Lutheran Hour Ministries

For the LORD takes pleasure in His people; He adorns the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:4)

“Since Christ has full atonement made / And brought to us salvation. / Each Christian therefore may be glad / And build on this foundation / Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead, / Your death is now my life indeed, / For You have paid my ransom.”

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility. (Ephesians 2:13-14)

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:23-24)

But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” [Then] Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying, “‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, until I put Your enemies under Your feet”’? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?” And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more questions. (Matthew 22:34-40, 41b-46)

For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the Gospel of God … For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others … But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the Gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the Gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men  but as what it really is, the Word of God, which is at work in you believers. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-2a, 5-6a, 7-13)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy. … You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord. You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18)

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. (Psalm 1:3-4)

“Well He knows what best to grant me; / All the longing hopes that haunt me, / Joy and sorrow, have their day. / I shall doubt His wisdom never; / As God wills, so be it ever; / I commit to Him my way.”

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. (Psalm 51:17)