September 13, 2024
Today’s Reading: Introit for Pentecost 17 – Psalm 31:14-16; antiphon: Psalm 31:24
Daily Lectionary: 2 Chronicles 32:1-22; Hosea 1:1-14:9; Colossians 1:1-23
“But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’” (Psalm 31:14)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
What does it mean to have a God? We confess that the First Commandment requires us to “fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” So whatever it is in which we put our trust is our God. Whatever we fear can easily become our God. What we love with our time, money, and energy is our God. Let’s not try to get out from under this judgment of God’s law. We are no different from the Israelites, who made another God when Moses did not show up for a month. When we do not find the answers we want or think we need, when our money, the government, or our families seem more immediate, and we turn to them most quickly when we are in trouble, then we have our gods exposed.
But the God who delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt refused to let the people have any other gods. No other god made everything that exists. No other god delivered them from slavery. No other god would bring them into the land that Yahweh had promised to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. “I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God” (Exodus 6:7). God does not want us to make other gods for ourselves, not so much because we should choose Him out of all the gods there are, but because there are, in reality, no other gods. “Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:8).
So the only God there is sends the only Son in order to gather all of us god-makers back to Himself. Idolaters are as idolaters do, and so the only true God gets crucified as a false god. But the resurrection demonstrates that He alone is God. “Ask ye, who is this? Jesus Christ it is, of Sabaoth Lord, and there’s none other God” (LSB 656:2). And the Spirit of this Jesus preaches the true God back into our ears and hearts by His Word, and creates a true fear, love, and trust. And now we rejoice with all the believers in the true God, and we pray with the psalmist: “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’”
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
O God, Your dwelling is with us in Christ. Dwell with us always, that we may be Your people, and that You may be with us as our God (Revelation 21:3). Keep us as Your people until the final day, when we say, Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him! Let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation (Isaiah 25:9)! Amen.
-Rev. Timothy Winterstein is pastor at Faith Lutheran Church, East Wenatchee, Washington.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.
The new Guiding Word series takes you through all the books of the Bible in six volumes. Starting with the Books of Moses—Genesis through Deuteronomy—you will explore every passage of every chapter of each book with the help of maps, diagrams, links between the testaments, and clarification points.
