Using the same language as He did in Genesis 1, the LORD speaks about His creation of the new heavens and the new earth, which will bring great joy to His people. Here, He will give to them eternal life and fruitful labor, and no enemies will harm them. He will dwell with them to hear their prayers, and all creation will live at peace in the LORD’s holy mountain. The New Testament teaches that already now, we experience these blessings in the holy Christian Church, even as we wait for the fullne...
Apr 25, 2024•56 min
In this beautiful hymn written especially for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, John of Damascus proclaims that the rescue that God gave to Israel through the Exodus has been fulfilled in the rescue God has given to us through the resurrection of Jesus. The winter of sin and death has come to an end; new life has risen in Christ. For this reason, the faithful join together to sing the praises of the Lord Jesus as they gather to receive from Him the precious feast of HIs Supper. This brings the same peac...
Apr 24, 2024•55 min
The LORD responds to His people’s prayer by reminding them that He was ready for them to seek and find Him in the ways that He had chosen to reveal Himself to them. Even as He spread His hands out to them, they engaged in all kinds of idolatrous practices that made them smoke in His nostrils. To His servants who respond to this rebuke in repentance, the LORD promises that He will be faithful to His remnant. To the wicked who continue to see after the LORD in their self-chosen ways, however, the ...
Apr 23, 2024•56 min
Isaiah leads the people of Israel in prayer, lament, and confession before the LORD. They call upon the LORD as their Father, asking Him to see them as His children, even though they have strayed. They acknowledge that He has sent them into exile and made them as those who are not called upon His name. Still, they pray that He would tear open the clouds and come down as He did at Mount Sinai. His awesome deeds, so unexpected to human wisdom, reveal Him to be the only true God, especially in the ...
Apr 22, 2024•52 min
In Matthew 18 and Luke 15, Jesus speaks a parable about a man who owns one hundred sheep, and one becomes lost. In love for that one sheep, the shepherd seeks it out and brings it back to the flock with great joy. By this parable, Jesus teaches us the great love that He has for us sinners. He calls us to see ourselves as the lost sheep that He seeks and finds through repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name. He calls us into His joy in this salvation, both the joy of being saved ourselves ...
Apr 19, 2024•45 min
Psalm 100 is a psalm for giving thanks for the ongoing reign of the LORD. Because He is the true King, His people join with all creation in the song of His victory. His people are called into His presence with gladness and singing, both in the Divine Service and in their daily vocations. We know Him because He has first known us, for He is the Good Shepherd who has made us members of His holy flock. As we enter His presence, we bless His name for His faithfulness that endures forever. Rev. Andre...
Apr 18, 2024•47 min
C.F.W. Walther’s marvelous Easter hymn invites all people to join in the praises of Christ Jesus the Lord. By His resurrection, the Word of God made flesh has freed us from the prison of sin, death, and the devil. Though the evil one and all his evil host cheered to see Jesus dead and buried, their shouts of triumph were quickly silenced by the risen Lord. His resurrection means the defeat of sin, death, and the devil, so that we no longer need to fear these enemies. Jesus has welcomed us into t...
Apr 17, 2024•55 min
The prophet sees a Mighty Warrior coming; He identifies Himself as the LORD. The prophet has questions concerning the Warrior’s stained garments; the LORD says that they are red from the blood of His enemies, whom He has conquered on the day of His vengeance for the year of His favor. Upon seeing the LORD in this way, Isaiah leads the people in praising the LORD by proclaiming His deeds of old, especially from the Exodus. Even though His people rebelled against Him, and He became their enemy for...
Apr 16, 2024•56 min
The LORD promises to speak for the sake of His beloved people to bring them His righteousness and salvation. Nations will see this light and come to the people of God, who are His crowning jewel. Though their sin and idolatry had left them forsaken and desolate, the LORD bestows the names “My Delight Is in Her” and “Married” upon His people now because of His gracious action on their behalf. As the LORD is not silent, so His watchmen and His people are not silent, proclaiming His Word and callin...
Apr 15, 2024•56 min
The Servant of the LORD speaks as the One anointed by the Spirit. He comes to preach good news, to comfort, and to give God’s good gifts. Through the work of the LORD’s Servant, His people are established securely in righteousness. No longer will they be found in shame, but they will serve the LORD according to His Word. The people of God rejoice exceedingly because He has clothed them with His own righteousness. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, these promises are fulfilled. Rev. Tim Koch, pastor ...
