October 26, 2024
Today’s Reading: Introit for Pentecost 23 – Psalm 131; antiphon: Psalm 130:1-2
Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 28:1-22; Matthew 18:1-20
O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! (Psalm 130:1-2)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Psalm 130 (all eight verses, not just the two from which the antiphon for tomorrow’s Introit is derived) is popular at funerals. It’s a psalm that pastors often pray out loud as the procession moves from the hearse to the graveside.
There was a country song released recently called “I Wish Grandpas Never Died.” I wish that, too. Most painful of all, though, is when a child dies. Why would God allow something like that to happen? Psalm 131 (tomorrow’s Introit) gives us wise counsel. “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me” (verse 1). Like a weaned child trusting its mother, the psalmist then cries out, “O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore” (verse 3).
There are many things in life we will never understand, and the death of a child is certainly one of them. But whether we understand something or not, it is always good to “trust in the LORD.” Why? Because with the LORD “there is mercy, and with Him is abundant redemption” (Psalm 130:7). In His Word, God has revealed to us that He did not put Jesus on the cross only to leave us at the mercy of things we don’t understand in this life. He put Jesus on the cross for you and me so that the only hands we are at the mercy of now in this life and the next are His. That’s a good place to be because those hands were nailed to the cross for you and me to save us from all our sins.
Along with tomorrow’s psalmist, we, too, can “wait for the LORD.” For in His own timing, perhaps not until eternity, He will make it clear to us how He was always present, always good and merciful in all He sent or allowed in this life. In “the depths,” that seems impossible to believe. But the promise of your Baptism, the forgiveness you will hear from your pastor tomorrow, and the redemption you will receive in Communion all promise you that the Lord’s got this. The Lord’s got you. And there is nothing at all to fear. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blest assurance control, That Christ has regarded my helpless estate And hath shed His own Blood for my soul. It is well with my soul, It is well, it is well with my soul. (LSB 763:2)
-Rev. Bradley Drew, pastor of Mount Olive Lutheran Church in Metairie, LA.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.
In Embracing Your Lutheran Identity, Author Gene Edward Veith Jr. will guide readers through that heritage, starting with the Early Church and moving through the Reformation to Lutheranism today. Readers will learn about key people in the history of Lutheranism, from two teenagers who were the first martyrs of the Reformation, through the Saxon immigrants who left everything behind so they could practice Lutheranism freely, to the Lutherans who have stood strong for the faith in our own day.
