Congregation at Prayer

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 54: A Prayer for Deliverance from the Enemies of Christians—Psalm 54 was prayed by David on the occasion of King Saul’s attempts to murder him.  The Ziphites had betrayed David to Saul. Saul had departed from the Word of God and despised the Lord for having anointed David to succeed him as King. David would not lift his hand against his enemy, but rather commended himself to God and prayed for the Lord to deliver him. David’s example is a pattern for us and Christ’s Church under persecution and suffering. Our only weapon is the Word of God and faith that clings to the Lord’s promise of protection. In our battle against the forces of darkness and the enemies of our faith, our protection can never be the force of human arms but must always and only be the Word of God the protection that the Lord promises to those who are faithful to Him. So we, with the whole Church on earth, pray with David, “Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your strength. Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth…oppressors have sought after my life; they have not set God before them. Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. He will repay my enemies for their evil.”  This is of inestimable comfort in the face of persecution and suffering for the faith.CP240728

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 26: A Baptismal Prayer to Renounce Evil and Live Faithfully in Christ—The ancient liturgy of Holy Baptism includes the renunciation of the devil with all his wicked works and all his wicked ways and a firm confession of faith in the Triune God. Psalm 26 is a precursor of that liturgy. Faith in Christ, to which we are all called in our Baptism, renounces all idolatry and every wicked work and scheme of the devil and of those who reject Christ. These themes are echoed in the psalm, along with the confident expression of faith in the Lord who will both uphold those who trust in Him and who daily cleanses us in the call to the repentant life that renounces all uncleanness and hypocrisy. The Lord will “vindicate” His people, showing forth to those who have rejected the Lord that He indeed preserves His own from all the sinister schemes of those who hate the Gospel. The baptized faithful not only renounce the devil and all evil, but they also delight to be in the congregation of the faithful where the Lord’s preaching and the Lord’s Supper sustains, comforts, and strengthens them against every attack upon their faith. “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells… My foot stands in an even place; in the congregations I will bless the Lord.”CP240721

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Psalm 47: A Prayer on the Ascension of Our Lord—Psalm 47 is traditionally prayed in celebration of the Ascension of our Lord. After Jesus had defeated sin, death, and the power of the devil through His suffering and death upon the cross, God the Father highly exalted Him and seated Him at His right hand, placing all His enemies under His feet. Christ continues to reign over all things at the Father’s right hand for the sake of His Church and He will come again in glory to receive His bride to Himself. So, we sing with the psalmist: “God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne.”CP240714

Catechesis Notes for the Week — Praying the Psalms: Psalm 19—Praise of God for the Perfect Revelation of His Glory—David links together the preaching of the Gospel with the ordering of the cosmos. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork” precisely because they are signs whose ordered design and placement in the cosmos perfectly reflect the ordering of the Gospel of God’s love and sacrifice in Christ. The creation of the sun, the moon, and the stars are for signs and seasons, and for all the patterns of life that find their fulfillment in the week of our redemption in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ. As the earth orbits around the sun, which sustains the life of all living things, so Christ and His Gospel is the source of eternal life and salvation. The pattern of a day (“evening and morning”) points us to the darkness of death and the light of the resurrection of Christ by which the creation is redeemed and made new. The statutes of the Lord testify to the truth of the Gospel which is imbedded in all of creation. The Law of the Lord—His commandments and promises—convert our hearts from unbelief to repentant faith. We rejoice in His salvation and desire His Word to be proclaimed in all of creation. By the Word of the Lord we are turned from our sin, cleansed from unknown errors, and lead a life that is innocent of all transgressions by the gift of Christ’s righteousness. “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer!”CP240707