Not without Grief
The cords of death encompassed Me; the torrents of destruction assailed Me; the cords of Sheol entangled Me; the snares of death confronted Me.
PSALM 18:4-5
+
Not without Grief
Some take this in the literal sense of the words: "the ropes of death," that is, the bonds that held Christ three days in death, and "the ropes of hell," that is, the bonds that held His soul in hell for three days. This seems to be the sense of Psalm 16:10, which says that His soul was in hell. But here He says that He endured even the sorrows of death. . .. Peter, too, bears witness to this in Acts when he says (Acts 2:24): "God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death," or hell. Therefore [Christ] even sorrowed in death, and God loosed these sorrows by raising Him. . .. I firmly believe that Christ did not feel the punishments and griefs of the damned, who are the children of despair, but that Christ always hoped. Nevertheless, these words testify that He was not altogether without grief. And if there had been no other griefs, yet because He was held by the ropes and in the power of death and hell, this in itself was without doubt loathsome and irksome to His most noble soul, for without putting off the substance He desired freedom and His own brilliant glorification.
From First Lectures on the Psalms, on Psalm 18 (Luther's Works 10:115-16)
March 5
PSALM 18:4-5
+
Not without Grief
Some take this in the literal sense of the words: "the ropes of death," that is, the bonds that held Christ three days in death, and "the ropes of hell," that is, the bonds that held His soul in hell for three days. This seems to be the sense of Psalm 16:10, which says that His soul was in hell. But here He says that He endured even the sorrows of death. . .. Peter, too, bears witness to this in Acts when he says (Acts 2:24): "God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death," or hell. Therefore [Christ] even sorrowed in death, and God loosed these sorrows by raising Him. . .. I firmly believe that Christ did not feel the punishments and griefs of the damned, who are the children of despair, but that Christ always hoped. Nevertheless, these words testify that He was not altogether without grief. And if there had been no other griefs, yet because He was held by the ropes and in the power of death and hell, this in itself was without doubt loathsome and irksome to His most noble soul, for without putting off the substance He desired freedom and His own brilliant glorification.
From First Lectures on the Psalms, on Psalm 18 (Luther's Works 10:115-16)
March 5
Posted in Daily Devotions
Recent
Archive
2026
January
In The GardenBy Your Own LawA Kingdom Not From HereThe King Who Bears Witness to the TruthWhich Jesus Will You Have?Behold the King We MockedBehold the Man, Lifted for YouAuthority from Above, Glory from the CrossBehold Your King, Lifted Up to JudgeThe Place of the SkullIt Is WrittenEvery Promise KeptStabat MaterIt Is FinishedThese Three TestifyA True TestimonyA Quiet Courage at the CrossThe Empty Tomb and the Wounded SaviorSeeing, Believing, and the Linen Left BehindCalled by Name in the GardenDo Not Cling, Go and TellPeace in Wounded HandsThe Wounds That Speak PeaceYou May Have LifeMy Lord and My GodFishingIt Is the LordThey KnewFeed My LambsFollow HimFollowing Jesus, Not Comparing Paths
February
The Testimony That Is EnoughBefore Kings, Before the CrossBefore You Were Born, the Word Was GivenSet Like FlintRemembering First LoveForsaking the FountainBroken Cisterns and the Living CrossAshamed of Our False RescuesForgottenWe Have SinnedLift Up Your EyesLike SisterReturn to the LordThe Gift of ShepherdsOur Only HopeShame That Leads to SalvationCircumcised HeartsBlow the Trumpet in the LandWhen Wisdom FailsThe Storm We Have SummonedThe Sound of the TrumpetWhen Wisdom Becomes FollyThe Earth Shall MournCan You Find One?There Is No DifferenceThe Lord Must InterveneSpeak TruthEnduring Nation
March
A RemnantA Deaf People, a Faithful GodFlee to the StrongholdCut Down to Be HealedNo Superficial PeaceStand at the CrossroadsRefined by Fire, Redeemed by the CrossTrust in the Lord, Not in Your HandsHe Flipped TablesPoured Out on JesusYou Are His PeopleTruth Has RisenSilence in the CitiesWhat Have I Done?Not a Bone Shall Be BrokenWhen Wisdom Becomes FoolishnessBitter MedicineThe Hiss of Judgment, the Promise of the CrossThe Wound of Sin and the Healing of ChristIs There No Balm?Truth at the CrossRefined by the LordScatteredRuinedDeath Has ComeBoast In The LordLike ScarecrowsNone Like Our GodGods That PerishWounded, Yet Not Forsaken