I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord”
Psalm 122:1
Scripture Readings For the Week:
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that rain and snow come from heaven. We can’t have our life without water, but we can’t open the sky. We depend on the providence of God for our lives and our livelihoods. God sends down the water to give us all what we need, seed for the sower and bread for the eater. God’s Word is what creates, upholds, and blesses all life on earth. He will accomplish all that He wills. St. Paul gives us the assurance that the Lord gave to Him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” We are strongest when we depend most on the Lord. Jesus tells the parable of the sower. His seed falls everywhere, but only in the good soil does it bear fruit. He warns us against the devil who wants to snatch away God’s Word from our hearts, against temptation that would cause us to fall away, against the cares, riches, and pleasures of life that choke otherwise good plants and keep them from bearing their intended fruit. We pray for Him to create noble and good hearts within us, that we may receive the Word, keep it, and bear fruit with patience.
Prayer of the Day:
O God, the strength of all who put their trust in You, mercifully grant that by Your power we may be defended against all adversity; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Hymns
- 693 O Holy Spirit, Grant Us Grace
- 823 May God Bestow On Us His Grace
- 536 One Thing’s Needful, Lord This Treasure
- 618 I Come, O Savior, To Thy Table
- 577 Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast
Bach Cantata for the Week
BWV 18 Gleichwie der Regen und Schnee vom Himmel fällt_
- Sinfonia
- Recit. Dictum
Just as the showers and snow from heaven fall and return again not thither, rather give the earth moisture and make it fertile and fruitful, so it gives seed for the sowing and bread for eating: Just so shall the word which from mine own mouth proceedeth, be too; it shall not come again to me empty, but shall do what I have purposed and shall that accomplish for which I send it.
- Recit. (T, B) and Litany (S, A, T, B)
(T)
My God, here shall my heart abide:
I bare it to thee my Jesus’ name;
So scatter wide thy seed then
As if on fertile land in me.
My God, here shall my heart abide:
Let it bring forth in hundredfold its harvest.
O Lord, Lord, help! O Lord, O let it prosper!(1)
(S, A, T, B)
That thou might to the word thy Spirit add with power,
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(B)
But keep us, faithful Father, keep us,
Both me and any Christian soul,
From Satan’s lies attending.
His mind has only one intent,
Of thy word he might deprive us
With all our happiness.
(S, A, T, B)
That Satan underneath our feet be trodden,
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(T)
Ah! Many, word and faith renouncing,
Do fall away like rotting fruit,
When persecution they must suffer.
Thus they are plunged in everlasting grief
For having passing woe avoided.
(S, A, T, B)
And from all the Turk’s and all the Pope’s
Most cruel murder and oppression,
Anger and fury, fatherlike protect us.
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
(B)
One man may but for belly care,
And meanwhile is his soul left quite forgotten;
And Mammon, too,
Hath many hearts’ allegiance,
And then the word is left without its power.
How many are the souls
Doth pleasure not hold captive?
So well seduceth them the world,
The world which must by them instead of heaven be honored,
So that they then from heaven stray and wander.
(S, A, T, B)
That all gone astray and misled may yet recover.
O hear us, O good Lord, our God!
- Aria (S)
My soul’s true treasure is God’s word;
Otherwise are all those treasures
Mere devices
By the world and Satan woven,
Scornful spirits for beguiling.
Hence with all those, hence with them!
My soul’s true treasure is God’s word.
- Chorale (S, A, T, B)
I pray, O Lord, with inmost heart,
May thou not take it from me,
Thy holy word not from my mouth;
For thus shall not confound me
My sin and shame, for in thy care
I put all mine assurance:
Who shall steadfast on this rely
Shall surely death not witness.