Under Your Good Shepherd

... which is right where you belong.

Verse for the week: “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.”  Psalm 80.1

Prayer for the week: Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen.

Bible reading for the day: Psalm 80.1-7  (This is a community prayer song, a lament of the people in distress. Something has gone terribly wrong - perhaps the death of Solomon and 922, or the fall of Israel in 722, or the fall of Judah and Jerusalem in 587, hard to say. Whatever the cause, the people are in distress and they know it. Gathered together and led by a song leader, they call out to the only one who can restore them.)

 ¹ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
²     Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
    and come to save us!

³ Restore us[1], O God;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴ O Lord God of hosts,
    how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears
    and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶ You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
    and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷ Restore us, O God of hosts;
    let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Prayer of the Day: Give us your ear O Shepherd. You alone know whether it is best to drink from the cup of your gladness and wine of our tears.  According to you will, O Good Shepherd, drive me and all your sheep back to yourself... give us ears to hear Christ… For he alone is true pasture for us and our neighbors. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Hymn: follow this link to a beloved classic that gives further voice to today’s conversation with the Lord: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQd2sh-nQ_M&ab_channel=MartijndeGroot

“I believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son…”

What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ – true God, Son of the Father from eternity, and true man, born of the virgin Mary – is my Lord.

At great cost he has saved and redeemed me, a lost and condemned person. He has freed me from, sin, death, and the power of the devil – not with silver and gold, but with his holy and precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.

All this he has done that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally.

This is most certainly true. (from The Small Catechism, by Martin Luther)

Benediction: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
    he adorns the humble with salvation.   Psalm 149.4

 

*This is now our congregation’s 99^th year in the Word. In 2025, we are reading from Genesis to Revelation, with a few interludes along the way.

 

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[1] Or Turn us again, bring us back