Daily Devotion for 21 September 2026 (17th Monday after Pentecost)

0:00Welcome 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 18th Monday after Pentecost, the 21st of September, in the year of our Lord, 2026, in the time of the Church. Today we celebrate the Festival of St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. An author of one of the four gospels, Matthew was called to follow Jesus, and in doing so, left behind a lucrative occupation as tax collector. This tradition is uncertain as to the specifics of Matthew's death.

1:03Our readings for today are Psalm 55, Psalm 119, verses 89 through 96, Nehemiah chapter 5 verses 1 through 16, and chapter 6 1 through 16, 1 Timothy chapter 4 1 through 16, and paragraph 83 through 97 of Article 12A of the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. We will close, as always, with the Lord's Prayer. Today's first reading from the Psalter is the 55th Psalm. Give ear O God to my prayer, and do not overlook my petition. Attend to me and harken to me. I was grieved in my musing, and I was thrown into turmoil from the voice of an enemy, and from the crushing of a sinner, because they have bent lawlessness upon me, and in anger they were bearing a grudge against me. My heart was thrown into turmoil within me, and a cowardice of death fell upon me.

2:09Fear and trembling came upon me, and darkness covered me. And I said, who will give me wings as of adove, and I shall be spread in flight and I shall rest? Look, I have gone far, taking the road to the fugitive, and I have lodged in the wilderness. I was awaiting the one who saves me, from faintness of soul and from the squall, sink them in the sea, O Lord, and split their tongues, because I have seen lawlessness and contradiction in the city. Day and night it will encircle her upon her walls, lawlessness and toil are in her midst and injustice. And from her broad streets you, sir, in gyle have not departed. For if an enemy had reproached me, I would have borne it, and if the one who hates me had spoken big words upon me, I would have hidden from him. But you, equal-sold man, my leader and my known companion. You who together with me sweeten the meats, in the house of God we walked in concord.

3:10Let death come upon them, and let them go down into Hades living, because wickednesses are in their sojournings and their midst. But I cried out toward God, and the Lord harkened to me. At evening and at morning and at midday I will recount. I will report, and he will harken to my voice. He will ransom my soul in peace from those who draw near to me, because they were with me in great numbers. God will harken and will humble them, he who exists before the ages. For there is no exchange for them, and they did not fear God. He stretched out his hand in the paying back. They profaned his covenant. They were divided from the wrath of his face, and his heart drew near. His words were made soft above oil, and they are missiles. Throw your care upon the Lord, and he himself will nourish you through. He will not give tossing to the just man and to the age. But you, O God, will bring them down into a well of destruction.

4:11And of blood and of treachery shall not have their days, but I will hope upon you, O Lord. 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 from the 119th Psalm, and we will be reading verses 89 through 96. Unto the age, O Lord, your word remains in the heavens. Unto generation and generation is your truth. You have founded the earth, and it remains. By your arrangement, the day remains, because all things together are your servants. If it were not that your laws might practice, then I would have perished in my humiliation. Unto the age, I will not forget your ordinances, because in them you have made me live, O Lord.

5:15I am yours, O Lord, save me because I have sought out your ordinances and your testimonies I have understood. Of every completion I have seen a limit, broad as your commandment exceedingly. Prebey 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 Nehemiah, and we will be reading the 5th chapter, verses 1 through 16, and the 6th chapter, verses 1 through 16. And there was a great outcry of the people, and there wives against their Judean brothers, and there were some saying, with our sons and our daughters we are many, and we will get grain and eat and stay alive. And there are some saying, as for our fields and our vineyards and our homes, we are mortgaging

6:18them, and we will get grain and eat. There are some saying, as for our fields and our vineyards and our homes, we borrowed money for the king's tributes, and now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our sons like their sons, and behold, we are oppressing our sons and daughters, making them slaves, and some of our daughters are being oppressed. And there is no power in our hands, and our fields and our vineyards belong to the distinguished. And I was very distressed as I heard their outcry in these words, and my heart deliberated with me, and I quarreled with the distinguished and the rulers and said to them, will a man demand back of his brother? You are demanding back, and I held a great assembly for them, and I said to them, we, of our own free will, have acquired our Judean brothers, who were being sold to the nations, and you are you selling your own brothers, and they shall be handed over to us. And they were silent and could not find a word.

