Opening Prayer
Lord God, let Your mercy be known over all the earth, and let it stay mightily in our hearts. Amen.
Text: Isaiah 12
And in that day you will say: “O Lord, I will praise You; though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH,3 the Lord, is my strength and my song; He also has become my salvation.'” Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And in that day you will say: “Praise the Lord, call upon His name; declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, For He has done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst!”
Devotion
You who truly live in Christ’s Church have something infinitely great for which to thank the Lord. You were children of wrath, but are such no longer. He surrounds you with pure love and grace. Only goodness and mercy follow you all the days of your life (Psa 23:6). I am not talking about what you feel, but what is real. God Himself, the eternal and glorious One, is your salvation and your life. God, Himself the fullness of salvation, is your salvation. Can He be moved? Can the Rock of your salvation waver? Can the source of your salvation be dried up? You may still have to go through many struggles before you have the final victory, but the Lord, the Lord is your strength, and truly no one can defeat Him. Incessantly you will receive new grace, new love, and new joy, for everything in this kingdom is new. New and fresh life streams from the Father and the Son in the Holy Spirit through the whole Church and refreshes and sustains your hearts. “With joy you shall draw water from the wells of salvation.” “Whoever drinks from the water of Sychar will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (Joh 4:13-14). “But what is this living water other than life in God who shares it with us in Baptism? What is it other than Christ’s life that nourishes us with His Body and Blood in the Supper? What is it other than the life of the Holy Spirit who is poured out to us in the Gospel? Yes, that water is what shows itself as the source in the heart of God the Father, as the stream of glory in all angels, as the heartbeat in the elect. And along the bosom of this river, all who drink of it are carried forward to the boundless sea of Deity, to which they return.”
Thank the Lord, O Church of God. “Declare His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His name is exalted.” Let His saving glory shine over all the earth. Isn’t your Savior set as a Banner for the peoples (Isa 11:10), that the Gentiles should ask about Him? Cry out and shout, inhabitants of Zion, “call the nations by the thousands to build in God’s pavilion.” Why are you still so silent? Isn’t there room? Isn’t there enough water of life? Is it forbidden for you to invite the peoples, or is your voice too weak and your power too little? The Lord who commands you to declare His name over all the earth is Himself your strength and your song. Glorious things He has done for us; let it be known in all the earth.
Closing Prayer
Grant Your blessing, gracious God. Glorify Your name and save the Gentiles for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Hymn
Jesus! When my thoughts are low
And into the depths are sinking,
On Your love for sinners low
Let me evermore be thinking,
Looking forward to the glee
When I soon in heav’n may be.
To the Lamb be strength and praise,
For our sin the pure Oblation,
Of the covenant of grace,
Bringing us for aye salvation!
In my Baptism I receive
Grace as God’s own child to live.
He who won pure grace for me
Wants to live within my spirit,
And as certain guarantee
Gave to me His Holy Spirit;
God now lives within my heart,
As a temple set apart.
Arnschwanger/Brorson: Jesus! Naar jeg Synet ned L 181:1.2.5 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Jesus, meine Zuversicht (ELH 353); alternate hymn: Now Christ, the sinless Son of God ELH 248