Words of Encouragement
for the week of Oct. 5, 2011
Meditations in Psalm 119
SAMECH
113 I hate half-hearted thoughts; but Your law do I love. 114 You are my hiding-place and my shield; I hope in Your word. 115 Depart from me, you evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God. 116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 117 Hold me up, and I shall be safe; and I will always have respect to Your statutes. 118 You have trampled all those who go astray from Your statutes; for their deceit is falsehood. 119 You put away all the wicked of the earth like waste; therefore I love Your testimonies. 120 My flesh trembles in fear of You; and I am afraid of Your judgments.
“I hate halfhearted thoughts; but Your law do I love.” Psalm 119:113
Literally, this psalm verse says, “I hate the halfhearted; but I love Your law.” Whether the psalmist expresses his disdain for people who only halfheartedly heed God’s Word or to their halfhearted thoughts and devotion to the LORD could, perhaps, be argued.
The point, though, is that we be wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD and that we heed His Word with all our hearts.
Even though many pay lip-service to the LORD and His Word, we as believers love God’s Word and hold fast to its teachings. We cling to the Word for it tells us the truth about ourselves and about our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Though the Scriptures reveal to us the wickedness of our hearts and the evil of our thoughts and desires, they also reveal to us the mercy and forgiveness won for us by the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus, Son of God and son of man, that He might redeem us.
O LORD Jesus, forgive me for being less than fully devoted to You and to Your Word. Unite my heart to love You and hold fast to Your Word. Amen.
“You are my hiding-place and my shield; I hope in Your word.” Psalm 119:114
The LORD God is our hiding place and our shield. He saves us from our enemies and defends us against the constant attacks of the devil upon our souls.
He delivers us from all evil and guards and keeps us from harm – especially from those attacks which would destroy our faith and bring ruin to our souls. He keeps us safe and preserves us unto His heavenly kingdom.
When we trust in Christ Jesus, we are safe because He overcame the devil for us when He suffered and died upon the cross for the sins of the whole world. He rose again and ascended to the right hand of God the Father in heaven and now rules over and fills all things for the good of His saints, those who are counted holy and righteous through faith in His name.
We place our hope in His Word because that Word promises to us forgiveness for all sins and the everlasting joys of heaven, all for Jesus’ sake – because He suffered and died for the sins of all and rose again in victory.
While the devil and all the world attack us and laugh us to scorn for trusting in Christ and believing God’s promises, we rest safely in the LORD and place our hope and confidence in the promises of God’s Word. His Word will never fail!
Gracious heavenly Father, protect us from all the assaults of the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh and preserve us safe unto Your everlasting kingdom. In Your Word do we hope. Amen.
“Depart from me, you evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God.” Psalm 119:115
Often in life we as believers are forced to mace choices in regard to our faithfulness to the LORD God who has both created and redeemed us. Do we give in to the persuasion of people around us in the world – whether friends, family, employers, teachers, etc. – or do we follow after the LORD and obey His commandments?
The Word of God tells us: “My son, if sinners lure you, do not be willing” (Prov. 1:10).
Rather than yielding to the pressures and temptations put forward by the evil-doers in this world, we should fear and honor God and keep His commandments. Our lives should be governed by His Word.
Why? Because the ways of this world lead to death and eternal punishment and Christ shed His blood to redeem us from our just end and give us everlasting life with Him in heaven. Perhaps a better question is this: Why would we want to return to our old ways and to the spiritual and eternal consequences of turning back into sin?
With the psalmist, we say: “Depart from me, you evil-doers, for I will keep the commandments of my God.”
O gracious and merciful Father. Thank You for sending the Son to redeem me from my own evil and wicked ways by shedding His blood upon the cross as full payment for all my sins. Cleanse my heart and soul and give me the desire to depart from evil and walk in accord with Your holy commandments.
“Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe; and I will always have respect to Your statutes.” Psalm 119:116-117
Not only does God graciously bring us to know and trust that in Christ Jesus and for the sake of His innocent sufferings and death in our stead we have forgiveness and life, He graciously keeps us in that faith.
As the Bible says, “Faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (Romans 10:17). Through the Gospel message that God is gracious and forgives and accepts us for the sake of Jesus and His atoning sacrifice upon the cross, the Holy Spirit brings us to faith. Through that same Gospel, He continues to comfort and preserve us in saving faith.