7:19And I said, the matter that you are doing is not good, not thus, you shall depart in the fear of our God, from the reproach of the nations of our enemies. And my brothers and my acquaintances and I put up our own money in grain, we certainly abandoned this demanding back. Return now to them this very day, their fields and their vineyards and their olive orchards and their homes, and bring out for yourselves the grain and wine and olive oil from the money. And they said, we will give these back and not seek these from them, we will do just as you say. And I called the priests and made them swear to do like this word, and I shook out the fold of my garment and said, so may God shake out every man from his house and from his property, who does not establish this word. And thus they will be shaken out and emptied, and all the assembly said, amen, and praise the Lord, and the people did this word. From the day that he commanded me to be their ruler in the land of Judah, from the twentieth

8:22year, even to the thirty-second year of Arthasastra, twelve years, I and my brothers did not eat an exaction from them. And as for the first exactions, with which they burdened them before me, they also took the last money from them for food and wine, forty to Drakmas, and their outcast exercised authority over the people, and I did not do so from before fear of God. And I did not take control over them by the work on the wall, and I did not acquire a field, and all who were gathered were there for the work. And it happened when it was heard to Sanbhallaat and Tobias and to Gasham the Arabi, and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall, and there was no breath left in them. Up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates, and Sanbhallaat and Gasham sent to me, saying, come and let us meet together in the villages in the plain of Ono. And they were intending to do me harm, and I sent messengers to them, saying, I am doing

9:22a great work, and I will not be able to come down, lest the work stop. Whenever I finish it, I will come down to you, and they sent to me like this word, and I sent to them in the same manner, and Sanbhallaat sent his servant to me, and an open letter in his hand. And in it was written, it was heard among the nations that you and the Judeans intend to rebel, which is why you are building the wall, and you are becoming their king, and besides these, you have set up prophets for yourself, so that you might sit in Jerusalem as king in Judah. And now these words will be reported to the king, and now come let us confer together. And I sent to him, saying, it did not happen like these words that you say, because you are inventing them out of your own heart, because they all were trying to frighten us saying, their hands will slacken from this work, and it will not be done. But now I strengthened my hands, and I went into the house of Simei, son of Delaya, son

10:22of Metabiel, and he was confined, and he said, let us gather together at the house of God, in the midst of it, and let us close its doors, because they are coming by night to kill you. And I said, should a man like me run away, or what kind of man would enter the house and live? And I perceived and behold, God had not sent him, because the prophecy was a message against me, and Tobias and Sanbhallaat had hired a crowd against me, so I might become afraid, and do so in sin, and become a bad name for them so they could taunt me. Remember O God against Tobias and Sanbhallaat, as these acts of his and against the prophet no Daya, and against the rest of the prophets, who were trying to make me afraid. And the wall was finished on the 25th of the month of Illul, in 52 days, and it happened when all our enemies heard, and all the nations around us were afraid, and fear fell severely on their eyes, and they knew that this work came to be completed, with the help

11:24of God. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's New Testament reading comes from the book of 1 Timothy, and we will be reading the 4th chapter, verses 1 through 16. Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times, some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincereity of liars, whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods, that God created to be received with thanksgiving, by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the Word of God and prayer. If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith, and of the good doctrine that you have followed.

12:24Have nothing to do with irreverence, silly myths, rather train yourself for godliness, for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life, and also for the life to come. The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, for to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hopes set on the living God, who is the savior of all people, especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things, let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come to vote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation to teaching, do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the counsel of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching, persist in this, for by so doing, you

13:27will save both yourself and your hearers. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Today's reading from the book of Concord comes from the apology of the Augsburg confession, and we will be reading Article 12A, Paragraphs 83 through 97. We would cite more testimonies if they were not clear in the Scriptures to every godly reader. We do not wish to be too wordy, so that we may bring this case to a conclusion. Neither is there any doubt that we are defending Paul's meaning. He teaches that through faith we receive the forgiveness of sins for Christ's sake, and that through faith we should set Christ as mediator against God's wrath, and not our works. Nor should godly minds be disturbed when the adversaries find fault with Paul's judgments. Nothing is said so simply that it cannot be distorted by objecting.

14:28We know that we have mentioned Paul's true and genuine meaning. We know that our belief brings sure comfort to godly consciences, without which no one can stand in God's judgment. Let these legalistic opinions of the adversaries be rejected. Among these are that we do not receive the forgiveness of sins by faith, but that it should be merited by our love and works. Another opinion is that we should set our love and our work against God's wrath. This doctrine is not the gospel, but of the law. It wrongly teaches that a person is justified by the law before he has been reconciled through Christ to God. Christ says, apart from me, you can do nothing. Likewise, I am the vine. You are the branches, John 15.5. But the adversaries wrongly teach that we are branches not of Christ, but of Moses. For they want to be justified by the law, and to offer their love and works to God, before they are reconciled to God through Christ, before they are branches of Christ.

