“His speech was smoother than butter, but his heart was war; his words were softer than oil, yet they were drawn swords.  Cast your burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.  But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.  But I will trust in You.”  (Psalm 55:21-23)

 Cast your burden upon the Lord.  Do you trust the Lord in all things and through all things?  Yes, those in the world speak with smooth lips and they manipulate you to bring you away from trusting the Lord, but do not trust the one whose heart is against the ways of the Lord.  Those who go the way of destruction plot their own doom.  Those who seek the Lord will find His mercy and grace.

Lord this is a world filled with wickedness, yet also Your goodness is revealed every day.  In a world filled with persuasive evils, help me to see the simplicity of the goodness You have spoken from the beginning.  Guide me in Your ways, O Lord, that I would walk in them.  Close my ears to the wickedness of the world, but open them to the sweetness of Your mercy and grace.

Jesus, my Savior, grace Incarnate, guide me in the way I should go and open my ears to hear Your Word when You speak.  Grant that I may have a discerning heart to know when things are amiss.  Lead me to be gracious to others as You are gracious to me.  Help me understand more fully the Gospel way and live that way all the days of my life.  Lead me, for You alone know what is needed.  Amen.

“He who sits on the throne will shelter them with His presence.” (Rev. 7:15)

The old sinner in us doesn’t always like the term “shelter.”  Are we so weak that we need someone to shelter us?  Didn’t we cut the apron strings?  Shouldn’t Christians, in particular, be more questing, advocates in the public square for what is good and right and true?  Away with this mild Lord of shelter! (says the old, proud sinner . . . .)

And then 26 believers end up dead in a pool of blood as babies scream, mothers weep, and a nation goes on fighting.  Sudden illness cuts down beloved friends and family.  Opportunists prey on the young and deceive the poor, and an entertainment industry peddles vile myths to corrupt the soul.  Even churches quake with heresy, pressing the faithful into doubt, frustration, and a love of division.  

Come, O Shelter of the faithful!  What strength it takes to shelter others: resolve, compassion, and the willingness to go and seek the lost.  It takes a Man who would even bear a cross to overcome the power of death.  This Man is God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who knows you by name; whose love for you is stronger than death; and who will bring you, with great joy, to the throne that He shares eternally with His Father.  Have no fear, little flock!

LET US PRAY:  Protect, defend, and deliver us from evil, good Shepherd of the sheep.  By Your two-edged sword, that living word, silence the ancient enemy, curb all evil designs, bring us to repentance, and preserve Your Church in perfect peace until the day of Your appearing; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau

“Let death come deceitfully upon them; let them go down alive to Sheol, for evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.  As for me, I shall call upon God, and the Lord will save me.”  (Psalm 55:15-16)

The contrast has always been before you.  There is the way of the Lord and there is the way of wickedness.  Do not walk in the ways of this world, but hear and heed the call of the Lord to be transformed by the renewing of Your mind.  Walk humbly before Your God and know the ways He established in the beginning.  Call upon the Lord and He will save You from all the evil of this world.

Lord, I know it is appointed to walk in this world for a time, but the wickedness is often so overwhelming.  Lead me to You to look to You through all that swirls around me that I may not be tempted to walk in any other way than the one You have established in salvation.  Lead me O Lord and help me to trust You for all things, dealing with the wicked and saving those who turn to You.

Lord Jesus, in times of trouble I call out to You.  Help me come to You in all times and places, both good and bad and all the times in between.  Lead me heart to learn from You how to deal with the craziness of this world and hold forever fast to the truth You have revealed.  Lead me O Lord and will follow You all the days of my life.  Grant me grace and strength of Your Spirit to fulfill this vow.  Amen.

“For strangers have risen against me and violent men have sought my life; they have not set God before them.  Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the sustainer of my soul.  He will recompense the evil to my foes; destroy them in Your faithfulness.”  (Psalm 54:3-5)

Lord, You are the One who is everlasting.  There is none besides You.  Yet, there are those in this world who lift up false gods and command me to look at them.  Help me to see clearly Lord that I would look to You alone.  Justice is in Your hands O Lord.  You know all that needs to be done.  Bring me to the place where I trust in your justice and live simply by the words You have decreed.

Lord God, You have made plain from the beginning the truth that You are God.  You are the Savior.  You are the One who sustains all things.  You will deal with all that needs to be dealt with.  Compose my heart to be satisfied with Your goodness.  Lead me to trust in Your justice.  Take away from me those things which will hinder me simply trusting You in all things and for all things.

Lord Jesus, You have come and declared that You are the judge of the living and the dead.  Guide me to trust You in and through all things, knowing that You alone must be the author and finisher of my faith.  Lead me this day in the goodness of whom You are, knowing that You will lead me through all things that will come.  Guide me to trust that Your grace is more than sufficient for me.  Amen

“The righteous will see and fear, and will laugh at him, saying, “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and was strong in his evil desire.”  (Psalm 52:6-7)

The day will come when the difference between those who trusted in themselves and those who trusted in the Lord will be apparent.  The self apart from the Lord will be separated as they are now from the +source of life.  Riches and worldly wealth are fleeting and do not really belong to the one who says, “This is mine.”  The one who abides in the Lord abides forever, because the Lord is forever.

I do not see clearly and Your ways often seem hard to fathom, yet I know You are there and this is Your creation.  Clear my sight O Lord to walk with You on cloudy as well as clear days.  Help me see in You the hope that is forever and to not walk in the ways of fools who trust in things they did not make and will not last to be their satisfaction.  Guide me O Lord in Your ways.

Lord Jesus, You came into the world humble and living in simple circumstances.  Help me shed dependency on the things of this world to see that only You and the Kingdom You have established are forever.  Lead me today and every day in the way I should go and then help me get there by looking to You, the author and finisher of my faith, to lead the way.  Amen.