Thus, the psalmist prays: “Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live; and let me not be ashamed of my hope. Hold me up, and I shall be safe; and I will always have respect to Your statutes.”
God promises in His Word to preserve us and keep us in the faith. He uses the Word to create and preserve faith and put out the fiery darts of the devil, who continually assaults us with doubts and fears.
“He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:6). “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me for His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim. 4:18).
It is God who keeps us in the faith that we may continue to live spiritually and have the blessing of life eternal. He keeps us from being ashamed of our hope and confidence and will fulfill all that His Word promises. Though we as believers are weak, the LORD God holds us up and keeps us safe against the many temptations of the devil and his evil cohorts.
And when God keeps us in the true faith, trusting in Him alone for mercy and forgiveness, that faith also moves us to respect God’s Word and gives us the desire to walk according to God’s commandments.
It is by Your grace alone that we are saved, O LORD. Graciously uphold and preserve us in the true faith that we be not ashamed but receive the promised hope of life everlasting for Jesus’ sake. In His name we pray. Amen.
“You have trampled all those who go astray from Your statutes; for their deceit is falsehood. You put away all the wicked of the earth like waste; therefore I love Your testimonies.” Psalm 119:118-119
Many times people deceive themselves into thinking that no harm will come from disobeying God’s commandments and departing from God’s Word. But such deceit is false, for God judges those who depart from His Word and will ultimately remove all the wicked from the earth, condemning them to an eternity of torment, away from His presence.
The Bible says: “It is a righteous thing with God to repay tribulation to those who trouble you, and to give rest with us to you who are troubled, at the revealing of the Lord Jesus from Heaven with the angels of His power, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God and who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all those who believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that Day” (2 Thess. 1:6-10).
God’s Word is truth. His way is right, even if we may think otherwise at times. The only way to be saved is to believe God’s Word, acknowledge our sinfulness and place our faith and confidence in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world.
God will soon judge this world and condemn all those who reject His Word and turn aside from its truths – heaven would not be heaven if God permitted the wicked and rebellious to be there – therefore, we love the testimony of God’s Word and cling to the truth.
We hold fast to Jesus our Savior and look forward to the day of judgment in confidence.
Dear Lord Jesus, You will soon come again in the clouds of glory to carry out Your judgment upon the peoples and nations of the earth. Grant that we see the coming end of the wicked and cling to You in repentance and faith. Amen.
“My flesh trembles in fear of You; and I am afraid of Your judgments.” Psalm 119:120
Many in our generation have forgotten the fear of the LORD. They view God as a smiling and jolly old man who says, “That’s alright,” of our sins and iniquities. But this, too, is deception and falsehood.
God is a just God who must and does punish sin. Even the smallest and insignificant sin in our eyes brings the just condemnation of the LORD God who created us to be perfect and without sin.
The Bible says: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the Book of the Law, to do them” (Gal. 3:10).
God’s judgments are a fearful thing. When we look around us in the world, we see sudden death and destruction come to many. Were they worse sinners than others? Jesus says, “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3).
We deserve to suffer the same judgments of God, to have our lives cut short, to lose the Word of God entirely, to become hardened in our sin and unbelief. And our sinful flesh, which remains inclined to evil and rebellion against God and His Word, needs to tremble in fear and be afraid of God’s well-deserved judgments.
Yet, though completely undeserved by us, God continues to reach out to us in mercy, calling us to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus. He forgives us, accepts us and gives us life everlasting for the sake of Jesus and His holy life and bitter sufferings and death in our place.
O Almighty God, Judge of all the earth, I fear Your judgments and know that I deserve nothing but Your wrath and punishment. Let me not take sin and disobedience lightly or doubt Your perfect justice. Rather, let me flee to You for mercy and forgiveness and trust solely in the blood of Jesus shed for me upon the cross. You judged and condemned Your Son that I might be acquitted and have life eternal. Blessed be Your name. Amen.
From the Lutheran Confessions
Formula of Concord, Epitome
XI. Election
1] Concerning this article no public dissension has occurred among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession. But since it is a consolatory article, if treated properly, and lest offensive disputations concerning the same be instituted in the future, it is also explained in this writing.
Affirmative Theses
The Pure and True Doctrine concerning This Article
2] 1. To begin with [First of all], the distinction between praescientia et praedestinatio, that is, between God’s foreknowledge and His eternal election, ought to be accurately observed.