15:30On the other hand, Paul argues that the law cannot be obeyed without Christ. We must receive the promise first, so that through faith we may be reconciled to God on account of Christ. Then we can do the works of the law. Those who truly feel and have experienced sin and anguish of conscience must cling to the promise of grace. We think that these things are clear enough to godly consciences. In this way they will understand why we have declared before that people are justified through faith, not through love. We must set against God's anger not our love or works, or trust in our love or works, but Christ is mediator. We must grasp the promise of the forgiveness of sins before we do the works of the law. Finally, when will conscience be quieted if we receive forgiveness of sins on the ground that we love, or that we do the works of the law? The law will always accuse us because we never satisfy God's law. Just as Paul says, the law brings wrath.

16:32Romans 4.15. Christim asks about repentance. Where are we made sure that our sins are forgiven? The adversaries also, in their sentences, ask about the same subject. This cannot be explained. Consciousness cannot be made at peace unless they know it is God's command and the very gospel that they should be firmly confident that sins are forgiven freely for Christ's sake, and that they should not doubt this. If anyone doubts, he charges the divine promise with falsehood. As 1 John 510 says, we teach that the gospel requires this certainty of faith. The adversaries leave consciences uncertain and wavering. Consciousness is however due nothing by faith when they constantly doubt whether they have forgiveness. In this doubt, how can they call upon God? How can they be confident that they are heard? So the entire life would be without God and without the true worship of God. This is what Paul says, whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.

17:34Romans 14.23. Because they are constantly occupied with this doubt, they never experience what faith is. So finally, they rush at last into despair. Such is the doctrine of the adversaries, the doctrine of the law. The setting aside of the gospel, the doctrine of despair. We are glad to refer judgment about this matter of repentance, for it is clear to all good people. They can decide whether we or the adversaries have taught those things that are more godly and helpful to consciences. Indeed, these disagreements in the church do not delight us. If we did not have great and necessary reasons for disagreeing, with the adversaries, we would with the great as pleasure be silent. But since they condemn the clear truth, it is not right for us to abandon what is not our own cause, but the cause of Christ in the church. Faith and repentance. We have declared why we assigned these two parts, contrition and faith to repentance.

18:34We have done this willingly. Many writers about repentance are published that cite the fathers in a butchered way. The adversaries have distorted these to put faith out of sight. Among these are, repentance is to lament past evils and not to commit again deeds that ought to be lamented. In this case, repentance is a kind of vengeance of him who grieves, thus punishing in himself what he is sorry for having committed. In these passages, no mention is made of faith, not even in the schools when they interpret them as anything added about faith. Therefore, in order that the doctrine of faith might be clearer, we have named it among the parts of repentance. For experience shows that those passages are dangerous, that require contrition or good works, and make no mention of justifying faith. Caution can justly be desired in those who have collected these sentos of the sentences and decrees. Since the fathers speak in some places about one part of repentance, and in other places about another part, it would have been good to select and combine their judgments, not

19:38only about one part, but about both. That is about contrition and faith. There Tulean speaks very well about faith, discussing the oath in the prophet Ezekiel. As I live declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live, chapter 3311. As God swears that he does not want the death of a sinner, he shows that faith is required, in order that we may believe the one swearing and be firmly confident that he forgives us. In our estimation, the authority of the divine promises should be great by itself, but this promise has also been confirmed by an oath. Therefore, if anyone is not confident that he is forgiven, he denies that God is sworn what is true. A more horrible blasphemy cannot be imagined. For Tulean says this, he invites by reward to salvation, even swearing, saying, I live, he desires that he be believed.

20:39O blessed we for whose sake God swears, almost miserable if we believe not the Lord, even when he swears. Here we must know that this faith should be confident that God freely forgives us for Christ's sake. For the sake of his own promise, not for the sake of our works, contrition, confession or satisfactions. For if faith relies upon these works, it immediately becomes uncertain, because the terrified conscience sees that these works are unworthy. So Ambrose speaks well about repentance. Therefore it is proper for us to believe both that we are to repent and that we are to be pardoned, but in such a way as to expect pardon from faith, which obtains pardon as from a handwriting. Again, it is faith that covers our sins. Therefore there are sentences written by the fathers not only about contrition and works, but also about faith. But the adversaries, since they understand neither the nature of repentance, nor the language of the fathers, select passages about a part of repentance, namely about works.

21:44They overlooked the declarations made elsewhere about faith, since they do not understand them. 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. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.

22:49Amen. Go in peace and grace to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in whatever calling has been given you, or tasks that be for you, until tomorrow, God be with you.