
Some recent reflection I’ve been doing has me thinking of how we deal with the present world and how we view eternity. There are certain ways of …
Looking to the Future
Some recent reflection I’ve been doing has me thinking of how we deal with the present world and how we view eternity. There are certain ways of …
Looking to the Future
Back in the 4th and 5th centuries, early church theologian Prosper of Aquitaine declared, “Legem credendi lex statuat supplicandi.” This statement …
The Law of Worship
Psalm 73
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of Asaph.
[1] Truly God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart.
[2] But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
[3] For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
[4] For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
[5] They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.
[6] Therefore pride is their necklace;
violence covers them as a garment.
[7] Their eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
[8] They scoff and speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
[9] They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
[10] Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find no fault in them.
[11] And they say, “How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
[12] Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they increase in riches.
[13] All in vain have I kept my heart clean
and washed my hands in innocence.
[14] For all the day long I have been stricken
and rebuked every morning.
[15] If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed the generation of your children.
[16] But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me a wearisome task,
[17] until I went into the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their end.
[18] Truly you set them in slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
[19] How they are destroyed in a moment,
swept away utterly by terrors!
[20] Like a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
[21] When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
[22] I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.
[23] Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
[24] You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
[25] Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
[26] My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
[27] For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
[28] But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord GOD my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.
Why does God, allow the wicked to flourish?
This is a struggle, we try to understand. If we are all honest we want to see their downfall, but as Christians this isn’t right & we should repent. We should pray for the wicked, that God will give them the Gift of Repentance & Faith in Jesus.
V. 1-3 envy of the arrogant
V. 4-15 the arrogant prosper
V. 16-17 struggle to understand
V. 18-22 the end of the arrogant
V. 23-26 God is our strength and portion
V. 27-28 be near God
Periodically as I’m preparing the service for Sunday I recall a conversation with one of my professors back at seminary regarding the liturgy. He was…
Disciples of Christ
One of the notable aspects of some of the major political issues today is how clearly their focus is on self-determination. Abortion, trans-genderism…
Lutheran Worship is Counter-Cultural