“You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right.  You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. But God will break you down forever; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent, and uproot you from the land of the living.”  (Psalm 52:3-5)

The wicked tongue shall not survive.  Why do you cling to that which is already condemned?  Come then into the rest of the Lord and give up the vain ways of this world.  DO not cling to that which is destructive, but come into the hope of glory that comes through grace.  Live into the life into which You have been called through grace by faith.  Let your wicked heart be uprooted and replaced with a heart like Christ’s.

Lord, You know all the complexities of the heart and the ways in which it plays games with me.  Blot out my iniquities and take away those things which hinder me from living life as You have designed it to be lived.  Guide me O Lord into Your grace that I may begin again the journey to which grace calls me.  Help me through all obstacles to live, speak and have my being in You.

Lord Jesus, You have come to forever shatter the wicked and their ways from ruling in life.  Though there remains this season in which the wicked endure, let me not be counted among them.  Instead, guide me by Your grace to come into the life to which You have called me by Your provision to seek the goodness You offer.  Help me now and always to cling to You, the finisher of my faith.  Amen.

“Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?  The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.  Your tongue devises destruction, Like a sharp razor, O worker of deceit.”  (Psalm 52:1-2)

Wickedness has always been around and in the midst of our comfort we do not see the evil plotted by those who are bent upon destruction.  From the heart and out of the mouth comes deceit, malice, envy and bitterness.  The call of the Lord is to have a new and clean heart that abandons the heart of this age for the eternal goodness of the Lord.  Be not wicked, but come into the righteousness of the Lord.

At many levels, there is within me that which can and does behave like those who practice wickedness.  You, O Lord have called me into a new life that no longer rebels against the goodness You have established, but desires to come into the truth that in You alone is hope.  Come Holy Spirit and renew in me a right spirit that I would hold fast to You and the goodness You give.

Lord Jesus, in the face of the rebellious age, You have given the means of forever escaping the self-destructive ways of this world.  Guide me O Lord that I would live in Your grace and live into a life that seeks righteousness.  Help me now and always to hold fast to the truth You have revealed that I might become like You and do the Father’s will on earth as it shall be done in heaven.  Amen.

“For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.”  (Psalm 51:3-4)

Against the Lord have we sinned.  Yes, but what about sins against another?  All sin is ultimately against the Lord, which is why Jesus was able to forgive sins.  He forgave not only what was against others, but because all sin is ultimately against Him, He was able to forgive us.  This is why there was puzzlement that He forgave sins.  Yes, God forgives and His forgiveness is complete.

Lord, I have sinned against You even when I have sinned against my neighbor.  Help me I pray to live life in repentance that I would see that there are no small sins, but only sins against You.  Lead me to see my heart changed to be so intimate with You that I never forget this simple principle.  Lead me to live life righteously and teach me to look to You always and for all things.

Lord Jesus, the magnitude of what You have done is greater than I can begin to imagine.  Help me, I pray, to see in You the hope of glory and the truth of the grace I need.  Lead me in truth so that I may forever hold fast to what You have done from the cross.  Lead me today and always to know that against You only have I sinned, but the by repentance You will restore me to wholeness.  Amen.

“You let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit.   “You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.”  (Psalm 50:19-20)

It is not what goes in the mouth, but what comes out that defiles and destroys.  What is in your heart is revealed in what comes out of your mouth.  Take care to see the wickedness that is a part of this generation that has polluted your thinking.  Turn to the Lord and He will clean you from the inside out.  See that the Lord who saves will bring you to where you need to be.

Lord, I may pretend to the world which sees me, but You know my heart.  You know the things that go on inside of me and the ways in which I think and speak that are not pleasing in Your sight.  Guide me by grace to repent and come before You willing to be cleaned that I may speak what is right and fitting.  Lead me in Your ways O Lord and through Your Spirit help me to follow.

Lord Jesus, You know what it is to walk in this world in the midst of all its strife.  By Your example and through Your grace, lead me to live as You lived in this world holding fast to what is true and being faithful to the Father’s will.  May I learn from You to do the Father’s will in and through all things knowing that I shall become like You just as the Word promises.  Amen.

“The authorities are ministers of God.” (Romans 13:6b)

Christians look at civil government differently than some others might.  Just as we see God at work in parents, raising, protecting, and caring for children, so do we view government as a work of God, tasked with protecting and caring for society.  Rulers are, as Luther put it, our “fathers in office,” not in blood (Large Catechism, Fourth Commandment).

We may sometimes wonder why God grants us the fathers that we have.  We may even find ourselves telling our fathers, in office or in blood, “I must obey God rather than you.”  God sustains us in those times with the example of His Son, who made the good confession of faith even as He acknowledged Pilate’s authority to condemn Him (1 Timothy 6:13).

In the end, then, this startling statement—“the authorities are ministers of God”—serves both to confirm and to limit the authority of our earthly rulers.  God establishes them, and just so, they are accountable to God and beneath Him.  In either case, the truth serves to comfort God’s people: God’s providence rests over all!  We love, honor, and pray for our rulers; we may even serve as rulers in good conscience; and at times, we bear witness against these rulers whom we are called to love.  

LET US PRAY: O Lord of lords, bless the government of this land.  Teach me to love those who make, administer, and judge our laws, and to hold them in esteem for Your sake, for truly, they are Your ministers for our good.  Teach them also to turn aside from evil; to seek justice, humility, and mercy; and to temper speech and action with such wisdom that our common life may be wholesome and pleasing to You; through Christ our Lord.  Amen

Pastor Steven K. Gjerde

Zion, Wausau