Reading: Ps
91:1-13
The devil quoted this Psalm to tempt Jesus in our Gospel
reading this week. How is that for a good reason to appoint it as the Psalm for
the First Sunday of Lent? The devil will twist God’s word to his advantage, if
he can, and so we Christians will read it calling upon the Holy Spirit to teach
us to believe God’s word rightly.
The Psalm speaks of God’s protection for his people. This
theme is at the heart of our confidence as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “…
deliver us from evil.”
Luther comments on that petition saying, “We pray in this
petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil
of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour
comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of
sorrows to Himself in heaven.”
It takes faith to see how God protects us in this life.
We may even wonder if we are protected as we go through suffering, trials, and
troubles. In those moments it can be helpful to pull back and see the larger
picture, remembering that our Lord Jesus has rescued us from death and hell,
and the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory that
is revealed in us through faith in Jesus (Romans 8:18).
Our Father in
heaven, deliver us we pray thee, from all manner of evil, whether it touch our
body or soul, our property or good name, and at last, when the hour of death
shall come, grant us a blessed end and graciously take us from this vale of
sorrow to thyself in heaven, through Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.[1]
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