What Else Should You Do?
Wait for the LORD!
PSALM 27:14
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What Else Should You Do?
Today we are tormented and afflicted by Satan and the world in various ways. . .. But what else should you do than wait for the Lord? You have the promise that God is your Father. Add faith and love to this, have no doubt about the promise, and wait, since what is promised is not shown immediately. For although "hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Proverbs 13:12), nevertheless what the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews points out should be kept in mind: "God is treating you as sons" (12:7). Thereupon we should encourage and arouse ourselves by such examples to bear any difficulties, dangers, and griefs. But if we are killed, it is certain that by this means we are truly liberated and rescued from all evils. . .. But if we are preserved, we should persevere and wait in hope and faith; for God does not hate us or turn us away in hostile fashion, no matter how He may conduct Himself toward us otherwise. Let us rather conclude: "I know that I have been baptized, that I have eaten the body and drunk the blood of the Son of God, that I have been absolved by divine authority, that all my sins have certainly been forgiven me, and that victory over the devil, death, and hell has been promised me. What more should I ask for?"
From Lectures on Genesis (Luther's Works 7:131-32)
April 7
PSALM 27:14
+
What Else Should You Do?
Today we are tormented and afflicted by Satan and the world in various ways. . .. But what else should you do than wait for the Lord? You have the promise that God is your Father. Add faith and love to this, have no doubt about the promise, and wait, since what is promised is not shown immediately. For although "hope deferred makes the heart sick" (Proverbs 13:12), nevertheless what the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews points out should be kept in mind: "God is treating you as sons" (12:7). Thereupon we should encourage and arouse ourselves by such examples to bear any difficulties, dangers, and griefs. But if we are killed, it is certain that by this means we are truly liberated and rescued from all evils. . .. But if we are preserved, we should persevere and wait in hope and faith; for God does not hate us or turn us away in hostile fashion, no matter how He may conduct Himself toward us otherwise. Let us rather conclude: "I know that I have been baptized, that I have eaten the body and drunk the blood of the Son of God, that I have been absolved by divine authority, that all my sins have certainly been forgiven me, and that victory over the devil, death, and hell has been promised me. What more should I ask for?"
From Lectures on Genesis (Luther's Works 7:131-32)
April 7
Posted in Daily Devotions
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