Apr 12, 2024•55 min
Because the LORD has caused His glory to come to His people, they rise and shine so that nations are drawn to worship the LORD. All the wealth of the world is put into the service of the LORD as He calls sinners to His salvation because He loves people as His treasured possession. The safety of the LORD’s kingdom is complete; no enemy shall threaten His people. The abundance of the LORD’s kingdom is overwhelming; His people will lack no good thing. The light of the LORD’s kingdom is glorious; He...
Apr 11, 2024•57 min
Paul Gerhardt’s Easter hymn fits perfectly as the first words sung by Christians gathered for an Easter sunrise service. The reality of the empty tomb on Easter banishes sadness and fills us with gladness. Though the foe thought he had won the victory when Jesus lay dead and buried, in fact, the Savior has routed his enemy. Jesus’ complete victory over all enemies—sin, death, and devil—is comfort and joy for all those who trust in Him. Jesus is the Mighty Warrior who has given His victory to us....
Apr 10, 2024•55 min
The LORD tells His people with vivid imagery that they have separated themselves from Him. He speaks of their defilement in their words and actions. He condemns their deceitful plots and plans. In response, the people confess their rebellion, their idolatry, and their complete lack of justice and righteousness, and they throw themselves upon God’s mercy. The LORD knows that no one else can serve as Intercessor and Redeemer, so He Himself comes to bring His righteousness and salvation. In Christ,...
Apr 09, 2024•55 min
The people of Israel were guilty of hypocritical worship. Although they went through the motions of fasting and praying, they did so without faith in the LORD’s Word. When they complained to Him that He wasn’t listening, the LORD called them to task for abstaining from food only to quarrel with each other. Rather, the LORD desired His people to fast from wickedness and evil and to fill themselves with the fruit of faith toward their neighbor. With such true worship of Him, the people would see t...
Apr 08, 2024•55 min
No one on earth may regard the LORD’s righteous one, but the LORD sees and knows. He will not fail to judge the idolatry of His people, particularly among the leaders. Those who follow idolatry only fall into all kinds of perversion and wickedness. Although they look to their idols for help, their idols will not save them. Those who are contrite and lowly in spirit, however, will receive the LORD’s comfort and help. This is found in Christ, the Righteous One who has died and risen for us, in ord...
Apr 05, 2024•58 min
Because of the work of the Servant of the LORD for His people, they are called into a life according to His justice and righteousness. Those who worship Him from a true heart and love His Word will be brought to the LORD’s holy mountain—even eunuchs and foreigners. This is a part of the LORD’s mission to gather people to Himself. He speaks words of condemnation, however, to those leaders of Israel who show no regard for the people under their care. Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Churc...
Apr 04, 2024•55 min
This joyous Easter hymn resounds with Alleluias at what our Lord Jesus has done in His resurrection. His victory over death and the grave is made ours by His grace. His suffering on the cross has redeemed us from all that we lost under sin. His sufferings, death, and resurrection have won our salvation, which is ours eternally because He reigns forever. As His love for us is eternal, so our praises to Him are eternal as we sing to the Triune God with all the heavenly host forever. Find this hymn...
Apr 03, 2024•57 min
The LORD calls all people to come and receive His great salvation, won by the Suffering Servant. The gifts of His Word come without cost to those who hear it, and those gifts bring greater blessings than any earthly food or money. Now is the time for people to seek the LORD and forsake their own wickedness, for the LORD is compassionate. His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. In His wisdom, He works through His Word to bring about His purposes. As those who receive the LORD’s blessings thro...
Apr 02, 2024•55 min
Because of the work of the Suffering Servant, the LORD’s people sing for joy. Though His people were as a barren woman in the exile, the LORD has increased her children beyond what the current borders can hold. He has done this as a faithful husband to His people, who has called His bride back to Himself in joy. His steadfast love for His people will not depart; He will establish His people so that they do not need to be afraid. Through the work of His Suffering Servant, He has made His people H...
Apr 01, 2024•56 min
The LORD calls His people to behold His Servant high and lifted up on the cross in divine glory. Although His appearance did not attract us to Him, His suffering has sprinkled us with His cleansing blood so that we can truly see the only God. Men despised and rejected Jesus and hid their faces from Him. He suffered this willingly; all our sin and shame and pain were placed upon Him in order to give His healing and forgiveness to us. Jesus endured this great shame and suffering to the point of de...
