Friday, July 17, 2020

July 17 – Friday prior to Proper 11




Psalm 119:57-64 – This Psalm is suggested for this coming Sunday. This section falls under the Hebrew letter “He.” The Lord is the psalmist’s true homestead because it is God’s law that fills the earth with all that makes life secure and joyous. So God’s promises are his hope and God’s righteous laws his delight.

The Psalmist is ever aware of God’s mercy and His statutes.

We have a sense of our deep need.  We are always in great need of two things: God’s mercy and wisdom to walk in God’s ways. It is only by God’s mercy and wisdom that we will find the paths of life.  So our hearts cry out for more of God’s mercy and more of God’s wisdom in his law that we may truly know what it is to live life.

We are always in need of the mercy of God (verse 58).  If ever we lose sight of this, we are most miserable and hopeless.  We are beggars for mercy. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy mercies. Have mercy!” The only basis on which we can plead for this mercy is the Word of God - the promises and the provisions already laid out in His Word. Thus we may say, “Have mercy on us, according to the provision of Christ’s blood and righteousness!

Lord, you are just and your commandments are eternal. Teach us to love you with all our hearts and to love our neighbor as ourselves, for the sake of Jesus our Lord.

For All the Saints: A Prayer Book For and By the Church Vol. II The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau © 1995 Delhi, NY
Sacrament of the Altar copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things

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