Thy Will
O God, save me by your name,
and defend me with your might.
O God, hear my prayer,
and open your ears to the words from my mouth.
Strangers have attacked me.
Ruthless people seek my life.
They do not think about God.
God is my helper!
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2054&version=GW>
This past Sunday the Catechism responsive reading was based on the Lord’s Prayer. The reading was edited for time, and this question and answer was omitted:
Q:How is God’s will done?
A: God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.
Martin Luther read and wrote a commentary on Psalm 54 in 1521. He wrote the Small Catechism in 1529. Since we have above both David’s Psalm and Luther’s Catechism Q&A, here is Luther’s commentary:
This is a fervent prayer against the persecutors of the word, who lay plots against the lives of the good, and those that fear God, for the word of God’s sake; just like king Saul and the people of Ziph, who lay in wait for the life of David, on account of the name and word of God, by which Saul was to be dethroned and David made king in his stead. David, there fore, prays, that the vengeance of God might over take such cruelty and malice.
To run the full circle, the epistle from Sunday was from James, the reading stopped just short of this text:
You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? Indeed, it is a mist that appears for a little while and then disappears. Instead, it is better for you to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live, and we will do this or that.”
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=James%204&version=EHV>
Thy will be done.
Trust the Promises,
Steve Skiver