing more than the names common, namely, that God is called man, and man God, yet in such a way that God has nothing realiter, that is, in deed and truth, in common with humanity, and humanity nothing in common with divinity, its majesty and properties. Dr. Luther, and those who held with him, have contended for the contrary against the Sacramentarians.
Affirmative Theses
Pure Doctrine of the Christian Church concerning the Person of Christ
4] To explain this controversy, and settle it according to the guidance [analogy] of our Christian faith, our doctrine, faith, and confession is as follows:
5] 1. That the divine and human natures in Christ are personally united, so that there are not two Christs, one the Son of God, the other the Son of man, but that one and the same is the Son of God and Son of man, Luke 1:35; Rom. 9:5.
6] 2. We believe, teach, and confess that the divine and human natures are not mingled into one substance, nor the one changed into the other, but that each retains its own essential properties, which [can] never become the properties of the other nature.
7] 3. The properties of the divine nature are: to be almighty, eternal, infinite, and to be, according to the property of its nature and its natural essence, of itself, everywhere present, to know everything, etc.; which never become properties of the human nature.
8] 4. The properties of the human nature are: to be a corporeal creature, to be flesh and blood, to be finite and circumscribed, to suffer, to die, to ascend and descend, to move from one place to another, to suffer hunger, thirst, cold, heat, and the like; which never become properties of the divine nature.
9] 5. As the two natures are united personally, i.e., in one person, we believe, teach, and confess that this union is not such a copulation and connection that neither nature has anything in common with the other personally, i.e., because of the personal union, as when two boards are glued together, where neither gives anything to the other or takes anything from the other. But here is the highest communion, which God truly has with the [assumed] man, from which personal union, and the highest and ineffable communion resulting therefrom, there flows everything human that is said and believed concerning God, and everything divine that is said and believed concerning the man Christ; as the ancient teachers of the Church explained this union and communion of the natures by the illustration of iron glowing with fire, and also by the union of body and soul in man.
10] 6. Hence we believe, teach, and confess that God is man and man is God, which could not be if the divine and human natures had in deed and truth absolutely no communion with one another.
11] For how could the man, the son of Mary, in truth be called or be God, or the Son of God the Most High, if His humanity were not personally united with the Son of God, and He thus had realiter, that is, in deed and truth, nothing in common with Him except only the name of God?
12] 7. Hence we believe, teach, and confess that Mary conceived and bore not a mere man and no more, but the true Son of God; therefore she also is rightly called and truly is the mother of God.
13] 8. Hence we also believe, teach, and confess that it was not a mere man who suffered, died, was buried, descended to hell, arose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and was raised to the majesty and almighty power of God for us, but a man whose human nature has such a profound [close], ineffable union and communion with the Son of God that it is [has become] one person with Him.
14] 9. Therefore the Son of God truly suffered for us, however, according to the property of the human nature which He assumed into the unity of His divine person and made His own, so that He might be able to suffer and be our High Priest for our reconciliation with God, as it is written 1 Cor. 2:8: They have crucified the Lord of glory. And Acts 20:28: We are purchased with God’s blood.
15] 10. Hence we believe, teach, and confess that the Son of Man is realiter, that is, in deed and truth, exalted according to His human nature to the right hand of the almighty majesty and power of God, because He [that man] was assumed into God when He was conceived of the Holy Ghost in His mother’s womb, and His human nature was personally united with the Son of the Highest.
16] 11. This majesty He [Christ] always had according to the personal union, and yet He abstained from it in the state of His humiliation, and on this account truly increased in all wisdom and favor with God and men; therefore He exercised this majesty, not always, but when [as often as] it pleased Him, until after His resurrection He entirely laid aside the form of a servant, but not the [human] nature, and was established in the full use, manifestation, and declaration of the divine majesty, and thus entered into His glory, Phil. 2:6ff , so that now not only as God, but also as man He knows all things, can do all things, is present with all creatures, and has under His feet and in His hands everything that is in heaven and on earth and under the earth, as He Himself testifies Matt. 28:18; John 13:3: All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. And St. Paul says Eph. 4:10: He ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things. And this His power, He, being present, can exercise everywhere, and to Him everything is possible and everything is known.
17] 12. Hence He also is able and it is very easy for Him to impart, as one who is present, His true body and blood in the Holy Supper, not according to the mode or property of the human nature, but according to the mode and property of the right hand of God, as Dr. Luther says in accordance with our Christian faith for children, which presence (of Christ in the Holy Supper] is not [physical or] earthly, nor Capernaitic; nevertheless it is true and substantial, as the words of His testament read: This is, is, is My body, etc.
18] By this our doctrine, faith, and confession the person of Christ is not divided, as it was by Nestorius, who denied the communicatio idiomatum, that is, the true communion of the properties of both natures in Christ, and thus divided the person, as Luther has explained in his book Concerning Councils. Neither are the natures together with their properties confounded with one another [or mingled] into one essence (as Eutyches erred); nor is the human nature in the person of Christ denied or annihilated; nor is either nature changed into the other; but Christ is and remains to all eternity God and man in one undivided person, which, next to the Holy Trinity, is, as the Apostle testifies, 1 Tim. 3:16, the highest mystery, upon which our only consolation, life, and salvation depends.
Negative Theses
Contrary False Doctrine concerning the Person of Christ
19] Accordingly, we reject and condemn as contrary to God’s Word and our simple [pure] Christian faith all the following erroneous articles, when it is taught:
20] 1. That God and man in Christ are not one person, but that the Son of God is one, and the Son of Man another, as Nestorius raved.
