PSALM 117

All nations praise the LORD.

Only two lines – but such a deep meaning. Allow me to walk you through.

v. 1a. Praise the LORD, all nations!

We have a glorious beginning – Hallelujah “Living ONE”! God is not called by His status; He is called by His name. Israel God is called by the name, but He is called by the Gentiles.

In the light of current political events, it is an important reminder that at the end ALL nations will recognize Jesus as Lord of the world. It will be done because the disciples will bring the Good News to all the nations – Matthew 28:18-20. Baptizing people and instructing them in faith. St. Paul uses this verse as a “proof-text” for the mission of Christ – Romans 15:11 (Let’s read!)   

v. 1b, Extol Him, all peoples!

Psalmist “doubles down” – he encourages all the peoples to extol Him. Exclaim with the loud voices, keep triumphant praise.

Together the unity of all nations and all peoples means everyone with distinction and without exception. The Book of Revelation puts it in four categories: nations, tribes, peoples, and languages. Together with believers from Israel they will worship the Lamb Who sits on the Throne (Rev. 7:1-10). 

What a glorious picture!!  

It is a long-awaited fulfilment of the prophecies:

2 Samuel 22:50 – glory to His name among Gentiles (a psalm sang by king David by the end of his life).

Isaiah 11:10 – the root of Jessy will give a hope to Gentiles. 

Isaiah 2:2-4 (note nations and peoples in v. 4) – do you know where the statue dedicated to this verse is located?

Also psalm 72:11,17 has the same ideas – kings of their nations fall before Him and serve Him (compare to Psalm 2:1-12). 

 

v. 2a, For great is His steadfast love toward us,

Great here has two meanings: (1) it is great in fullness (extended to all nations, see above); (2) it is great in intensity (covering all sins and faults), it is true on global and personal level: Romans 5:20-21 and 1 Timothy 1:12-14.

 Steadfast love – a word [hesed] which is very difficult for translation. We’ve talked about it last time (Psalm 118:1,29). It also can include mercy, grace etc. Most importantly, we need to pay attention “steadfast” aspect of “love” – along with other aspects of the meaning it should include “faithfulness.” God is faithful to His promises, covenants, and prophecies. We can rely on the fact of our forgiveness through Jesus, guidance by the Holy Spirit, and promise of heavenly haven prepared for us by the Son of God.  

 

v. 2b, And the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

Faithfulness is a good translation; we also see it in Lamentations 3:22-23. It is a background for the hymn “great is Thy faithfulness.”

At the same time, we can add something: this word is related to very famous Hebrew word that all of you know – guess which one?

Jesus uses double of the word 25 times in the Gospel of John (for example 3:3; 5:24; 13:20). Using these doubles signifies that the words of Jesus are “really true.”   

Conclusion: Praise the Lord (Alleluia!)

The term denotes being clear (pure) sound and color, therefore “to show off [in a good sense], shine, or boast”

Think of the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 (see the background in Jeremiah 9:23-24).

He is worthy to be praised, to be boasted about! He redeemed us!

Soli Deo Gloria – Glory be to God Alone!

Advent Readings: Luke 21

Luke 21

The chapter is continuing the Jesus’ walk through the Temple. Leaders, people, disciples, and even the stones are playing a role here. Temple was a precious jewel in the necklace of Herod’s construction projects. He was able to bring the water from the Mediterranean Sea to the capital via aqueduct. He built a stadium, proving himself as a faithful admirer of Roman culture. But above all was the expansion of the Second Temple. And yet, Jesus, looking at the noble stones which adorned the Temple, said that there will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down (Lk. 21:6). After this horrific prediction, Jesus continues with the destruction of Jerusalem (Lk. 21:20).

Cult and culture are twins that cannot be fully separated. The way people worship will affect the social realm of life. This places Temple into the center of Judean society of Jesus’ days. Why, then, Jesus – as the God incarnate – would allow it to be destroyed?

The short – devotional or blogpost – answer is that Temple is good as long as it directs people to worship God. When the Temple becomes a center of worship, it turns into an idol. And true God doesn’t like idols – all idols should be destroyed. As it was in the days of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 7:4), it was in the days of God Incarnate – some of the people did not acknowledge His presence, while some, following Jesus, still had their eyes on the stones of the Temple…

Yet, what is needed to say, He is taking the first hit. He didn’t smash it for the sins of people. Jesus takes the sins of people upon Himself, and allows His body to be crucified, paying for all types of idolatries. Only when they rejected forgiveness over and over again (cp. Acts 21:27-28), placing their hopes in the “place”/Temple instead of the One who should be worshiped in the Temple, the idol was destroyed. 

