Good Morning, Lord!
I Am Baptized
Baptism … now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 3:21 ESV)
Make the sign of the cross as you say, “In the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”
A Morning Prayer
Almighty and ever-living God, You make us both to will and to do those things that are good and acceptable in Your sight. Let Your fatherly hand ever guide us and Your Holy Spirit ever be with us to direct us in the knowledge and obedience of Your Word that we may obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.[1]
I Believe …
You shall have no other gods.
You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.
Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.
Honor your father and mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant
or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
Bible Reading – Psalm
9
To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm
of David.
9 I will give
thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When
my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous
judgment.
5 You
have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But
the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a
stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in
you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek
you.
11 Sing
praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be
gracious to me, O Lord!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The
nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been
caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he
has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own
hands. Higgaion. Selah
17 The
wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For
the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise,
O Lord! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah[2]
In the last few days there have been protests and riots here in the United States – and to be clear, those are not the same thing. The issue at the heart of the controversy is racial injustice, and one of the modes of protest is vandalism and removal of certain statues of people like Christopher Columbus and Confederate Generals – men who embody racial inequality in a variety of ways. Some complain that by doing so these people are erasing history, and I find that statement interesting in light of our Psalm. David writes, “You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish; you have blotted out their name forever and ever. The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins; the cities you rooted out; the very memory of them has perished.”
A day will come when God will bring this world to an end. The wickedness and injustice of it all will be set right. And the very memory of things like racism, violence, looting, and hatred will be forgotten. But notice why these things are forgotten. It is because God rebukes. God causes the wicked to perish. God blots out their name forever.
Is it okay for us to pray for the wicked to perish, for
God to blot them out? Well, yes. That is rather like praying for the end of
racism, human trafficking, and drug addiction. But here is what we need to
recognize – that God has fully and righteously punished the wicked through
Jesus’ death. Even your wickedness – or sin, if you prefer to call it that.
Jesus has borne all the sin and wickedness of the world.
Does that mean there will be no recompense at the end? Unfortunately, no. Those who reject Jesus and refuse to stand under his grace will receive what their wickedness has earned, but at the same time, as sad as that is, it will be a day of relief and rejoicing as we finally experience the fullness of Jesus’ salvation. Until then we pray for Christ to come quickly … but not too quickly for we want one more person to hear, believe, and be saved.
What does this reading teach you about Jesus, what He said
and did, or what He wants His followers to believe? What does it teach you
about God’s love and forgiveness?
What does this reading lead you to be thankful for?
What behavior, thought, or attitude does this reading
challenge? What sin does it lead you to confess?
How might you pray for God to have a richer impact on your
life through this reading?
Petitions of the Lord’s Prayer
The Sixth
Petition: “And lead us not into temptation.”
Father in heaven, You tempt no one. Please guard and keep us
so that the devil, the world, and our sinful nature may not deceive us or
mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Although
we are attacked by these things, we pray that we may finally overcome them and
win the victory through Jesus, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Prayer
Pray for those
who are sick, injured, grieving, dying, lonely, bullied, and experiencing
injustice.
Benediction
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to
present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25
to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty,
dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude
1:24-25 ESV)
[1] Lutheran
Service Book, Concordia Publishing House, p. 310
[2] English
Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good
News Publishers.
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