Lent - Week 2 - Saturday

Welcome to Luther for the Busy Man, the week of Reminiscire's Saturday.

Our scripture reading comes from the Book of Psalms, chapter 33, verses 13-22.

From the heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind.

From his dwelling place, he watches all who live on earth.

He who forms from the heart of all, who considers everything they do.

No king is saved by the size of his army, no warrior escapes by his great strength.

A horse is a vain hope for deliverance, despite all its great strength it cannot save.

But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing

love, to deliver them from death and to keep them alive and famine.

We wait in hope for the Lord.

He is our help and our shield.

In him our hearts rejoice for we trust in his holy name.

They are unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Our scripture lesson comes from the Book of Psalms, chapter 55, verse 22.

Cast your burden on the Lord and he will sustain you.

That God nourishes the whole world by means of bread and not only through the word without

bread has its special reason.

God is concealing his work under this procedure in order to exercise our faith.

In the case of the children of Israel also, he issued orders for them to arm themselves

and fight.

But he did not want them to gain the victory through their sword and their own deeds.

He himself wanted to defeat their enemy and gain the victory under their sword and

through their deeds.

Here he could have said the warrior does not gain the victory through his own sword alone,

but through every word which proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.

David also says in Psalms 44-6, not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me.

And also in Psalm 147-10 he writes, his delight is not in the strength of the horse nor his

pleasure in the legs of a man.

He still makes use of man and horse, sword and bow, but he fights and he accomplishes everything

without the power and might of the man and the horse.

The latter are merely curtains and coverings for his might and power.

This is proved by the fact that he is often acted and still often ex daily without man and

horse or necessity demands it and where there is no possibility of a temptation of himself

being involved.

Let us pray.

Lord God, Heavenly Father, our stay and support in all our needs, grant us such an understanding

of your word and trust in its teachings that we always accept all its consolations in firm

assurance in and through Christ our Lord.

Find the print version of the Luther for the Busyman Daily Devotional at ambassadorpublications.org.

Luther for the Busyman is produced by the free Lutheran Bible College and seminary in

Plymouth, Minnesota, visit flbc.edu to learn how you can start here, go anywhere, grounded,

in God's Word.