September 9, 2023

Today's Reading: Introit to Pentecost 15: Psalm 92:1-4, antiphon Psalm 92:5s

Daily Lectionary: 1 Kings 2:1-27, 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

How great are Your works, O Yahweh! Very deep are Your thoughts! (Psalm 92:5)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Here’s a clue to the theme for each Sunday’s Divine Service: trace the thread from the antiphon of the Introit (the first and last verse of the Introit), to the Collect for the day, to the readings. Sometimes the theme will be clear and obvious; other times it will be a little bit harder to identify. It is easier during the festival half of the Church Year (from Advent through Trinity) than it is during the Sundays after Pentecost. But looking ahead to the Introit with its antiphon, reading the assigned readings, and praying the Collect will help get the Word of God into your heart and onto your lips in preparation for the Divine Service. 

For example, for tomorrow, the Introit comes from Psalm 92 and the antiphon is 92:5, which I translated above. The psalm puts in parallel God’s “works” and God’s “thoughts,” and says that they are “great” and “very deep.” This causes us to ask, “What are God’s thoughts? Can I know them?” If God did not reveal His thoughts, we could not know them. His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). We would (as we often do) make up our own ideas about what God would do or not do.

But God has not left us to imagine His thoughts or figure them out on our own. He has revealed Himself in His great works. Christians start with what God has done and then we understand what God is like. What He says is the same as what He does. How He acts is the same as who He is. And He reveals His thoughts finally and forever in His Son, Jesus. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, we see the true depth of God’s thoughts, and the greatness of His works. 

In God’s works, we see God’s thoughts. Who could imagine that God would become flesh and die? Who could imagine that God would take on Himself the offense and curse of sin? Who would think that the least, the last, the helpless, the child would be the greatest in the Kingdom (Matthew 18:1-2)? More than that, God gives His Kingdom only to those who cannot give Him anything in return (18:3-4). None of us could imagine a mercy that never fails to seek those whom people would consider “lost” (18:10-14). God seeks us in Jesus, and then He seeks everyone through His Church, wherever two or three are gathered around His forgiving love (18:18-20). These thoughts of God would be too deep for us to imagine, if He had not sent His Son and revealed them to us in His works. How great are Your works, and very deep are Your thoughts! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night” (Psalm 92:1-2).

- Pastor Timothy Winterstein is pastor at Faith Lutheran Church, East Wenatchee, Washington.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

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.