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Psalm 145
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I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.
One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The LORD preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
(ESV)
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Precious Possessions
Elijah
20 July 2012
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The sinners in the church belong to God. God's eternal Son has given the full purchase price to win them to Himself. He has offered only the most precious things. He offered His own life and His blood for them. He has invested His all into their salvation. Those who are charged with their care do not own them. They have not paid the price for them. They are but stewards of what belongs to Lord. They are undershepherds for the good Shepherd. They must never act as though the flock is their possession. They are not owners of what belongs to the Lord. The Lord God chided the shepherds of Israel who were fleecing the flock, not shepherding them: "Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: 'You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the LORD'" (Jer 23:2). He paid that tremendous purchase price. The flock must be treated as His own possession (1Pt 2:9). The Lord will attend to them, if they do not attend to the flock.
The sheep of the flock must be cared for in the way that the Lord Himself desires they be cared for; in mercy and forgiveness and with the divine truth. Those into whose hands have been given the doctrine must guard it and protect it from perversion. They must never let down their vigilance. They must never give up the teaching up. They must never console those who stubbornly pervert it, but oppose them hammering them with the law. Those who teach contrary to God's Word should be led to repentance to lament their leading astray the flock that belongs to God. They will be called to account for their wicked doctrine (Jer 23:31). God expects that the truth be proclaimed by those whom He sends. If the truth of God's gospel is proclaimed by those whom He sends, then those to whom they are sent will be comforted in trials, forgiven in repentance, and built up in hope.
We preachers do not treat the sheep as God's own possession when we place burdens on them that neither we nor our fathers bore. We must not slap them down, but lift up the downtrodden, restore the broken hearted, and pronounce forgiveness to those who sorrow over their sins. They are a precious possession and must be treated that way. When I was a child I was fascinated by the mantle clock which stood above the fireplace in my grandparent's home. They were poor folk and so the mantle clock was a precious possession. Only my grandfather touched the clock, to wind it with the key that hung on a red ribbon on a hook under the mantle. I was permitted to watch this daily ritual, but never to touch the clock or the key. It was a precious possession. God's stewards must treat the possessions of God, the people of the church, as precious because they were bought with the blood of Christ. When we treat the sheep with the gospel they are being treated as God's precious possessions.
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Martin Luther
"From these things we understand well enough the remission of sins does not apply in doctrine, as the Sacramentarians contend, but rather in life and our works. There no one should condemn anyone else. Let him not scold in anger and severity as Ezekiel said about the pastors of Israel, that 'With force and harshness you have ruled them' (Ez 34:4). Instead let a brother console a fallen brother with spiritual meekness, and let the fallen one hear the word that raises him and let him believe it. God does not desire to reject those who are crushed, but to lift them up, as the Psalmist says, for 'He raises up all who are bowed down' (Ps 145:14). For He spends more for them than we have, namely His life and blood. Therefore even we ought to take up such ones with highest leniency, to help and to heal.
"Therefore will we not deny forgiveness to the Sacramentarians and all the other progenitors of the godless sects? From the heart we would forgive their invective and blasphemies against Christ, as well as never take any account of the damage they have done us, if they would repent of their godlessly deserting the doctrine, by which they disturb the churches of Christ, and as a consequence would walk in a rightly ordered way with us. If, however, they persevere in their error and destroy that order, they will demand forgiveness of sins from us in vain."
Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 6.1
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Prayer
Lord Jesus, send us shepherds who will be good stewards of Your Word and the flock which is built by it. Send Your Spirit to us that we might hear and appropriate the Word of peace which good shepherds will proclaim to us in Your name. Help them to lift up the downtrodden and to encourage the brokenhearted so that they are not lost to Your kingdom made precious by Your blood. Amen.
For Alejandro Moreno and all prisoners, that they would be set free from the burden of their sin in Christ Jesus
For President Tom Cedel and the faculty and staff of Concordia University Texas, that they would be upheld in their labor to bring true enlightenment to learners
For Terry Meyer, that the Lord would be with him as he travels to Afghanistan and that he would be kept safe while there
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Art: DÜRER, Albrecht The Adoration of the Trinity (1511)
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 © Scott R. Murray, 2012
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