5 Give ear to my words, O Lord;
consider my groaning.
2 Give attention to the sound of my cry,
my King and my God,
for to you do I pray.
3 O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice;
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you[a] and watch.
4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil may not dwell with you.
5 The boastful shall not stand before your eyes;
you hate all evildoers.
6 You destroy those who speak lies;
the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love,
will enter your house.
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness
because of my enemies;
make your way straight before me.
9 For there is no truth in their mouth;
their inmost self is destruction;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them bear their guilt, O God;
let them fall by their own counsels;
because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out,
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may exult in you.
12 For you bless the righteous, O Lord;
you cover him with favor as with a shield.
In this passage we see a definite contrast between those who trust in the Lord and those who trust in themselves, between the Lord's will and way and the world's will and way.
The trouble is that we live in both. We live in Christ and in the world. We are free in Christ, but still able to be tempted. We are not of the world, but we still live in the world. I guess, in this way, we are experiencing what Christ experienced, although imperfectly. Christ lived in this world and was tempted in every way, but al2ways resisted and never fell into temptation. We fall into temptation on a constant and continual basis.
With God those two things cannot dwell together. There cannot be evil and righteousness in the presence of Almighty God. He doesn't allow evil to exist in his presence!
So we cry out to God and say "Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness." and "Make your way straight before me." We ask God to do this for us while we are here on earth so that we can live in Him and rest in His grace until the day we receive the blessings and benefits of the victory that has already been won. Until then, take refuge in Him, rejoice in Him and sing for joy, because the victory is already yours in Christ alone.
Let us pray: As I have one foot in heaven and one on earth, keep me safe from my enemy, the devil, give me joy and peace while I survive in this world, and take me home to you as soon as you see fit, according to your will. Amen.
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CALENDAR
Tues- Quilting 9-2; Council Meeting 7
Wed- Sewing Pillowcase Dresses 10-noon; Ladies Aid meeting noon; Choir 7
Thurs- Karate 5:30-7:30; Lutheranism 101 6:30pm; Nov/Dec Newsletter items due
Fri- Basement reserved 5-10pm; Bible Study at Hendershot's 7pm
Sat- Fischer/Sellman Wedding 2pm; Worship 5pm
Sun- Worship 8:30; Sunday school 9:45; Chapel 11; Bible Study with Pastor 6-7:30
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WORSHIP WORKERS FOR THIS COMING WEEKEND:
Acolyte- 8:30- Dawn Sherman 11- Luke Rausch
Ushers- Marv Hendershot, Don Luebke, Dave Callies, Don Nolte
Altar- Set up- Ruth Walters ; Clean Up- Lynn Russell and Elaine Schauer
Elders- Sat- Dave Winter; 8:30- Don Turnure; 11- Jim Rahn
Greeters- 8:30- Bob and Marianne Linke; 11- Joan Sexton
Lay Readers- Sat- Sandra Perricone 8:30- Lois Boeger; 11- Jim Rahn
Piano- Sat- Molly Hendershot
Organist- Rachel Fisher
Projectionists: No projection this week
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YESTERDAY'S QUIZ: What evil thing did Eliashib the priest do? He provided a large room for his friend Tobiah in the temple which had been used as a storeroom for all the stuff that was used in the temple.
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