3] 2. For the foreknowledge of God is nothing else than that God knows all things before they happen, as it is written Dan. 2:28: There is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.
4] 3. This foreknowledge extends alike over the godly and the wicked, but it is not the cause of evil, neither of sin, namely, of doing what is wrong (which originally arises from the devil and the wicked, perverse will of man), nor of their ruin [that men perish], for which they themselves are responsible [which they must ascribe to themselves]; but it only regulates it, and fixes a limit to it [how far it should progress and] how long it should last, and all this to the end that it should serve His elect for their salvation, notwithstanding that it is evil in itself.
5] 4. The predestination or eternal election of God, however, extends only over the godly, beloved children of God, being a cause of their salvation, which He also provides, as well as disposes what belongs thereto. Upon this [predestination of God] our salvation is founded so firmly that the gates of hell cannot overcome it. John 10:28; Matt. 16:18.
6] 5. This [predestination of God] is not to be investigated in the secret counsel of God, but to be sought in the Word of God, where it is also revealed.
7] 6. But the Word of God leads us to Christ, who is the Book of Life, in whom all are written and elected that are to be saved in eternity, as it is written Eph. 1:4: He hath chosen us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world.
8] 7. This Christ calls to Himself all sinners and promises them rest, and He is in earnest [seriously wills] that all men should come to Him and suffer themselves to be helped, to whom He offers Himself in His Word, and wishes them to hear it and not to stop their ears or [neglect and] despise the Word. Moreover, He promises the power and working of the Holy Ghost, and divine assistance for perseverance and eternal salvation [that we may remain steadfast in the faith and attain eternal salvation].
9] 8. Therefore we should judge concerning this our election to eternal life neither from reason nor from the Law of God, which lead us either into a reckless, dissolute, Epicurean life or into despair, and excite pernicious thoughts in the hearts of men, for they cannot, as long as they follow their reason, successfully refrain from thinking: If God has elected me to salvation, I cannot be condemned, no matter what I do; and again: If I am not elected to eternal life, it is of no avail what good I do; it is all [all my efforts are] in vain anyway.
10] 9. But it [the true judgment concerning predestination] must be learned alone from the holy Gospel concerning Christ, in which it is clearly testified that God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all, and that He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and believe in the Lord Christ. Rom. 11:32; Ezek. 18:23; 33:11; 2 Pet. 3:9; 1 John 2:2.
11] 10. Whoever, now, is thus concerned about the revealed will of God, and proceeds according to the order which St. Paul has observed in the Epistle to the Romans, who first directs men to repentance, to knowledge of sins, to faith in Christ, to divine obedience, before he speaks of the mystery of the eternal election of God, to him this doctrine [concerning God's predestination] is useful and consolatory.
12] 11. However, that many are called and few chosen, Matt. 22:14, does not mean that God is not willing to save everybody; but the reason is that they either do not at all hear God’s Word, but willfully despise it, stop their ears and harden their hearts, and in this manner foreclose the ordinary way to the Holy Ghost, so that He cannot perform His work in them, or, when they have heard it, make light of it again and do not heed it, for which [that they perish] not God or His election, but their wickedness, is responsible. [2 Pet. 2:1ff ; Luke 11:49. 52; Heb. 12:25f.]
13] 12. Thus far a Christian should occupy himself [in meditation] with the article concerning the eternal election of God, as it has been revealed in God’s Word, which presents to us Christ as the Book of Life, which He opens and reveals to us by the preaching of the holy Gospel, as it is written Rom. 8:30: Whom He did predestinate, them He also called. In Him we are to seek the eternal election of the Father, who has determined in His eternal divine counsel that He would save no one except those who know His Son Christ and truly believe on Him. Other thoughts are to be [entirely] banished [from the minds of the godly], as they proceed not from God, but from the suggestion of the Evil Foe, whereby he attempts to weaken or entirely to remove from us the glorious consolation which we have in this salutary doctrine, namely, that we know [assuredly] that out of pure grace, without any merit of our own, we have been elected in Christ to eternal life, and that no one can pluck us out of His hand; as He has not only promised this gracious election with mere words, but has also certified it with an oath and sealed it with the holy Sacraments, which we can [ought to] call to mind in our most severe temptations, and take comfort in them, and therewith quench the fiery darts of the devil.
