Daily Devotion for 17 March 2026 (Lent 4, Tuesday)

Welcome to the Daily Devotions podcast from Confident Faith.

I am Corey J. Moller, a contributor here at Confident Faith and I will be your reader today.

This Tuesday in the fourth week of Lent, the 17th of March, in the year of our Lord 2026,

in the time of Easter.

Today we commemorate St. Patrick, missionary to Ireland.

Born around 8389 in Britain, St. Patrick is one of the best known saints.

Captured by Raiders as a teenager, he was transported to Ireland and forced to work as a shepherd.

After escaping from captivity and living in France as a monk, he returned to Ireland

to spread the gospel.

Tradition holds at St. Patrick died on 17 March, around the year 8466.

Our readings for today are Psalm 37, Psalm 143, Genesis chapter 43 verses 1 through 28,

Mark chapter 12 verses 13 through 27, and paragraphs 18 through 23 of Article 3 of the solid

declaration of the formula of Concord.

We will close, as always, with the Lord's Prayer.

Today's first reading from the Psalter is the 37th Psalm.

Do not fret among wicked people.

Do not be envious of those that do lawlessness, because like grass they will quickly wither,

and like green herbs they will quickly fall off.

Hope in the Lord and keep doing kindness, and encamp in the land, and you will be tended

by its well.

Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the requests of your heart.

Disclose your way to the Lord, and hope in Him and He will act.

And He will publish your vindication like light, and your judgment like noon day.

Submit to the Lord and supplicate Him.

Do not fret over the one that prospers in His way, over a person that commits transgression

of the law.

Seize from wrath and forsake anger.

Do not fret so as to do evil, because the evil doers shall be destroyed.

But those who wait for the Lord, they shall inherit land.

And yet a little while and the sinner will be no more, and you will seek His place,

and will not find.

But the meek shall inherit land, and take delight in an abundance of peace.

The sinner will closely watch the righteous, and gnash his teeth at Him.

But the Lord will laugh at Him, because He foresees that His day will come.

Assword the sinners drew.

They bent their bow to bring down poor and needy, to slay the upright in heart.

They their sword enter into their own heart, and their bows be crushed.

Better is a little that the righteous has than the great wealth of sinners, because sinners

arm shall be crushed, but the Lord upholds the righteous.

The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and their heritage shall be forever.

They shall not be put to shame in an evil time, and in days of famine they shall be fed.

Because the sinners will perish, and the enemies of the Lord, as soon as they are glorified

and exalted, vanishing like smoke they vanished.

The sinner borrows and will not pay back, but the righteous is compassionate and keeps

giving, because those that bless Him shall inherit land, but those that curse Him shall

be destroyed.

A person's steps are directed by the Lord, and his way by will, should he fall, he will

not crash, because the Lord steadies his hand.

Anger I used to be, indeed I have grown old, and I did not see a righteous one forsaken,

or his offspring begging bread.

All day long he is merciful and lends, and his offspring shall become a blessing.

Turn from evil and do good, and encamp for ever and ever, because the Lord loves justice,

and will not forsake his devout.

They shall be kept safe forever, but the lawless shall be chased away, and the offspring of

the impious shall be destroyed.

The righteous shall inherit land, and encamp on it forever and ever.

The mouth of the righteous shall declaim wisdom, and his tongue shall speak justice.

The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be tripped up.

The sinner watches for the righteous, and seeks to put him to death, but the Lord will

not abandon him to his hands, nor have him condemned should he bring him to trial.

And for the Lord and keep to his way, and he will lift you up to inherit land, when

he destroys sinners you will look on.

I saw an impious one being highly lifted up, and being raised up like the cedars of Lebanon,

and I pass by and look he was not, and I sought him but his place was not found.

Mark innocence and behold uprightness, because there is a residue for the peaceable person.

The transgressors of the law shall be destroyed together, the residue of the impious shall

be destroyed, but deliverance of the righteous is from the Lord, and he is their protector

in a time of affliction, and the Lord will help them and rescue them, and he will deliver

them from sinners and save them because they hoped in him.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forevermore, amen.

Today's second reading from the Psalter is the 143rd Psalm.

