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+ + + In Nomine Jesu + + +
Please join me in prayer: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
After record rainfall that has resulted in disaster declarations for Gregg and sixteen other Texas counties, we might be hard-pressed to find a single patch of parched land locally, where we remain under a significant threat of further flooding. That is not to say, however, that locals have no idea what parched land is like, and so, to the extent that we do, we have an entry point into the sixth of the Seven Penitential Psalms that we prayed and reflect on tonight, in our Lenten-season sermon-series that concludes with Psalm 130 next week on Maundy Thursday. Tonight, in Psalm 143, the penitential psalmist likens his soul praying to the Lord to parched land thirsting for rain. You may wish to re-open your hymnal to Psalm 143 as we reflect on it.
For centuries, Psalm 143 has been numbered among the Penitential Psalms, and even a relatively‑recent commentator who disputes that classification somewhat admits that “the psalmist’s attitude of penitence imparts to the psalm its peculiar character” (Wieiser, 818). Psalm 143 is ascribed to King David, although probably later in his life than his other Penitential Psalms that we have considered. According to early ascriptions (Keil-Delitzsch, 373), David wrote the psalm “when he fled his son, Absalom” (Wohlrabe; confer TLSB, 987), who had stolen the hearts of the people of Israel, declared himself king in his father David’s place, and so effectively drove David from his throne and into a desert wilderness (2 Samuel 15:1-37).
“We do not have to be pursued by an enemy into a desert wilderness” to be as desperate as David (Wohlrabe), the once valiant warrior who in his youth had killed the giant Goliath but now was in great distress, whether from Absalom, from the Edomites (so the Syriac Psalter, per Neale and Littledale, 362), or from someone else. The psalm text’s lack of specifics regarding the enemy and persecution in some sense makes it more suitable for our use (Leupold, 962). David said the enemy had pursued his soul, crushed his life to the ground, and made him as those long dead. But, remembering the days of old—all that the Lord had done, the work of the Lord’s hands—moved David to stretch out his hands in prayer to the Lord, not unlike how I usually pray on behalf of the congregation, indicating prayers going up and a readiness to receive the blessings coming down. As pursued by our enemies—the devil, the world, and our sinful nature—we are desperate and in great distress. Our spirits may faint within us, and our hearts within us may be appalled.
Probably more often than not, one who is accused of doing wrong will claim to be innocent (TLSB, 987), but the psalmist and we who pray this psalm do not. In what is called “the most-distinctive feature of the psalm” (Leupold, 963), the psalmist and we plead guilty, confessing that no one is righteous before the Lord, including ourselves. If the Righteous and Holy Lord were to enter into judgment with us, that is, if He would pursue a case against us, we would lose (confer Neale and Littledale, 364).We cannot be vindicated on our own merits. We are conceived sinful (Psalm 51:5), and so we are essentially born dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1; confer Romans 3:19-20). Sin is inherent in our nature (Weiser, 819), and so we think, say, and do countless evil things that we should not, and likewise we fail to think, say, and do countless good things that we should. We deserve to go down to the pit—as both the grave and the hell of eternal separation from God. We are dust, and, as the Lord told Adam when he sinned, to dust we shall return (Genesis 3:19). Talk about thirsting like a parched land!
Yet, at that same time of Adam and Eve’s sin, the Lord promised that the woman’s Offspring would bruise (or crush) the head of the serpent (the devil), even though, in the process, the serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s Offspring. That first Gospel promise was detailed more over time. Church fathers reportedly saw in Absalom’s rebellion against David (and so also in Psalm 143) at least a type pointing forward to the Jewish leaders’ rebellion against Jesus Christ (Neale and Littledale, 363). And, the words of this psalm, as perhaps also the words of every psalm, find their best fit on the lips of Jesus Christ. With your sin and my sin, Jesus Christ was made to be unrighteous, for us. As we heard in tonight’s Passion Reading, Jesus Christ died on the cross; there He suffered the death that we deserve. In a sense God the Father hid His face from Jesus Christ, so that God the Father might reveal, or turn or lift up His face, to us. As the Holy Spirit leads us, who by nature are unrighteous, to turn in sorrow from our sin and to trust God to forgive our sin for the sake of Jesus Christ, God hears our prayers and gives ear to our pleas for mercy, and, in His faithfulness, He answers us with righteousness for the sake of Jesus Christ. Apart from the law and its works, God’s righteousness comes through faith in Jesus Christ, for all who believe, who are justified freely by His grace, as a gift, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-26). The thirsty soul no longer need be parched!
We probably all are familiar with the idea of a desert mirage, seeing a peaceful oasis of palm trees and other plants around a refreshing pool of water that, in fact, is not actually there (confer Wohlrabe). Far better even than such imagined peace and refreshment the Lord brings to us with His forgiveness of sins in His Word and Sacraments. The Lord puts His Triune Name upon us at the Baptismal Font, and, in the water of Holy Baptism, He rescues us from our enemies death and the devil. We lift up our hearts and souls to Him, and He feeds us His Son’s Body in, with, and under bread, and He gives us to drink His Son’s Blood in, with, and under wine. Our constant need, hunger, and thirst for righteousness here is satisfied, sated, and slaked (confer Matthew 5:6). And, God’s forgiveness given here changes our lives.
In his speech last night suspending his presidential campaign, Florida Senator Marco Rubio deplored the country’s political climate in which, he said, “people literally hate each other”. No doubt today’s nomination of a new U-S Supreme Court justice will only add fuel to the fires of political hate. For Christians, however, the situation should be different. As we flee to the Lord for refuge, the Lord delivers us from our spiritual enemies—the devil, the world, and our sinful nature—and the Lord also teaches us to do His will, for He is our God. As our spirit fails, His Good Spirit leads us on level ground, and so we not only love God, but we also love God in the persons of our neighbors. We can disagree with them without hating them, and we remember that ultimately the outcome of political battles here really have no bearing on eternity and the ultimate deliverance over our spiritual enemies the Lord’s return in glory and judgment bring, when we, body and soul, will be with Him in Paradise.
People affected by the recent record rainfall and flooding in our area were happy to hear a Gospel message I had the privilege of speaking last night, and they were glad to receive the buckets of cleaning supplies we were able to give them afterwards. As we continue to deliver those buckets and speak words of Gospel comfort and peace (and we need to do both), we pray that the recipients and all of us will receive a flood of God’s mercy and grace, have our sins cleansed by His water of Holy Baptism, and have our bodies and souls strengthened and nourished by the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The River of the Water of Life that flows from His throne through the the new Jerusalem overflows only with blessing (Revelation 22:1-5).
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
+ + + Soli Deo Gloria + + +