Sunday, October 3, 2021

Monday prior to Proper 23

 

Psalm 112:3–6; Antiphon, Psalm 112:1—Sunday’s Introit tells of the blessedness of the man who fears the Lord and delights in His commandments. This man delights especially in the First Commandment; You shall have no other gods. He fears, loves, and trusts in God above all things, especially earthly things. Thus, he is truly wealthy, for he possesses wealth that is far greater than material things; he has the righteousness of God that comes by faith.

The blessings upon those who fear the Lord.

Like Psalm 111 before it, Psalm 112 is an acrostic psalm. James Montgomery Boice commented on the similarities between Psalms 111 and 112: “They are the same length, fall into identical stanzas, and even have identical or similar phrases occurring at the same places in each. Both are precise acrostics; that is, they have twenty-two lines each of which begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.”[1]

The theme for this Sunday is The Root of Evil. You will sometimes hear a person say ‘Money is the root of all evil.’ Usually it is said in a judgmental tone, used to condemn another. But such a one doesn’t quote Scripture correctly, for the Bible does not say that money is the root of all evil, but ‘the love of money is the root of all evil.’ (1 Timothy 6:10)

All of next Sunday’s readings exhort us not to depart from the Lord, but to remain faithful to Him. Oftentimes, not only the cares of this world, but the things of this world divert our attention from the Lord.

The sin of the rich young man in next Sunday’s Gospel reading was not that he had great riches, but that those riches were the most important thing to him. A Christian who is wealthy need not be ashamed of his wealth, for it is a gift from God, but he must not let his wealth rule him. He must realize that he is but a steward of the gifts God gives, and must use those gifts in a manner pleasing to God.

Collect for Psalm 112: Lord Jesus, you are the light shining in darkness for the upright. Teach us to love one another as you love us, that we might bring peace and joy to the world and find the happiness of your home where you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.[2] 4 October 2021



[2] Collect for Psalm 112, For All the Saints A Prayer Book For and By the Church Vol. IV, © 1996 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY


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