Mar 29, 2024•55 min
Once more, the LORD calls His people to wake up. He calls them out of their distress and despair, for He is redeeming them out of their captivity according to His powerful Word. The messenger who proclaims this good news to God’s people runs to Zion on his beautiful feet so that they will know that their God is truly King. This Gospel message brings joy and singing among God’s people as they see His holy arm work salvation not only for them, but for all the nations. For that reason, they must le...
Mar 28, 2024•55 min
Paul Gerhardt’s marvelous hymn text is fitting both for Lent and Holy Week. We sing of Jesus as the Lamb of God who goes willingly into sacrifice to bear our sin and be our Savior. He gives His spotless life in place of our sinful lives gladly, treating us as His friends. Jesus does this as the true Son of God at the command of His Father, who desires our salvation. This great love that God has for us is His strength to save us, so that now we stand before His throne in the righteousness of Chri...
Mar 27, 2024•56 min
The LORD calls His people to look to the rock from which they were hewn, recalling how the LORD their Rock brought a great nation from the dead rock Abraham. Therefore, Israel must listen to the LORD’s Word, as His righteousness and salvation come near to them. He works this salvation through His holy arm, which is awakened to deliver His people yet again. The LORD is the One who comforts His people in the midst of fear and oppression; therefore, they must wake up from their drunken stupor after...
Mar 26, 2024•55 min
The LORD’s Servant speaks again; He does so as One whose tongue and ear have been taught by the LORD. As the Servant speaks faithfully, His Word sustains those who are weary. As the Servant remains faithful to the LORD, He begins to suffer physical pain and public shame. Because He knows that the LORD will vindicate Him, the Servant does not fear. The LORD’s people are called to respond to the work of the Servant. Their darkness can only be scattered by the light of the true God; any idolatry wi...
Mar 25, 2024•56 min
When the LORD’s people claim that He has forgotten them, He proclaims that His memory of them is even greater than that of a mother for her child. He has even engraved them on the palms of His hands. He promises to enlarge the people of Israel so that they will need more room for everyone; this is His doing to draw the nations to Himself through the signal of His Son’s cross. The LORD is able to rescue His people from their captors, and He will do so because their separation from Him is not perm...
Mar 22, 2024•56 min
The Servant of the LORD speaks to the ends of the earth, for He is the One set apart by the LORD from the womb to speak His Word faithfully. Even as He laments in the midst of the suffering He endures, the Servant trusts the LORD to vindicate Him. The LORD commissions His servant not only to bring back the lost sheep of the house of Israel, but also to be a light to all nations. The LORD declares that this is the day of salvation that He brings about for His people that will cause them to sing f...
Mar 21, 2024•55 min
This glorious Palm Sunday hymn places us in the procession of palms to sing praises to Jesus, who entered into Jerusalem as the King of Israel. As we worship Him on earth, we join in the worship of the angels in heaven and the song of all creation that is offered to Christ as the Redeemer of all. As we sing the same songs as the Palm Sunday crowds so long ago, this is more than a historical reenactment. Because Jesus is actually present with us in the Divine Service, our prayers and praises are ...
Mar 20, 2024•56 min
The LORD again calls His people to listen. Although Israel has not lived up to her name, the LORD has lived up to His; He is faithful to His promises. No idols can do what He has done. Although His people have not heard in the past, He speaks to them again so that they will listen. The LORD promises that He will bring a deliverer to rescue Israel from Babylon. However, when that Deliverer speaks, it becomes evident that this is not simply Cyrus, but Christ Himself. In view of His coming delivera...
Mar 19, 2024•56 min
Babylon will receive the same judgment as its idols; Babylon will be brought low. Their earthly glory will be turned to shame at the hand of the LORD, who is the Redeemer of His people Israel. Though the LORD had made use of Babylon to carry out His righteous anger against His people, Babylon went too far. Babylon became proud and considered herself a god above all others. The LORD dares Babylon to rescue itself by making use of sorcery and astrology, but Babylon is powerless to save itself from...
Mar 18, 2024•56 min
The idols of Babylon are powerless to deliver anyone from their burdens. Instead, the idols of Babylon must be carried around as burdens themselves. Therefore, the LORD calls to His people to listen to Him who has carried them from their beginning to their end. No god can be compared to the LORD; idols cannot move or answer any prayer. Therefore, Israel must remember the LORD and stand firm in faith in Him, for He is bringing His righteousness and His salvation for His people. Rev. Merritt Demsk...
Mar 15, 2024•56 min
