Today's Reading: Introit for the 12th Sunday after Trinity

 (Psalm 70:2b, 4a, 5b; antiphon: v.1-2a)

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 19:1-21; Ephesians 3:1-21 

Make haste, O God, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! (From the Introit for the 12th Sunday after Trinity) 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. The words of our text are familiar words. They begin both Matins and Vespers. They are the prayers of David and all the saints, asking that the Lord God not remember our sins, but remember His children. God has the worst and greatest memory. 

Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, God has the worst memory, an incurable case of amnesia. He can't remember your sins. They have been forgiven, absolved, removed from you completely. Like that answer on the test you just cannot remember, so God cannot remember your sins any longer. They are forgiven in Jesus and forgotten eternally. 

Because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, God has the greatest memory the world has ever known. He knows and remembers you all the time. You are His child with whom He is well pleased. There is no sin in you on account of Christ. The Triune God has written His Name on your forehead with the sign of the Holy Cross in your Baptism. You are marked as one redeemed, one who has been delivered from sin, death, and the power of the devil. That is why when we sing these words, you may see people make the sign of the Holy Cross upon themselves as they remember their Baptisms. Just as God remembers us whom He has delivered, so we remember the One who has delivered us. 

There will be times in your life when your sins will be hard to forget. They haunt you. Others will remind you of those sins so that you cannot forget them. That is the work of the devil as he seeks your life for himself. It is the devil, the evil one, who remembers your sins and uses them against you to destroy faith.

O Lord, "you are my help and my deliverer" (Psalm 70:5b), David prays and teaches us to pray. When the devil, the world, and your flesh seek your life with remembrance of past sins, turn to your Father, who for the sake of Christ remembers your sins no more. What He does remember is that you are His. You are His fully forgiven child with whom He is well pleased on account of Christ Jesus. Make haste, O Lord, to help us remember this each and every day. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

I trust, O Lord, Your holy name; O let me not be put to shame Nor let me be confounded. My faith, O Lord, Be in Your Word Forever firmly grounded. ("I Trust, O Lord, Your Holy Name" LSB 734, st. 1)

-Rev. Daniel Voth, pastor of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Grand Forks, ND.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.