Category: Praying with Luther

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

Psalm 130:1-2 (ESV)

The 130th psalm is a psalm of prayer that comes from genuine Davidic devotion and understanding. It confesses that before God no one is righteous, nor may one become righteous by his own work and righteousness, but only through grace and forgiveness of sins, which God has promised. The psalmist comforts himself. as he relies on this promise and Word. He exhorts all of Israel that they should do the same and learn that with God is a throne of grace and redemption. Through Him alone and no way else shall Israel be freed of sins, that is, “through forgiveness” (without which there is no grace) become righteous and blessed. Apart from this, he truly would be in the depths and would never stand before God.

Look! The true master and doctor of the Holy Scriptures is the one who understands what this means. The seed of the woman shall tread on the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), and through this seed all the nations of the world shall be blessed (Genesis 12:30). Therefore, the psalmist places both a promise and a prophecy of Christ in this verse: “He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities (Psalm 130:8).” Upon this verse, and from it, comes the entire psalm.

Prayer

God, our Father, who is rich in mercy and with whom is plenteous forgiveness, remember not the sins of our youth, nor our transgressions. Blot them out for the sake of Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, who became the sacrifice for our sins. For the sake of His crimson blood let our sins be forgotten, and let them be imputed to us no more. Amen.

(from “Reading the Psalms with Luther”, pgs. 314-316)

The 23rd psalm is a psalm of thanks in which a Christian heart praises and thanks God for teaching him and keeping him on the right way, comforting and protecting him in every danger through His Holy Word. The psalmist compares himself to a sheep that a faithful shepherd leads into fresh grass and cool water. In addition, he shows the table, the cup, and oil also as images from the Old Testament worship and calls it all God’s Word, as it is also called rod and staff, grass, water, and the way of righteousness. This psalm belongs in the Third Commandment (of the Ten Commandments) and in the Second Petition (of the Lord’s Prayer).

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, who alone is that one Good Shepherd, thanks be unto You for all Your spiritual and bodily benefits. Let the Word of Your salvation dwell among us richly, and suffer not that trusty staff, the word of Your promise, to be taken from us. And when the shadow of death spreads over us, conduct us safely to the fold of perfected saints, the tabernacle not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Amen.

(from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pgs. 59-60)

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”

Psalm 121:1-2

The 121^st psalm is a psalm of comfort in which the psalmist comforts us by his example, so that we may remain strong in faith and wait for God’s help and protection. Although it appears as though He sleeps or slumbers so that we are struck down by the sun by day and the moon at night, yet it is not so, though we may think and feel it. For God watches and keeps us secure and does not let the sun strike us dead. This we will come to know for certain at last, though we can now only look forward to it. 

Prayer

To You, O God, who has hitherto been our Father and our Patron, do we lift up our eyes, knowing that from You alone can come our help and our salvation. Grant us a living trust in Your mercy and truth that hearts do not fear when we must pass through the fire of trials or must wade through the waters of affliction, but always maintain a cheerful trust in Your help, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

(from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pgs. 302-303)

The 32^nd psalm in an exemplary psalm of instruction that teaches us what sin is, and how one might be freed from it and be righteous before God. Our reason does not know what sin is and tries to make satisfaction for it with works. But the psalmist says that even saints are sinners. The cannot become holy or blessed except by confessing themselves as sinners before God, knowing that they are regarded as righteous only from the grace of God, apart from any service or work.

In short, our righteousness is called the forgiveness of our sins. Or, as it says here: “sins not counted,” “sins covered,” “sins not to be seen.” Here stand the clear plain words: All the saints are sinners and remain sinners. But they are holy because God in His grace neither sees nor counts these sins, but forgets, forgives, and covers them. There is thus no distinction between the saints and the non-saints. They are sinners alike and all sin daily, only that the sins of the holy are not counted but covered; and the sins of the unholy are not covered but counted. One would have a healing dressing on and is bandaged; the other wound is open and undressed. Nevertheless, both of them are truly wounded, truly sinners, concerning which we in our books in other places have abundantly bore witness.

Prayer

O God, our heavenly Father, with whom is grace and much forgiveness, be merciful to us who were born in sin and cannot but sin and fall short every day. Forgive us our many transgressions and account them against us no more, but make us Your heirs through Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, who was delivered into death for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Amen.

(from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pgs. 78-79)

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.”

Psalm 2:10-11

Psalm 2 is a prophecy of Christ, that He would suffer, and through His suffering become King and Lord of the whole world. Within this psalm stands a warning against the kings and lords of this world: If, instead of honoring and serving this King, they seek to persecute and blot Him out, they shall perish. This psalm also contains the promise that those who believe in the true King will be blessed.

This psalm flows from the First Commandment, in which God promises to be our God, who will help us in every trouble and will work all good for us—just as He has, through Christ, delivered us from sin, death, and hell and brought us to eternal life. This blessing is what we pray for in the second petition of the Lord’s Prayer—that His kingdom come.

Prayer

Thanks be unto You, O Lord Jesus Christ, because You were once dead, and by Your blood redeemed us from sin and everlasting torment. We desire to serve You all the days of our life. Preserve us in the midst of so many enemies, and by Your mighty hand preserve us for Your eternal kingdom! Amen.

(from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pgs. 17-19)

“Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!”

Psalm 119:1 

The 119^th psalm is a long psalm, containing prayers, comforts, instructions, and thanks in great number. It is chiefly written to make us excited about God’s Word. It praises God’s Word throughout and warns us against both the false teachers and against boredom and contempt for the Word. Therefore, it is primarily to be counted among the psalms of comfort. Its primary concern is that we have God’s Word in its purity and hear it gladly. From this concern, then, come powerful prayers, instructions, thanks, prophecies, worship of God, suffering, and all that pleases God and grieves the devil. But where one despises the Word and is satiated by it, there all these cease. For where the Word is not purely taught, there is truly an abundance of prayers, instructions, comforts, worship, suffering, and prophecies—but totally false and condemned! For it is then only service to the devil, who is thus impure with all his heretics.

Prayer

Beloved Father in heaven, You are blessed for granting us the Word of Your grace, in which You have revealed to us Your will concerning our salvation. Teach us to love Your Word, diligently to hear and willingly to learn it, that guided by this lamp our feet may walk in the way everlasting. Amen.

(from Reading the Psalms with Luther, pgs. 285-286)