O Lord, listen to my prayer, give ear to my petition in your truth, harken to me in your

righteousness, and do not enter into judgment with your slave, because no one living will

be counted righteous before you, because the enemy pursued my soul.

He humbled my life to the ground.

He made me sit in dark places like those long dead, and my spirit became weary in me,

within me my heart was troubled.

I remembered days of old, and I meditated on all your deeds, on works of your hands I

would meditate.

I spread out my hands to you, my soul was like a parched land.

And to me quickly O Lord, my spirit failed, do not turn your face from me, and I shall

be like those who go down into a pit.

Make me hear your mercy in the morning, because in you I hoped, make known to me O Lord

away in which I should go, because to you I lifted up my soul.

Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, I fled to you for refuge.

Teach me that I do your will, because you are my God.

Your good spirit will guide me on level ground.

For your name's sake O Lord, you will quicken me.

In your righteousness you will bring my soul out of affliction, and in your mercy you will

destroy my enemies, and ruin all who afflict my soul, because your slave I am.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forevermore, amen.

Today's Old Testament reading comes from the Book of Genesis, and we will be reading

the 43rd chapter, verses 1 through 28.

Now the famine prevailed upon the land, and it came about when they had finished eating

up the grain that they had brought from Egypt, that then their Father said to them, again

go purchase if you provisions for us.

But you to spoke to him saying, with a solemn declaration the man has solemnly declared

to us saying, you shall not see my face unless your younger brother be with you.

If therefore you send our brother with us, we will go down and buy you provisions, but

if you do not send our brother with us, we will not go, for the man spoke to us saying,

you shall not see my face unless your younger brother be with you.

And Israel said, why did you treat me badly by telling the man whether you have a brother?

And they said, as he was inquiring the man asked questions about us and our kindred saying,

is your father still alive, have you a brother?

And we reported to him in accordance with this questioning, surely we did not know whether

he would say to us, bring your brother.

Then Judah said to his father Israel, send the youngster with me and rising, we will go

in order that we may live and not die, both you and we in our dependence.

And I am the one who is sure to for him, demand him from my hand.

If I do not bring him to you and set him before you, I will have failed in regard to you

for all days, for if we had not delayed, we would already have returned twice.

Then their father Israel said to them, if it is so do this, take some of the fruits of

the land in your containers and bring down presents to the man, some pine resin and some

honey, incense and oil of mure, and taribanth and nuts, and take twice the money in your hands,

bring back with you the money that was returned in your bags, perhaps it is a mistake.

Take your brother also and rise, go down to the man, and may my God grant you favor before

the man, and may he send off your one brother and Benjamin.

Or indeed, as for me, just as I have been bereaved of children, I have been bereaved

of children.

Now when the men took these presents, they also took double the money in their hands,

and Benjamin and rising they went down into Egypt and stood before Joseph.

And Joseph saw them in his brother Benjamin, and he said to the one in charge of his household,

bring the men into the house and slaughter animals and make ready, for the men shall eat

breadloafs with me during the new hour.

And the man did just as Joseph said, and he brought the men into the house of Joseph.

And when the men saw that they had been brought into Joseph's house, they said, because

of the money that was returned in our bags at first, we are being brought in so that he

may accuse us falsely and set upon us to take us as slaves with our donkeys.

And going to the man who was in charge of Joseph's house, they spoke with him in the gateway

of the house, saying, we plead, Lord, we came down at first to purchase provisions.

Now it came about when we came to the lodging and opened our bags, that then there was

the money of each one in his bag.

Our money by weight we have now brought back in our hands.

And we have brought with ourselves other money to buy provisions.

We do not know who put our money into our bags.

But he said to them, may he be gracious to you, do not be afraid, your God and the God

of your fathers gave you treasures in your bags, but I have your good money in full.

And he brought Simon out to them, and he brought water to wash their feet and gave their

donkeys fodder, and they made the presence ready until Joseph came at noon, for they had

heard that he was going to have lunch there.

And Joseph came into the dwelling, and they brought to him the presence that they had in

their hands, into the house, and did obeisance to him face down on the ground.

And he asked them, how are you?

And he said to them, is your father well, the old man of whom you spoke, is he still alive?