21] 2. That the divine and human natures have been mingled with one another into one essence, and the human nature has been changed into the Deity, as Eutyches fanatically asserted.
22] 3. That Christ is not true, natural, and eternal God, as Arius held [blasphemed].
23] 4. That Christ did not have a true human nature [consisting] of body and soul, as Marcion imagined.
24] 5. Quod unio personalis faciat tantum communia nomina, that is, that the personal union renders only the names and titles common.
25] 6. That it is only phrasis et modus loquendi, that is, a phrase and mode of speaking, when it is said: God is man, man is God; since Divinity, as they say, has realiter, that is, in deed [and truth], nothing in common with the humanity, nor the humanity with the Deity.
26] 7. That there is merely communicatio [idiomatum] verbalis [without reality], that is, that it is nothing but words when it is said the Son of God died for the sins of the world; the Son of Man has become almighty.
27] 8. That the human nature in Christ has become an infinite essence in the same manner as the Divinity, and that it is everywhere present in the same manner as the divine nature because of this essential power and property, communicated to, and poured out into, the human nature and separated from God.
28] 9. That the human nature has become equal to and like the divine nature in its substance and essence, or in its essential properties.
29] 10. That the human nature of Christ is locally extended to all places of heaven and earth, which should not be ascribed even to the divine nature.
30] 11. That because of the property of the human nature it is impossible for Christ to be able to be at the same time in more than one place, much less everywhere, with His body.
31] 12. That only the mere humanity has suffered for us and redeemed us, and that the Son of God in the suffering had actually no communion with the humanity, as though it did not concern Him.
32] 13. That Christ is present with us on earth in the Word, the Sacraments, and in all our troubles, only according to His divinity, and that this presence does not at all pertain to His human nature, according to which also, as they say, He, after having redeemed us by His suffering and death, has nothing to do with us any longer upon earth.
33] 14. That the Son of God who assumed the human nature, after He has laid aside the form of a servant, does not perform all the works of His omnipotence in, through, and with His human nature, but only some, and only in the place where His human nature is locally.
34] 15. That according to His human nature He is not at all capable of omnipotence and other attributes of the divine nature, against the express declaration of Christ, Matt. 28:18: All power is given unto He in heaven and in earth, and of St. Paul, Col. 2:9: In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
35] 16. That to Him [to Christ according to His humanity] greater power is given in heaven and upon earth, namely, greater and more than to all angels and other creatures, but that He has no communion with the omnipotence of God, nor that this has been given Him. Hence they devise mediam potentiam, that is, a power between the almighty power of God and the power of other creatures given to Christ according to His humanity by the exaltation, such as would be less than God’s almighty power and greater than that of other creatures.
36] 17. That Christ according to His human mind has a certain limit as to how much He is to know, and that He knows no more than is becoming and needful for Him to know for [the execution of] His office as Judge.
37] 18. That Christ does not yet have a perfect knowledge of God and all His works; of whom nevertheless it is written Col. 2:3: In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
38] 19. That it is impossible for Christ according to His human mind to know what has been from eternity, what at present is occurring everywhere, and what will be in eternity.
39] 20. When it is taught, and the passage Matt. 28:18: All power is given unto Me, etc., is thus interpreted and blasphemously perverted, namely, that all power in heaven and on earth was restored, that is, delivered again to Christ according to the divine nature, at the resurrection and His ascension to heaven, as though He had also according to His divinity laid this aside and abandoned it in His state of humiliation. By this doctrine not only the words of the testament of Christ are perverted, but also the way is prepared for the accursed Arian heresy, so that finally the eternal deity of Christ is denied, and thus Christ, and with Him our salvation, are entirely lost if this false doctrine were not firmly contradicted from the immovable foundation of the divine Word and our simple Christian [catholic] faith.
Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday
Scripture Readings for Sunday are: Psalm 119:89-96; Ephesians 6:1-9; and Matthew 20:1-16. Please read them in their context as you prepare for worship on Sunday.
The Adult Bible Class is studying St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians, at chapter 4, verse 7ff.
Remember to Pray
Remember to pray for our church and for all our members, that none be lost to Christ’s kingdom but that all continue in repentance and be strengthened and built up in the true and saving faith in Christ Jesus through the hearing and study of His Word. We pray for God’s healing and strengthening of our congregation, as well as for God’s help with our church’s financial needs. We continue to pray for all who have been sick or who are suffering among us – for Sam Rusch; for Bonnie Hawes, who is anticipating heart surgery; for Jessica Evans, who has returned to live with her sister in California; for those who have been absent from us, for our extended families and for believers who are alone and have no congregation. Continue to pray for Lutheran congregations in the Philippines and Japan, for Christians in Nigeria, Haiti and Chile, and for believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.
Events and Announcements
Evening Congregational Bible study will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 21, at the church. The study continues its review of The Bible on Trial video series.
On-line video of worship services can be found at: http://goodshepherdrogers.org/blog/worship-service-video.
Information for bulletins or newsletters may be sent to Pastor Moll by calling him at 479-233-0081 or by e-mail at goodshepherdrogers@yahoo.com.
Psalm 4
To the Chief Musician, for stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness; You gave room to me in trouble; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. 2 O sons of men, how long will you turn My glory into shame? Will you love vanity and seek after a lie? Selah. 3 But know that the LORD has set apart the godly for Himself. The LORD hears when I call to Him. 4 Tremble, and sin not; speak within your own heart on your bed and be still. Selah. 5 Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD.
6 There are many who say, Who will show us any good? LORD, lift up the light of Your face on us. 7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their grain and their wine increased. 8 I will lie down, both in peace and in sleep. For You alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.