Advent Reading: Luke 6

Luke 6

There are many things that can or should be said about chapter 6. Sabbath “controversy,” another version of beatitudes, followed by the “woes,” closing the chapter with the building house on the rock. What I want to point out is something that involves counting skills.

To those who pays attention (the basic meaning of “to you who hear”) Jesus lays out 16 imperative verbs (v. 27-38):

1. love your enemies

2. do good to those who hate you

3. bless those who curse you

4. pray for those who abuse you

5. to the one who strikes in on the cheek, offer the other also

6. do not withhold your tunic from one who takes away your cloak

7. give to everyone who begs from you

8. do not demand back

9. do so to them as you wish that others do to you

10. do good [to your enemies]

11. lend, expecting nothing in return

12. be merciful

13. Judge not

14. condemn not

15. forgive

16. give

 

This sets a moral and evangelism bar so high. When an adequate reality assessment kicks in, we realize that it is impossible for man to measure up to this list. Jesus did it all, He is the one who took upon Himself an obligation to tread the path of righteousness. The path we are invited, being justified, as we set the foot on the way of sanctification.

There is a need for a numerical comment. Somewhere in the middle of the list (between 9 and 10), Jesus repeats “love your enemies.” This turns a list into 17 consecutive verbs. That’s makes the list way more interesting. A sign of fulness is developed further in John 21. Remember, Jesus makes breakfast for the tired disciples who fished all night long and couldn’t catch anything. John notices that Jesus brought 153 large fish (John 21:11). 153 is triangular 17. Putting these two passages, we see that Jesus invites His disciples to consume the list of 17 imperatives of godliness, same as the LORD invited Jeremiah and Ezekiel eat the Word of God (Jeremiah 15:16; Ezekiel 2:8-3:3). When disciples are fed with the fish, Jesus tells St. Peter: “feed My lambs” (John 21:15,16,17).

Jesus first feeds us, with the Word and the Sacrament of the Altar. That brings us to the path of responsibility to feed the others, sharing the Word, our testimonies, our lives… 

Overview of the Bible: Lamentations

Lamentations

 

video lesson  

Title: The cry of the destroyed Jerusalem by Jeremiah.

Hebrew: Eyha(h) – “How” is taken from the first word of the book.  

Date of writing: 586 BC

Structure:

Five chapters – the best identified structurally book of the Bible. To understand the structure of the book we need to know that the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters. 

Chapters 1&2 – 22 verses, acrostic based the Hebrew alphabet – from Aleph to Tov.

Chapter 3 – 66 verses = 22*3, acrostic where verses are grouped into the blocks of three 1-2-3 (Aleph), 4-5-6 (Beit), etc. each of the verses begins with the related letter of the Hebrew alphabet.   

Chapter 4 – 22 verses, acrostic based the Hebrew alphabet – from Aleph to Tov.

Chapter 5 – 22 verses, no acrostic…

There are few theories why the book is structured this way.  

Main themes:

Destruction of the City and Temple.

Faithfulness of God in the midst of the total world collapse.

Reflection in other parts of the Bible:

The Book is written as a result of what Jeremiah prophesied about. Therefore, it is important to remember how Jeremiah prophesied about the Temple turned into an idol (Jer. 7:1-20; Ez. 8 – 11).

The destruction of the Temple means the “destruction” of the regular festive times, priestly office, and the connection with the Temple mount (cp. 2:6, 9-10; Ps. 137).

The city (Jerusalem) is presented as a woman who was left/betrayed by her (foreign) lovers. The image is picked up/developed by the Prophet Ezekiel (ch. 16) when he writes about the unfaithful bride of the LORD. Also, theme of uncleanness which begins in Leviticus 12 – 15.  

When Jesus weeps over Jerusalem predicting the fall of great and glorious buildings (Mt. 23:37-39; Lk. 13:31-35), He is presented as a greater Jeremiah.    