And they said, your servant our father is well, he is still alive, and he said, bless

it be that man to God, and bending forward they did obeisance to him.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Today's New Testament reading comes from the book of Mark, and we will be reading the

12th chapter, verses 13 through 27.

And they sent to him some of the Pharisees and some of the Herodians to trap him in his

talk, and they came and said to him, teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about

anyone's opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of

God, is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not, should we pay them or should we not?

And knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, why put me to the test, bring me a denarius,

and let me look at it, and they brought one, and he said to them, whose likeness and

inscription is this, they said to him, Caesar's, Jesus said to them, render to Caesar the things

that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are gods, and they marveled at him.

And Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question

saying, teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies and leaves a wife, but

leaves no child, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.

There were seven brothers, the first took a wife, and when he died left no offspring,

and the second took her and died leaving no offspring, and the third likewise, and the

seven left no offspring.

Last of all the woman also died, in the resurrection when they rise again, whose wife will she be,

for the seven had her as wife.

Jesus said to them, is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the

scriptures nor the power of God, for when they rise from the dead they neither marry nor

are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.

And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage

about the bush, how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac

and the God of Jacob.

He is not God of the dead, but of the living, you are quite wrong.

This is the word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Today's reading from the book of Concorde comes from the solid declaration of the formula

of Concorde, and we will be reading Article 3, paragraphs 18 through 23.

The term regeneration.

The word regeneration is sometimes used for the word justification, therefore it is necessary

that this word be properly explained.

In order that the renewal that follows justification by faith may not be confused with the actual

justification by faith, but that they may be properly distinguished from each other.

In the first place, the word regeneration, Regeneratio, is used to mean both the forgiveness

of sins for Christ's sake alone, and at the same time, the succeeding renewal that the

Holy Spirit works in those who are justified by faith.

Then again, it is sometimes used to mean only the forgiveness of sins, and that we are

adopted as God's sons.

It is in this latter sense that the word is used much of the time in the apology, where

it is written at justification before God is regeneration.

Saint Paul, too, has used these words as distinct from each other.

He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, Titus 35.

The words making a life have sometimes been used in a similar sense, for when a person

is justified through faith which the Holy Spirit alone does, this is truly a regeneration.

In this, he becomes a child of God instead of a child of wrath, so he is transferred from

death to life, as it is written, when we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive

together with Christ.

Likewise, the righteous shall live by faith, Romans 117.

This is how the word is usually used in the apology.

Again, it is often used for sanctification and renewal, which follows the righteousness

of faith.

Dr. Luther has used it this way in his book about the church and the councils and elsewhere.

We teach that through the Holy Spirit's work we are born a new and justified.

But the sense is not that after regeneration no unrighteousness clings anymore to the

justified and regenerate in their being in life.

It means that Christ covers all their sins, which in this life still dwell in nature, with

his complete obedience.

But despite this, they are declared and regarded godly and righteous by faith, and for

the sake of Christ's obedience, which Christ rendered to the Father for us from his birth

to his most humiliating death on the cross.

Still, because of their corrupt nature, they are and will remain sinners to the grave.

Therefore, on the other hand, is this the meaning, without repentance, conversion and renewal,

we can or should yield to sins and remain and continue in them.

True contrition must come first out of pure grace for the sake of the only mediator Christ.

Without any works in merit, people are righteous before God in the way stated above.

That is, they are received into grace.

The Holy Spirit is also given to them.

He renews and sanctifies them and works in them love for God and for their neighbor.

But the beginning of renewal is imperfect in this life.

Sin still dwells in the flesh, even in the regenerate.

Therefore the righteousness of faith before God comes from the free crediting of Christ's

righteousness, without the addition of our works.

So our sins are forgiven us and covered and are not charged against us.

Romans 4 6-8

This concludes our reading from the book of Concord.

I now invite all of you to join me in reciting the Lord's Prayer, one of the most ancient

prayers of the church.

I do encourage you to say it aloud if you are somewhere reasonable to do so, but praying

it silently is, of course, also fine.

The Lord knows what is in your heart.

Lord, remember us in your kingdom and teach us to pray.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who

trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Our thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Go in peace and grace to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whatever calling has

been given you, or tasks set before you, until tomorrow, God be with you.