God\'s Material

Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
PSALM 38:21-22
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God's Material
It is God's nature to make something out of nothing; hence one who is not yet nothing, out of him God cannot make anything. . .. Therefore God accepts only the forsaken, cures only the sick, gives sight only to the blind, restores life only to the dead, sanctifies only the sinners, gives wisdom only to the unwise. In short, He has mercy only on those who are wretched, and gives grace only to those who are not in grace. Therefore no proud saint, no wise or righteous person, can become God's material, and God's purpose cannot be fulfilled in him. He remains in his own work and makes a fictitious, pretended, false, painted saint of himself, that is, a hypocrite. . .. God is not a Father of the rich but of the poor, widows, and orphans. The rich He has left alone (Luke 1:53). "O God of my salvation," that is, that I seek no help or salvation either in myself or in anyone else, but only in Thee. Thus also Psalm 4:1: "The God of my righteousness has heard me," that is, He is the one who gives help.

From Seven Penitential Psalms, on Psalm 38 (Luther's Works 14:163)
May 31
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