Lutheran teaching:

Even though the Lutheran Confessions do not refer to the Book of Lamentations explicitly, two themes of the book are very important for the teaching of the Lutheran Church. First, God’s love is the foundation and the reason for our salvation. The Jews in the days of Jeremiah could not do anything to recover from the disaster of Temple destruction. It was God who carried them through the tunnel of national death and resurrection. Ap. V(III):26; 58-61.

Second, this love is not only should in the act of God’s deliverance but is an aspect of continual mercy for us on daily basis. God is the one who provides for us in our daily needs. Cp. SC II:1. 

Lutheran hymnody:

760 - What God ordained is always good

809 – Great is Thy faithfulness

Relevancy of the Book:

The Book of Lamentations is an important part of the canon. We remember about God’s love and mercy, but along with that we need to understand the reasons for His mercy – the infidelity of His people. As the people of old were punished, we can expect the punishment of the same grandiose magnitude if a nation is not going to submit to Christ’s rule.

At the same time, we can expect that loving Father will carry us through the present-day storms and attacks of Zeit Geist. The world/creation is sustained by His love and great faithfulness. We are but the agents who bring this love and faithfulness into a reality.       

Memory verses:  

3:22-23, The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

Overview of the Bible: Book of Jeremiah

Book of Jeremiah   

Title: Jeremiah – whom YHWH has appointed

Date of writing and narrative: From 626 to 586 BC, from Josiah to Zedekiah   

Structure: Dorsey, p. 244

a. 1 – 12, oracles against Judah: coming disaster from the north

  b. 13 – 20, Judah’s exile and suffering predicted

    c. 21 – 29, dated messages of judgement

      d’. 30 – 33, messages of future hope (undated)

    c’. 34 – 35, dated messages of judgement

  b’. 36 – 45, Judah’s fall and exile

a’. 46 – 51, OAN (oracles against the nations): Coming disaster from the north

Main themes:

The judgement begins from the Temple (cp, 7:4). Sanctuary.

Social Justice according to the Law of God (ch. 34). Society.

Oracles Against the Nations (OAN) (chapters 46 – 51). Nations.

Main Characters: Jeremiah, Baruch, Josiah, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah.

Reflection in other parts of the Bible:

Suffering servant – Jeremiah as a first reflection on the Isaiah’s prophesy. We have 5 “confessions” of Jeremiah: 11:18 – 12:6; 15:10-21; 17:14-18; 18:18-23; 20:7-18. Also, he goes to prison (20:2), and hears the death threats (26:7-9). At the end he is vindicated by Nebuchadnezzar (39:11-12).

We need the Book of Deuteronomy to reflect upon the Social Justise theme. Therefore, to pay attention to the chronology, cp. 4 Kg. 22.

Jesus instituting the Sacrament of the Altar (Mt. 26:26-29), refers to it as the New Covenant – new covenant that was promised through Jeremiah, see Memory verse.  

Lutheran teaching: We will begin with the passage from Jeremiah 17:9. The Book of Concord uses it twice: first time in the Augsburg Confession (XXV:8) speaking of enumeration of the sins during Private Confession. The second time it is brought up in the article about Free Will (FC, SD, II:17).  

Time and time again the Book of Concord returns to the Justification by grace through faith. One of the most fundamental Biblical passages to support our justification by the righteousness of Christ is Jer. 23:6 (see memory verse).    

Also, the Lutheran Confessions use 31:33 in the discussion on “Love and Fulfilling of the Law” (Apology, V (III): 2, 97) saying that “we are to keep the Law when we have been justified by faith” (Ap, V (III): 3).

Lutheran hymnody:

LSB 530 – No Temple now, No Gift of Price

LSB 645 – Built on the Rock

Relevancy of the Book:

The Book of Jeremiah teaches us a few important lessons. First, the futility of trust in the objects, even sacred objects like the Temple. If the building is not filled with the Divine worship, it turns into an idol- the one that is not able to deliver through the storm of life.

Second, Jeremiah was a godly prophet, living and preaching in accordance with the Word of God (sometimes even delivering the dictated messages). Regardless of his godly status his message was rejected over and over again – we can not always evaluate the results of the ministry by the numbers of the followers.

Book of Jeremiah points toward the coming of the Messiah and institution of the New Covenant. This Covenant was completed to us in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, and now is given to us as a memorial service in the Sacrament of the Altar.       

Memory verses:  

23:5-6: Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The LORD is our righteousness.’ 

31:31, Behold the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.