You Are Not Alone

Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man.
PSALM 12:1
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You Are Not Alone
Since the ingratitude and the wickedness of the burghers, the peasants, and the classes of every kind are so great, we, too, are often driven to conclude that the entire world is possessed by Satan. Moreover, the very sad spectacle troubles the hearts of the godly. But one must hold fast to the hope which is here before Abraham: that nevertheless there are some pious and saintly people still living. For God is not without a people. He is a God of mercy and of judgment. Therefore He preserves and guides those who are not impenitent but humble themselves and seek forgiveness. Thus Psalm 12:1 states: "The faithful have vanished from among the sons of men"; that is, the world casts aside and hates the truth and the Word. Yet at the end the Lord says (Psalm 12:5): "I will arise because of the poor." Therefore there always remain some who keep and receive the Word.

From Lectures on Genesis (Luther's Works 3:345)
February 23
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