Listen here.
Welcome to Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the
appointed Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten
from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Hudson, OH. Thank you so much for being with
me today. I pray this devotion will be a blessing to you, and I hope it gives
you something to meditate on later today. That is, I hope it gives you
something to think about; especially something about God’s mercy and grace.
We are working our way through the Time of the Church, and a
major emphasis of this time of the church year is listening to God’s teaching.
Our reading today is Psalm
136:1-9 and it is the psalm appointed for the 9th Sunday after
Pentecost. It is also a great example of how God’s Word teaches and how that
teaching flows into worship. Psalm 136 is like a catechism with statements and
responses. It may have been read responsively as part of the liturgy in
worship. This catechism, at least the portion we will read, focuses us on God
as the only god and the marvelous creator of all things. If you read the rest
of the psalm you will see that it also recounts the exodus when God saved
Israel from slavery in Egypt, the conquest of the Promised Land when Joshua led
Israel, and God’s provision for his people through all of their history. It is
like a lesson in the history of God’s people – a history that the worshiper is
swept into and included in as they remember that God’s steadfast love endures
forever, and that means it is here now!
There is a very important Hebrew word that is repeated in
this psalm. As the conclusion of each verse, the psalm says, “for his chesed endures forever.” God’s steadfast love endures forever is how
the ESV translation puts it. Others translate that word as mercy, lovingkindness,
and love. I also think there is good
reason to understand this word as grace.
It is here that we find ourselves included in these passages for we have
experienced the fullness of God’s grace – the ultimate expression of his chesed – in the Jesus’ cross. We remind
ourselves that Israel’s experience of God’s grace extends through the Old
Testament into its fulfillment in Jesus which we experience and receive by
faith in Him.
So today I will read Psalm 136:1-9 to you twice. First, I
will read it from the English Standard Version translation. Then I will read it
more slowly from the ESV, substituting the word grace for steadfast love.
(If you are reading on your own, I encourage you to try that exercise as well.)
Prayer
We thank you, O God, that you are good and your steadfast
love endures forever. In every circumstance in our life we rely on your grace
and trust that it will never fail because you displayed your love in the most
incredible way: by giving your Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. In him
we fully experience your mercy for you forgive our sins and reconcile us to
yourself. Help us to trust that you have chosen to act toward us in
lovingkindness, no matter what is happening in our lives. Fill our hearts and
minds with the belief that your steadfast love endures forever for Jesus’ sake.
Amen.
Thank you again for being with me for this time of
meditating on God’s Word. I hope that this devotion was a blessing to you and
it has given something to chew on through the rest of the day. If I may suggest
a thought for you from this reading it would be to ponder the amazing message
that God’s steadfast love – his grace – endures forever.
Comments