14] 13. Besides, we should use the greatest diligence to live according to the will of God, and, as St. Peter admonishes, 2 Pet. 1:10, make our calling sure, and especially adhere to [not recede a finger's breadth from] the revealed Word: that can and will not fail us.
15] 14. By this brief explanation of the eternal election of God His glory is entirely and fully given to God, that out of pure mercy alone, without all merit of ours, He saves us according to the purpose of His will; besides, also, no cause is given any one for despondency or a vulgar, wild life [no opportunity is afforded either for those more severe agitations of mind and faintheartedness or for Epicureanism].
Negative Theses
False Doctrine concerning This Article
16] Accordingly, we believe and hold: When any teach the doctrine concerning the gracious election of God to eternal life in such a manner that troubled Christians cannot comfort themselves therewith, but are thereby led to despondency or despair, or the impenitent are strengthened in their wantonness, that such doctrine is treated [wickedly and erroneously] not according to the Word and will of God, but according to reason and the instigation of the cursed Satan. For, as the apostle testifies, Rom. 15:4, whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. Therefore we reject the following errors:
17] 1. As when it is taught that God is unwilling that all men repent and believe the Gospel.
18] 2. Also, that when God calls us to Himself, He is not in earnest that all men should come to Him.
19] 3. Also, that God is unwilling that every one should be saved, but that some, without regard to their sins, from the mere counsel, purpose, and will of God, are ordained to condemnation so that they cannot be saved.
20] 4. Also, that not only the mercy of God and the most holy merit of Christ, but also in us there is a cause of God’s election, on account of which God has elected us to everlasting life.
21] All these are blasphemous and dreadful erroneous doctrines, whereby all the comfort which they have in the holy Gospel and the use of the holy Sacraments is taken from Christians, and therefore should not be tolerated in the Church of God.
22] This is the brief and simple explanation of the controverted articles, which for a time have been debated and taught controversially among the theologians of the Augsburg Confession. Hence every simple Christian, according to the guidance of God’s Word and his simple Catechism, can perceive what is right or wrong, since not only the pure doctrine has been stated, but also the erroneous contrary doctrine has been repudiated and rejected, and thus the offensive divisions that have occurred are thoroughly settled [and decided].
23] May Almighty God and the Father of our Lord Jesus grant the grace of His Holy Ghost that we all may be one in Him, and constantly abide in this Christian unity, which is well pleasing to Him! Amen.
Bible Study in Preparation for Sunday
Scripture Readings for Sunday are: Psalm 119:113-120; Ephesians 6:19-24; and Matthew 22:1-14. 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 15ff.
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 anticipates heart surgery on Oct.10; 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 and believers around the world who are persecuted or suffering for their faith in Christ Jesus.
Events and Announcements
On-line video of worship services can be found at: http://goodshepherdrogers.org/blog/worship-service-video.
Our next Congregational Evening Bible Study is tentatively planned for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12. We continue our review of The Bible on Trial.
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 7
A song of David, which he sang to the LORD, concerning the words of Cush the Benjamite.
1 O LORD my God, in You I put my trust; save me from all who pursue me, and deliver me, 2 lest he tear my soul like a lion, tearing it in pieces, and there is no one to deliver. 3 O LORD my God, if I have done this; if there is iniquity in my hands; 4 if I have rewarded evil to my friend, or if I have delivered my vexer without cause; 5 let the enemy persecute my soul and take it; yea, let him trample down my life on the earth and lay my honor in the dust. Selah. 6 Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; lift up Yourself because of the rage of my enemies, and awake for me to the judgment which You have commanded. 7 And the congregation of the peoples shall surround You; and over it You will return on high. 8 The LORD shall judge the people; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity on me. 9 O let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end, but establish the just. For the righteous God tries the minds and hearts.
10 My defense is from God, who saves the upright in heart. 11 God judges the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. 12 If he does not turn, He will whet His sword; He has bent His bow and made it ready. 13 Yea, He has fitted for him instruments of death; He will make ready His arrows hotly pursue. 14 Behold, he labors in pain with iniquity, and he has conceived mischief, and has brought forth falsehood. 15 He dug a pit and bored it, and has fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief shall return on his own head, and his violence shall come on his own crown. 17 I will praise the LORD according to His righteousness, and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.