27. Monday after Fourth Sunday in Advent.
Lord, open our ears, that we
may hear the admonition
and comfort of thy word. Amen.
Isaiah 40, 1-5. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
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Thy God, O Israel, is great in mercy. By your sins you deserve his wrath, and he gives you — his only begotten Son; double grace for all your sins. “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,” saith he; it has received enough of chastisement and buffetings. Speak ye lovingly to Jerusalem; speak words of comfort deep, deep, into their hearts; let them hear, that for their abounding sin my grace is still more abounding, so that, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so shall grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
It is only in order that you may accept this glorious grace, that the Lord afflicts you and chastises you in sharp words by the voice crying in the wilderness and calling to repentance. “Every valley shall be exalted;” that is, the heart which is mired in worldliness and soulless degradation, the soul which is abased in ignorance, or is held captive in doubt and fear, shall be lifted up and learn to see and desire that which is true and eternal. “Every mountain shall be made low;” that is, the haughty and those of high degree shall be brought low, the great become small and humble in themselves. The crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; truth and uprightness shall supplant falsehood, hypocrisy and self-righteousness. In other words, “repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Wake up and know your wretchedness, confess your sins with remorse and pain, and humble yourselves before the Lord. He who hears the voice of the first John, the preacher in the wilderness, calling to repentance, shall hear the second John, also, the son of thunder, with his still more mighty preaching of the gospel of grace, in this wise: “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Blessed preaching of repentance, which opens our ears to this gospel of life! Now I can and will keep these words in the depth of my heart: “Thine iniquity is pardoned, and thou hast received of the Lord’s hand double for all thy sins.”
Give us, O Lord, humble, simple, believing hearts. Give us grace to hear thy word of chastisement and of comfort. May we feel the power of that which thy mouth speaketh. Amen.*
Eternal Spirit, by whose breath
The soul is raised from sin and death,
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
To us thy quickening power extend.
Jehovah! Father, Spirit, Son!
Mysterious Godhead! Three in One!
Before thy throne we sinners bend;
Grace, pardon, life, to us extend!
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.